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Best of 2008: Kai Wright's Picks
THE REAL PRIZE : I was torn between two essays, both by Kim McLarin—one of The Root’s gems, by the way. I loved her playful but devastating response to Whiteygate. So much about America’s purported conversation on race is simply absurd, and Kim beautifully illustrated that fact with her mocking attempt to take America’s bizarre…
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Best of 2008: Dayo Olopade's Picks
GOODBYE TO A STANDUP BROTHER : Since his sudden and untimely death on June 13, it’s been said that no newsman would have enjoyed Campaign 2008, and its historic climax, more than Tim Russert. Gwen Ifill’s smart and surprisingly emotional reflection, “Goodbye to a Stand-Up Brother,” on the death of NBC’s Washington bureau chief is…
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U.S. Secret Service, Take Notes!
Two major world figures were attacked recently: President Bush and Pope Benedict XVI. The U.S. President and the Pope are famous for the security that surrounds each person 24/7. While neither were injured in the recent attempts, W’s detail was breached more successfully. There’s no way that someone should have been able to throw a shoe at the president…
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Eartha Kitt Dies at 81
The Root is saddened to report that Eartha Kitt, legendary songstress, actress and dancer died on Christmas Day. Kitt, 81, died of colon cancer in Connecticut. Her career as a performer stretched across six decades during which Kitt won two Emmies and took on various roles on Broadway and in films. Born on Jan. 17, 1927 in South…
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Disaster in Detroit
No matter what happens on Sunday, the Detroit Lions have made history by losing their first 15 games this season. Things don’t look good for week 17 either. They play at the Green Bay Packers; they haven’t won there in 17 years. 0-16 would be a truly historic level of awfulness—it’s a wonder they didn’t…
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The Hardest Working Man
In 1969, James Brown graced the cover of LOOK magazine, with the headline “Is This The Most Powerful Black Man in America?” James Sullivan’s new biography, The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul of America, (Gotham Books)makes a compelling case that on one night, in the midst of unspeakable tragedy, he was.…
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Still This Man's World
After 40 years, I still vividly recall the first time the music of James Brown stopped me in my tracks. I was 8 years old and wandering up the long hallway in our apartment on Chicago’s South Side. I heard the funky sounds of “Say it Loud, (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” coming from my…
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Merry Agnostic Christmas
Is it right to celebrate a holiday for a religion you don’t believe in? I’m not a Muslim, so I’ve never fasted for Ramadan. And because I’m not a Jew, Rosh Hashanah has been little more to me than the annoying nickname my 1st-grade classmates derived from a song in our music class. I’ve also…
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A Christmas Story
Santa shouldn’t have come to my house. At least, in theory. To my mother and father, both immigrants from Ethiopia, St. Nick was always somewhat of an anomaly, an outlandish icon of someone else’s Christmas. As children, they observed the holiday on Jan. 7, like other Orthodox Christians, in accordance with the Coptic calendar. There…
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Paying Respect
Each year, Newsweek pays homage to those who we have lost in the past year. Buzz would like to echo our partners at Newsweek and take some time out to remember some of our memorable friends lost this past year. As we enter the New Year, we would like to remember Bo Diddley (Dec. 30,…