Uncategorized
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Sleepless in Obamaland
The end of this presidential campaign is giving me fits. During the day, I believe Barack Obama might just win this thing. At night, I’m scared sleepless that he might not. See, I’m a passive-aggressive pessimist when it comes to the fulfillment of the American dream. I can put up a good front, but deep-down…
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Eastern Uprising
For much of this decade, the Eastern Conference of the NBA has been called the Leastern Conference, due to the rather severe inferiority of eastern teams when compared with their Western Conference counterparts. It wasn’t a myth. From 1999-2003, the Eastern Conference representatives managed just six wins in losing five straight finals to either the…
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The Black QB Scramble
Chris Rock has a classic bit in his 1999 HBO special “Bigger and Blacker” where he documents his father’s obsession with Robitussin as a cure-all remedy. “Daddy I got asthma! Robitussin. I got cancer! Robitussin. I broke my leg! Daddy pourin’ Robitussin on it.” When it’s time for me to ponder the complex and nuanced…
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The Fat Tax
The state of Alabama has issued a warning to its state workers: Get fit or pay up. In August, the Alabama State Employees’ Insurance Board approved a plan that will charge workers an additional $25 to cover their insurance premiums, if they don’t take advantage of free health screenings available to all state employees. The…
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The War Within
The question nagging at me comes out of a very animated panel discussion on Martha’s Vineyard last summer that dealt with that perennial hot-button issue of race in America: Do we have to talk about “group culture” when dealing with the status of blacks in America? One panelist insisted that black culture was deeply implicated in…
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The All-American Family Crisis
If there was ever any doubt about Sen. Barack Obama’s ability to connect with the American people, as his strategically brilliant campaign has shown he’s capable of doing, that doubt should soon be put to rest, in the wake of a personal tragedy now facing the Democratic nominee—the same tragedy faced by millions of Americans…
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The Future of Africa: Soyinka and Gates
At 74, Wole Soyinka remains one of democracy’s great champions on the African continent. The adage “criticism, like charity, starts at home,” has long been a favorite truism of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright and political activist. Sadly, there remains much to criticize, as political turmoil, ethnic warfare, graft and corruption continue to plague his home…
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The 'Real American' Test
I have been living outside of the United States for the better part of five years. So imagine my surprise when I returned in September, to find that we are now making Americans prove that you are a “real American.” It is no longer enough to just have a valid passport and driver’s license, or…
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North Carolina's New Blues
The Queen City Motel sits barely noticed on this city’s West Side, just seven minutes from the wobbly banks and new construction projects commanding the downtown skyline. At the Queen City, you find people who are living by day and by week, watching economic calamity from the outer edge of misery. Some have no cars,…
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Will White People Riot?
“Would black people riot if Sen. Barack Obama didn’t win the election?” That was the question a white man in Memphis recently asked a racial reconciliation group with which I am involved. After five years of being a columnist for the daily paper in Memphis, I wasn’t surprised by the absurdity of his query. Many…