Uncategorized
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Hudson Family Arrest — As if We Didn’t See This Coming.
William Balfour, the estranged brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson, has been arrested in the murders of the actress/singer’s mother, brother and nephew. Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were found shot to death in their South Side Chicago home Oct. 24. Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found dead from gunshot wounds in an…
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Not in My Neighborhood
Barack Obama’s success, as Congressman John Lewis put it recently, is another step on the long road toward laying down the “burden of race.” But the growing use of the phrase “post-racial America” should worry us all. Consider the results of one major social science study, published in Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on…
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The Ugly Green Monster
This is how I knew from the very beginning that my mother loved me: Every morning, like clockwork, she would pull out the Green Monster, and every morning, as soon as I saw the thing, I would turn the other way and run. She would chase me around the living room of our brownstone with…
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Japanese Restaurant Cuts Costs by Hiring Monkeys
The economic downturn is affecting people worldwide and restaurants are often the first busineses to take hits, as people eat out less and less in hard times. One Japanese restaurant cut its staff of waiters and replaced them with monkeys that only work two hours a day, but bring in tourists and business from around…
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Happy Birthday Recession!
The National Bureau of Economic Research released a statement that the United States has been in a recession that began in December 2007. Recessions are characterized by a decline in production, wages, and employment, among other factors. As we enter into the holiday shopping season, this news will likely serve as a shock to consumer…
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Will Another White Man Ever Be Secretary of State?
Today, Barack Obama announced more cabinet and adviser selections. They, however, come without surprise. Outside the cabinet will be his campaign foreign policy adviser, Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador, and retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones as national security adviser. In the cabinet, Obama selected Eric Holder as Attorney General, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as…
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He's Not Black?
Did anyone read Marie Arana’s opinion piece in Sunday’s Washington Post? If not, don’t bother. Here’s a synopsis (Well, actually, it’s an impersonation): Barack Obama is not black. He is multi-racial, like me (Arana). We can’t keep calling him black. If we do, then we will be ignoring his other ethnicities. But, since we are…
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World AIDS Day 2008
Here’s a thought experiment: What if black America was its own country? We’d be relatively big, with a population roughly the size of the northeastern United States. We’d have an up-and-coming economy, in league with countries like South Africa and Argentina. And we’d be one of the least healthy places on Earth. Black folks have…
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The White, White House Press Corps
Jesse Jackson’s 1984 presidential campaign boosted—no, it actually created—the careers of a whole cadre of black political reporters. Barack Obama’s historic capture of Oval Office? Well, not so much. The reasons behind the white-out of the Obama campaign are varied and complex, ranging from the reduction of general political coverage by mainstream media to fewer…
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The Obama Effect on Publishing
The first time I noticed the question being asked, the victory parties were barely over, tears of joy were still being shed and Oprah continued to vibrate. Inquiring minds in the black literary community really wanted an answer: Would there be an Obama effect in the publishing industry? People weren’t talking about Barack Obama’s own…