Clik here to view.
Why Bullock's baby is a public relations blessing
News of Sandra Bullock’s adoption of Louis Bardo Bullock, a black baby boy from New Orleans, may just be rolling out, but Bullock has had little Louis, named for Louis Armstrong, since January....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is being gay in hip-hop trapped in the closet?
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that female rapper Nicki Minaj, the “first lady” of incarcerated rapper Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment, hip-hop’s latest mainstream success, has been hit with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Housing voucher hysteria in Atlanta highlights national crisis
“I thought Katrina had happened all over again,” began Lorraine Jacques-White for her popular Powertalk show on the black-oriented talk radio station WAOK in Atlanta this morning. Witnessing the mass...
View ArticleClik here to view.
'Hobbit' film light skinned-only casting leaves black mark
News of the firing of a racially insensitive casting agent working on director Peter Jackson’s adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the highly anticipated Lord of the Rings prequel set to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
'The Color Purple' 25 years later: From controversy to classic
“You told Harpo to beat me!” “I loves Harpo. God knows I do, but I’ll kill him dead fo’ I let him beat me” “You sho’ is ugly” These are just a few of the oft-quoted lines from film version of The Color...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chris Brown sabotages comeback with 'homophobic' tweets
Once again Twitter gets another celebrity in trouble. Chris Brown is the latest high profile name to make the Twitter outburst list. On Wednesday, Raz-B, a former member of the R&B group B2K,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Will Oprah's OWN gamble pay off?
Everyone is getting a new start for 2011 and Oprah is chief among them. Over the first weekend of the New Year, the undisputed king and queen of talk, upgraded to her very own network, OWN — the Oprah...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why there would be no ‘Sparkle’ without The Supremes
In an age where artists find it increasingly difficult to remain relevant for more than a year, the legacy of The Supremes is still alive over fifty years later. Their story of pioneering success —...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shirley Chisholm didn’t get her due at the DNC
Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir wasn’t the only one who missed any acknowledgment of the 40th anniversary of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s historic 1972 run for the president of the United States of America...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tempestt Bledsoe on why there will never be another ‘Cosby Show’
Twenty years after groundbreaking series The Cosby Show ended in 1992, Tempestt Bledsoe has returned to NBC in the Jimmy Fallon-produced sitcom Guys with Kids to play Marny, the working mother of four...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tawana Brawley 25 years later: Controversial NYC case still unsettled
Twenty five years ago, 15-year-old Tawana Brawley was reportedly found dazed and confused lying in a garbage bag with torn and burned clothing, feces smeared over her body and “KKK,” “ni**er,” and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Women’s History Month: Four unsung black women you should know
As with Black History Month, the focus on already well-known figures has been an ongoing criticism of Woman’s History Month. When it comes to black women, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The death of Martin Luther King Jr: James Earl Ray tapes raise more questions...
Two years after their re-discovery, restored video footage of Dr. King’s convicted assassin, James Earl Ray, in custody in Memphis as well as on trial, have been released just in time for the 45th...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Has America historically shut its doors to African immigrants?
Immigration is largely deemed a Latino issue but it affects black immigrants as well. While their numbers are relatively low, their history in this country is layered. Of course, the largest migration...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘American Idol’ Candice Glover’s Gullah roots
African-Americans have won American Idol plenty of times, so Candice Glover’s win is not unique in that regard. Yet as a native of Beaufort, South Carolina, an area scholars generally deem to be among...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering Crispus Attucks and the forgotten black soldiers of the American...
Memorial Day may be more about barbecues and blowout sales than honoring our deceased veterans these days, but there are many reasons for African-Americans in particular to take pause. Starting with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mariah Carey ‘slave’ scene from ‘The Butler’ stirs ‘house vs. field’ debate
Just weeks before the highly-anticipated August 16 release of Lee Daniels’s The Butler, which is based on the life of legendary White House service worker Eugene Allen, who served eight presidents from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Resurfaced literacy tests are a reminder of pre-Voting Rights Act era
Turning back the clock, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision on Shelby County v. Holder, struck down the key Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which originally required nine states (Texas,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Don’t call it a comeback — Belafonte has been here for years
Harry Belafonte’s support of the Dream Defenders, the bold student activists who have camped outside Governor Rick Scott’s office in Tallahassee for the past two weeks to force a review of Stand Your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Henrietta Lacks’ family deserves reparations
Some may be heralding the National Institutes of Health’s agreement with Henrietta Lacks’ family as a historic breakthrough for patient consent regarding scientific research, but troubling questions...
View ArticleClik here to view.
