Of all the X-men installments from the movie franchise, hands down “X-Men First Class” is its star pupil. It has all the components: vengeance, thrilling action scenes that don’t try to bombard you with all the latest special effects, and quality actors that transform these original 2-D comic book characters into fleshy, multi-faceted beings (well, Read More
In what’s become something of a yearly tradition here at PB, we’re re-running this fantastic post by Friend of the Blog Ari Kelman, a history professor in California who blogs over at Edge of The American West. Kelman looks at the sterilization of King’s image, who was never the saintly, beloved man in life that Read More
Crossposted from ColorLines: As the nation marks the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin have taken to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to, as they put it, restore our nation’s honor. The Washington Post reports that “an overwhelmingly white crowd of tens of thousands” Read More
In my more militant youth, I used to argue that May 19 should have been a national holiday. And if it couldn’t be one, then at the least I could sacrifice a day of school or work to commemorate Malcolm X’s birthday. In retrospect, that was stupid (maybe immature is the better word) because if Read More
I’d listened to this speech yesterday after listening to King’s “Mountain Top” speech in its entirety for the first time. There are some fascinating moments: Kennedy asking an aide if the crowd heard the news; his asking them to lower their signs; the catch in his voice that he covers by clearing his throat. Eric Read More
