Celebrity: Why We Can’t Look Away

I tried my best to ignore the Tiger Woods saga.  In my mind, I would not waste my time listening to the various and growing number of mistresses.  But then mainstream media decided to take the low road.  I couldn’t watch my usual morning show with the peculiar interview of mistress No. ??.  Then Eugene Robinson had [...]

Black in the Age of Obama: Things Have Not Gotten Better

Some say things have gotten worse.  But, the belief that President Obama’s election was going to turn the page on race relations, rekindle a renewed sense of purpose in black men, inspire personal responsibility, stop kids from getting killed in senseless street violence, and have world leaders singing Kumbaya was overly simplistic and exaggerated to begin with.  It’s not [...]

DC Government Forgetting Who It’s Supposed to Serve

Colbert King shares the frustration of many: DC bureaucrats are more concerned with their jobs than the safety and care of its citizens.  King laments on the number of unsolved murders, unprocessed rape kits, and sub par education in the District: Official figures on unprocessed sex kits were unavailable. But Hughes reported that 60 percent [...]

Snitch Culture Claims Another Victim

I’m left speechless by this story reported out of Florida (CNN): From what the suspects and witnesses have told police, the suspect yelled, “He’s a snitch, he’s a snitch” and “pour it on him.” Another juvenile threw what police believe was rubbing alcohol on Brewer from a plastic jug and used a lighter to set [...]

Decay of the Black Family

After the outrage of the videotaped beating death of Derrion Albert reached a boiling point we are all looking for answers as to “why.” We’ve all heard the staid and stale excuses and solutions that we can recite in our sleep. We need more police. An increased presence with no clear direction can aggravate an [...]

Defining African American Studies

John McWhorter questions what African American Studies students should learn (The New Republic): While this year has become best known as the fortieth anniversary of Woodstock, it was also forty years ago that the first African-American Studies department was established, at San Francisco State University. Forty-one fall semesters later, there are hundreds of such departments. [...]

The Murder of Derrion Albert: Sick with Grief and Anger

We’ve lamented before on the senseless and stupefying rise in violence and deaths of Chicago children. At a certain point it becomes mind-numbing and it’s hard to feel anything. But then another young brother with great potential and focus is slaughtered. Not by a hail of bullets, but viciously beaten and stomped to death as [...]

From Girls to Young Women

I often joke that my development of social graces was by accident. As I recount my childhood, my mother was too busy working two jobs and squarely focused on me doing well in school (because she was damn sure – before I was – that I was going to college)! This is not to suggest [...]

What Exactly Does ACORN Do Anyway?

Beginning with last year’s election and erupting in the last couple of days, ACORN has been a frequent topic in the news. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been for its good deeds. This lead to the question, “what exactly does ACORN do anyway?” According to Wikipedia, The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a [...]

Civil Rights Movement Marches on in Mexico

Time Magazine posted an article outlining the plight of Afro-Mexicans. Time writes: Mirroring Mexico’s history itself, most of Yanga’s Afro-Mexican population has been pushed to neighboring rural villages that are notable primarily for their deep poverty and the strikingly dark skin of their inhabitants. Mexico’s independence from Spain and new focus on building a national [...]

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