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Home Issue: 332

Issue: 332

July 9, 2009

Cover Story

The Queerness of MJ: A Function of Society’s Homophobia?

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

At Michael Jackson’s memorial service the Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing speech that had the congregation at the Staple Center rise to their feet at times with shouts of Amen. Shaprton made one particular statement in his speech to MJ’s three children, addressing the reasons for Jackson’s eccentricities when he said, “I want his…

At Michael Jackson’s memorial service the Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing speech that had the congregation at the Staple Center rise to their feet at…

Continue reading 4 min

Commentary

NAACP at 100: Needed Now More than Ever – African American Leadership

By Dr. Ron Walters Editorial Board

I admit that, like most of us, I am an NAACP baby. Born in the struggle to desegregate the Dockum Drug Store in Wichita, Kansas in 1958 two years before the Greensboro sit-in, as a leader of the NAACP Youth Council. Over the years, as a political analyst, I have been asked whether the organization…

I admit that, like most of us, I am an NAACP baby. Born in the struggle to desegregate the Dockum Drug Store in Wichita, Kansas in…

Continue reading 5 min

The African World

‘Post-racialism’ and the Washington Nationals

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

It’s not just that the crowd is overwhelmingly white. Actually, I could live with that given the way that attendance at baseball has changed over the years, in part a reflection of the gentrification of US cities. What is striking is how race plays itself out in the stadium in this period where race is…

It’s not just that the crowd is overwhelmingly white. Actually, I could live with that given the way that attendance at baseball has changed over the…

Continue reading 5 min

Guest Commentary

Honduran Violence and U.S. Aid Test Obama’s Global Image

By Roberto Lovato Guest Commentator

While English language television in the United States mined the minutiae of Michael Jackson’s upcoming funeral, millions watching Spanish, Portuguese and French language media in the rest of the Americas were transfixed by live broadcasts of the Honduran military shooting and killing a 10 year-old boy and other protesters. From the U.S.-Mexico border to the…

While English language television in the United States mined the minutiae of Michael Jackson’s upcoming funeral, millions watching Spanish, Portuguese and French language media in the…

Continue reading 5 min

Commentary

Bill Clinton’s Stabilizing Mission in Haiti – Who Benefits?

By Dr. Lenore J. Daniels, PhD Editorial Board

Not a word from President Barack Obama, the man of CHANGE, or the newly appointed UN Special Envoy, former President Bill Clinton, man from HOPE, condemning the UN’s shooting of, as Marguerite “Ezili Danto” Laurent reports, “peaceful, unarmed protesters in Haiti” June 18, 2009. The shooting took place at the funeral for Father Jean Juste…

Not a word from President Barack Obama, the man of CHANGE, or the newly appointed UN Special Envoy, former President Bill Clinton, man from HOPE, condemning…

Continue reading 14 min

Commentary

Message to Obama: We Need a New Deal

By Carl Bloice Editorial Board

Now they are out to nickel and dime us to death. Here in my home town the traffic and parking department has been prevailed upon to “step up” its enforcement activity – and maneuvering to have parking meters work far into the night – in order help cover some of the city’s budget deficit. In…

Now they are out to nickel and dime us to death. Here in my home town the traffic and parking department has been prevailed upon to…

Continue reading 9 min

Color of Law

Broken Immigration System Breaks Up A Jamerican Family

By David A. Love, JD Executive Editor

On July 7, 2009, Roxroy Salmon – a Jamaican immigrant, activist and Brooklyn, New York resident – appeared before an immigration judge to determine his future in this country. In a worst case scenario, Salmon, a longtime resident of the U.S. with deep roots here, was ordered deported. What is his crime, you might ask?…

On July 7, 2009, Roxroy Salmon - a Jamaican immigrant, activist and Brooklyn, New York resident - appeared before an immigration judge to determine his future…

Continue reading 7 min

Commentary

Blowback, Plausible Deniability,and the Myth of American Democracy

By Larry Pinkney Editorial Board

Notwithstanding the utter hypocrisy, and patently unethical and amoral reality of the United States government’s consistently, aggressively, and covertly involving itself deeply in the internal affairs, destabilization and bloody overthrow of other people’s governments around the world; more often than not the internal and external horrors that “American” civilians suffer are a direct result of…

Notwithstanding the utter hypocrisy, and patently unethical and amoral reality of the United States government’s consistently, aggressively, and covertly involving itself deeply in the internal affairs,…

Continue reading 5 min

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