March on Washington was far from popular in 1963
As the 50th anniversary of the March on the Washington for Jobs and Freedom draws nearer, so does the nostalgia. In an effort to be on the right side of history, the naysayers and obstacles are often...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering the legacy of A. Phillip Randolph on Labor Day
“We are the advance guard of a massive moral revolution for jobs and freedom. This revolution reverberates throughout the land, touching every village where black men are segregated, oppressed and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From ‘Bondwoman’s Narrative’ to ’12 Years a Slave’: Slavery narratives in the...
It’s hard to put into words the significance of Winthrop University English professor Gregg Hecimovich’s revelation that one-time North Carolina slave Hannah Bond penned the recovered 1850s-era novel...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A black film renaissance, or a step backward for black actors?
Huffington Post Entertainment Editor Kia Makarechi is absolutely right to title his well-intentioned piece “Hollywood’s ‘Race Problem’ Is Worse Than You Think.” In it, Makarechi discusses the stark...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Attention Obamacare haters: Social security didn’t have a smooth rollout either
As some Republicans gloat over the technical hiccups of the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, more popularly known as Obamacare, the glitches aren’t exactly unprecedented. In his Huffington Post...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘American Horror Story: Coven’ casts spell with black voodoo narrative
Halloween started early for fans of American Horror Story when the third season kicked off October 9. Titled American Horror Story: Coven, this season focuses on witches and has added noticeable color...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Will the History Channel’s ‘Roots’ remake ‘get it right’?
News of the History Channel’s plans to remake Roots may have been unexpected but, given the box office success of Django Unchained and the critical acclaim of the more highly regarded 12 Years a Slave,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Seeking help while black’: Renisha McBride tragedy is nothing new for black...
“There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published,” starts the last paragraph of the introduction to the 1949 edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
JFK-Obama parallels more apparent than ever
Comparisons between presidents Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy began in earnest when Obama first ran for the highest office in the land. When Kennedy made his presidential run, he, like Obama, was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can reparations for slavery ever be a reality?
With the latest announcement of plans by the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission, an association of eight Caribbean governments, to move forward in seeking reparations from Britain, France, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s rescue of Lt. Robert Goodman remembered 30 years later
Over the weekend, as most of us prepared to get the first full week of 2014 started, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. reunited with U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Robert Goodman, whom he helped free thirty years ago in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
1964: A pivotal year in MLK’s history turns 50
This year is the 28th national observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which means there is now a generation to whom the King holiday has always existed. Still, 2014 stands out even more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Slideshow: The unsung heroes of black history
Few Americans are unaware of the historic contributions African-Americans like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson broke some racial barriers while upholding...
Child star Shirley Temple Black’s life may have taken different turns in adulthood, including ambassador stints to Czechoslovakia and Ghana, but, in death, her on-screen relationship with tap dance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Malcolm X rifle image still strikes a chord
Two nights ago, all was going swell for Nicki Minaj. “Real hip-hop lovers,” some pioneering writers from hip-hop’s golden ‘90s, were praise-tweeting her flow on her new single “Lookin’ A** Ni**a.”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Sundown Towns’ under a spotlight in new Investigation Discovery documentary
Last night’s edition of filmmaker Keith Beauchamp’s The Injustice Files: Sundown Towns on Investigation Discovery refocused attention on what is now known as “sundown towns,” places where...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Gone With the Wind’ 75 years later: How Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar win...
Hattie McDaniel couldn’t attend the Atlanta premiere of Gone With the Wind December 15, 1939 because Jim Crow laws forbade it. In the South, ads depicting McDaniel and the other black actors were also...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Gone With the Wind’ prequel starring Mammy may be a mistake
“Are we ready for Mammy’s story?” is a loaded question, with no easy answer. But it’s a question that Simon & Schuster has prompted with the announcement that it will publish a Gone With the Wind...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kerry Washington, Viola Davis usher in new era of network TV’s black female lead
That Olivia Pope really ignited something. Since her debut on ABC April 5, 2012, television hasn’t been the same. And, now, the Kerry Washington icon-turning vehicle is the lead-in for Shondaland’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
North America’s first black president, Vicente Guerrero, predates Obama by...
If Jeopardy’s Alex Trebek pronounced “He is the first black president in North America,” most of us would confidently answer “Who is Barack Obama?” And we would be wrong. The fact is that Mexico, not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Black explorers we should celebrate instead of Columbus
There was a time when Christopher Columbus was heavily pushed and accepted as the greatest explorer of this side of the globe. Never mind the little detail of how one could “discover” a place where...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The 25 Most Influential Black American Leaders of All Time
Even as an African-American sits in the most powerful position in our nation, there are those who ask if African-American leadership is in crisis. Slavery and Jim Crow were easy targets. Who couldn’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Former Black Panthers react to Beyoncé’s Super Bowl performance
Beyoncé slayed at Super Bowl 50. But her Black Panther-themed performance has led to some harsh reactions from many, including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and the unidentified folks who may...
View Article
