FBI’s Most Wanted Assata Shakur’s Open Letter to the Pope
You might know that activist Assata Shakur was recently added to the FBI’s most-wanted terrorist list. The agency is offering a $1 million dollar reward for her capture, and the state of New Jersey has added another $1 million. Shakur is the first woman to ever make this list and the second domestic “terrorist” to [...]
Like ‘Girls,’ ‘Lean In’ Is Too Harshly Criticized for Leaving Black Women Out
Writing at Essence, Daniella Gibbs Léger says that Sheryl Sandberg shouldn’t be raked over the coals for telling her life story, even if we don’t see ourselves in it. By now you’ve seen, read or heard the back-and-forth over Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Lean In, her tome on women and the workplace. [...]
What if We Had an African Pope? African Students Respond
“Mr. Rossmann, why are most saints white?” “Why has there never been a black pope?” “Was Jesus white?” “Was Jesus black?” I teach sophomore religion here at Loyola High School in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. And while the inquisitiveness of 16-year-olds is probably universal, some of their particular questions are not. I’m probably asked why [...]
Over Obama’s objections, Supreme Court pushes view of ‘post-racial’ America
Being black did not prevent Barack Obama’s rise to the White House, and some heralded his victory as a sign the country is moving toward a post-racial future. But not the president himself. Instead, he has emphasized the importance of naming women and minorities to key posts, even if some critics rightly argue [...]
A Celebration of Black Women on Film in 2012
Last year I proudly blogged about Octavia Spencer’s Supporting Actress Oscar win for The Help. Happily, this is the year of milestones and giving major props to the women of color actresses on film in 2012. Making history as the youngest Best Actress Academy Award nominee, newcomer Quvenzhane Wallis has charmed audiences and critics as “Hushpuppy” [...]
Girls Just Wants to Have (White) Fun
Clearly on an emotional high from her Golden Globe wins, Lena Dunham, Creator/Writer/Director/Star of the HBO series Girls, recently gave an interview in which she dismissed criticism of her show as coming mostly from 58-year-old men who didn’t understand — and I’m paraphrasing and reading between the lines — the show’s new-generation originality and [...]
Bestselling Author Asks: “Is it Time to Profile White Men?”
Black men get profiled. Arab men get profiled. Latino men get profiled. But remarkably, white men have been engaging in mass shootings since Columbine, but … radio silence. No one is profiling young white men for having a propensity toward violence, and writer David Sirota wondered aloud, on MSNBC’s Up With Chris Hayes, why that isn’t happening? [...]
Former Aide to Colin Powell: “My Party is Full of Racists”
Lawrence Wilkerson, former aide to Secretary of State Colin Powell, told MSNBC’s Ed Schultz on Friday that his party is full of racists. Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson made his observation in response to Romney surrogate John Sununu saying Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama because they’re both black. Wilkerson, who served as Powell’s chief of [...]
Ask Black America: If Barack Looked Like Wesley Snipes, Would He Have Been Elected President?
by Dr. Boye Watkins I love Barack Obama for what he has accomplished. He is sharp, articulate, focused, hard-working and a great leader to his family. My respect for him as a man though, has little to do with my relationship with him as a politician. Supporting a politician should be like hiring an employee [...]
Why the Fights for Racial Justice and LGBT Equality Are Inseparable
Civil rights hero Bayard Rustin once said, “God does not require us to achieve … the good tasks that humanity must pursue. What God requires of us is that we not stop trying.” Known as a man with purpose and heart, Rustin, who was an openly gay black man born in the early 1900s, [...]
March 26, 20132 CommentsRead More