159 – Black Commentator

Cover Story

What Use Are Black Mayors?

By Jerry G. Watts

According to some in the national media, the televised images of New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina may serve as catalysts to reintroduce into the consciousness of Americans (read white Americans) the continuing significance of race and class subjugation in America. Though the awakening of the American public to the existence of horrible…

According to some in the national media, the televised images of New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina may serve as catalysts to reintroduce into…

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Cartoon

Cartoon: Thou shalt not question my war!

By The Black Commentator Guest Commentator

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Commentary

Freedom Rider: Ohio Vote Theft, Now and Forever

By Margaret Kimberley Guest Commentator

On Election Day in Ohio, four ballot provisions that would have brought greater integrity to the elections process went down to defeat at the polls. Not only were all four defeated, but polls predicted that all four would either win, or be decidedly by thin margins. Reform Ohio Now had initiated the four proposals. The…

On Election Day in Ohio, four ballot provisions that would have brought greater integrity to the elections process went down to defeat at the polls. Not…

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Commentary

Riots are a Class Act: And Often They’re the Only Alternative

By Gary Younge

This article originally appeared in The Guardian, UK. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress,” said the African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass. “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation are men who want crops without ploughing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean…

This article originally appeared in The Guardian, UK. "If there is no struggle, there is no progress," said the African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass. "Those who…

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Commentary

Think Piece: Paris is burning – Post-Industrial Social Insurrections and the Wretched of the Earth

By Kwame Dixon, Phd

France is in crisis. Widespread post-industrial social insurrections, commonly referred to as riots, unfolded on October 27, in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois north of Paris. While the precise details remain sketchy, what is known is that two teenagers, Zyed Benna, 17, and Bouna Traore, 15, apparently thought they were being chased by the police, scaled…

France is in crisis. Widespread post-industrial social insurrections, commonly referred to as riots, unfolded on October 27, in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois north of Paris. While…

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Commentary

Let them Eat Merd

By John Maxwell

This article originally appeared in the Jamaica Observer. “Man is born free and everywhere is in chains” was said by a Frenchman, Jean Jacques Rousseau. Two centuries after Rousseau, another Frenchman, one Nicholas Sarkozy describes millions of his fellow citizens as “scum” – among several other pungent epithets directed at them because they happen not…

This article originally appeared in the Jamaica Observer. "Man is born free and everywhere is in chains" was said by a Frenchman, Jean Jacques Rousseau. Two…

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Art

Art Form: TrueHeart

By The Black Commentator Guest Commentator

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Commentary

Wilma and FEMA vs. the Poor: The Underreported Story

By Joseph Phelan

This article appeared in Portside.org. As days turn into weeks the situation worsens for the poor people left behind not only by aid relief but also by society as a whole. People who had been living under slumlord conditions are evicted from housing that has been deemed unsafe for human habitation, yet at the same…

This article appeared in Portside.org. As days turn into weeks the situation worsens for the poor people left behind not only by aid relief but also…

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Guest Commentary

Letter from a Black Man in Canada: Rosa Parks v. Condoleezza Rice

By Norman (Otis) Richmond Guest Commentator

Rosa Parks was loved all over the world. She visited Canada in 1998 and was given an honorary degree from Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Parks became the first woman in U.S. history to lie in the Capital Rotunda, joining a select few – including presidents and war heroes – given a…

Rosa Parks was loved all over the world. She visited Canada in 1998 and was given an honorary degree from Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax,…

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Guest Commentary

Judge Constance Baker Motley: ‘A Significant Life’

By Donita Judge Guest Commentator

On a Friday morning in early November, I, along with hundreds of others, attended the memorial service at Riverside Church in New York City for Judge Constance Baker Motley. Unlike the services of Mrs. Rosa Parks, held earlier in the week, there was little fanfare. There was no two-hour wait to join the many persons…

On a Friday morning in early November, I, along with hundreds of others, attended the memorial service at Riverside Church in New York City for Judge…

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Issue: 159