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Issue: 431

June 16, 2011

Commentary

When Gay Ain’t Your Bag?

By Perry Redd Columnist

I’ve got some friends who claim to be “men of God.” I dare doubt them, but I listen and watch their belief and rhetoric in action…especially, the Christian ones. I’ve been having some heavy conversations with those peers about an issue that is and will be front-burner in the socio-political arena: gay rights. The majority…

I’ve got some friends who claim to be “men of God.” I dare doubt them, but I listen and watch their belief and rhetoric in action…especially,…

Continue reading 5 min

Guest Commentary

Juneteenth: Free At Last?

By Ryan Paul Haygood Guest Commentator

Ralph Ellison immortalized “Juneteenth,” the annual celebration of the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when the enslaved Africans in Texas were actually emancipated, in his posthumous novel of the same name. Ellison’s title refers to the date when Union General Gordon Grander rode horseback into Galveston, Texas and announced to nearly 250,000 slaves that President…

Ralph Ellison immortalized "Juneteenth," the annual celebration of the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when the enslaved Africans in Texas were actually emancipated, in his posthumous…

Continue reading 6 min

Guest Commentary

Clara Luper, a Name Within a Name, In Civil And Human Rights

By The Reverend D. D. Prather Guest Commentator

To the insistence of Clara Luper, from the state of Oklahoma, on a cool fall morning, I sat and listen at breakfast to her tell me why she thought people from everywhere needed to get involved in human rights somewhere, whatever the location. She spoke in depth of her love, devotion and commitment, as she…

To the insistence of Clara Luper, from the state of Oklahoma, on a cool fall morning, I sat and listen at breakfast to her tell me…

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Guest Commentary

What Will It Take to Bring Obama Home? – Consider the Alternative – Moving Left Part 12

By Roger Madison Guest Commentator

I have been following the series “What Will It Take to Bring Obama Home?” What has surprised me is the apparent “mandate” that Progressives think that Obama received from them in 2008. Obama received about 95% of the Black vote – up a few percentage points from historical Black support. How is this mandate different…

I have been following the series "What Will It Take to Bring Obama Home?" What has surprised me is the apparent "mandate" that Progressives think that…

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Commentary

The History Lesson Sarah Palin Really Needs

By Sharon Kyle, JD Editorial Board

“It is, of course, the symbol for Americans to be reminded of other countries because this was gifted us, of course by the French—other countries warning us to never make the mistakes that some of them had made.” Okay, so Palin is saying that France gave us the statue to warn us not to make…

“It is, of course, the symbol for Americans to be reminded of other countries because this was gifted us, of course by the French—other countries warning…

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The African World

A Note for My Father

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

It is eerie to find myself writing, again, about death. In April, my long-time friend, Manning Marable, passed away. A few weeks ago, Gil Scott-Heron passed, followed the next week by Geronimo Pratt. In each case I decided that I needed to write something for BC. On Saturday afternoon, at 5:19pm, after a brief illness,…

It is eerie to find myself writing, again, about death. In April, my long-time friend, Manning Marable, passed away. A few weeks ago, Gil Scott-Heron passed,…

Continue reading 6 min

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