French President Nicolas Sarkozy would like to ban the burqa in public places, stating that it’s “a problem of liberty and women’s dignity.” He also called the burqa “a sign of subservience and debasement.” There are two specific moments in Obama’s speech in Cairo, where he addresses women’s rights: “it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim Read More
*Note: We’re making this discussion a sticky post, and it’ll be at the top of the page all this week. Scroll down for newer posts. Benji, Reggie, Nick, Clive, Bobby, Randy, Marcus & NP (“Nigga Please”). Back when summers were idle, the coming of September meant reinvention and, in the meantime, there were a ton Read More
From Jenee Desmond Harris’ Root piece “What Single [Black] Women Can Learn From Michelle:” “if black women are going to defy the statistics, they need to start being more realistic. Holding out for the perfect man, someone who is intellectual but not nerdy—cool but not arrogant—impeccably dressed but not effeminate—not a player but with just Read More
Your reading companion to Colson Whitehead’s Sag Harbor May’s book pick which we will be discussing on June 15th: “What are the origins of the strange compulsion that forces them to reach out to smooth, squeeze, pet, pat, bounce their fingers in the soft, resilient exuberance of an Afro, a natural, a just doin’ -its-own-thing Read More
Regrettably a long weekend has come and gone and, if you’re anything like me, the anticipation for all the wonderful “time off” in order to “take care of things” culminated in an uneventful weekend full of hair washing, reading, back-to-back viewings of Coming to America on Comedy Central, and the Pam Greer Blaxploitation marathon on Read More
Over at Editorial Anonymous: “Giving an award for creating art about the experience of race is a wonderful thing. But giving an award for creating art and being a particular race? That’s racism in action,” and “If the CSK were in charge, male writers wouldn’t be able to comment on what it’s like to be Read More
Via every book blogger on the web a high school in Shelby, Michigan has banned Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. The article states that “members of the community objected to its profanity, sexual references and violence.” Oh My. The book was removed from an AP English course. I found the syllabus (a very thorough rendering Read More
I’ve already got my copy. You can find out more about Colson Whitehead here and look through some of his other titles here. We’ll be discussing this book on the 15th of June. We can save this for the discussion, but this is an early preview of a “new market,” for black folk. As an author at writeblack.com puts Read More
I was given a Little Mermaid singbook as a gift once. It came with an electronic side panel attached to the book’s binding and adorned with vertical images and buttons, so that I could turn the pages and press the buttons that corresponded to the illustrations in the text. All of this made reading fairly Read More
