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May 28, 2003
Music
Pepper LaBeija, Queen of Harlem Drag Balls, Is Dead at 53 
"Pepper LaBeija was a legend to the members and patrons of the Harlem ball scene, a world of extravagant make-believe that crosses sexual boundaries and that was chronicled in 'Paris Is Burning,' directed by Jennie Livingston. In an interview, Ms. Livingston spoke of Pepper's 'glamorous bravado' that stood out in a flock of Marilyn Monroes." New York Times
May 24, 2003
Political Animal
Dean.com "For the [Howard] Dean [presidential] campaign, it all started with the Meetup phenomenon. Back in January, the campaign stumbled upon the Meetup website and noticed that 432 people were signed up for a Howard Dean Meetup group. 'We didn't really know what it was,' says [Joe] Trippi. He watched from afar as Dean's Meetup numbers grew to more than 2,600 in February. In March, Dean showed up at a Meetup event in New York City. It was so crowded that hundreds of young supporters were pouring out onto the sidewalk waiting to get in. Soon the campaign began receiving mysterious donations with an extra cent added. They learned that the Meetup community intended to raise $1 million for Dean, and the extra cent was being used to identify the donations. It became known as the Meetup Million Dollar Challenge and has raised at least $300,000 for Dean so far (close to 10 percent of what Dean had raised overall, as of April). Almost overnight, Meetup had become the Dean campaign's most important organizing tool." The New Republic
Political Animal
The Black White Supremacist "For Felton, though, the real struggle was just beginning. In June 2001, as the prosecutors prepared their case against him, the media broke the news that Felton had one black parent and one white one. It was a delicious story for the Boston papers -- the biracial race terrorist -- but Felton's racial unmasking was his worst nightmare come true. The week the story broke, he tried to commit suicide by slicing his own jugular vein." New York Times Magazine
May 23, 2003
Political Animal
Rich, Black, Flunking "The black parents wanted an explanation. Doctors, lawyers, judges, and insurance brokers, many had come to the upscale Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights specifically because of its stellar school district. They expected their children to succeed academically, but most were performing poorly. African-American students were lagging far behind their white classmates in every measure of academic success: grade-point average, standardized test scores, and enrollment in advanced-placement courses. On average, black students earned a 1.9 GPA while their white counterparts held down an average of 3.45. Other indicators were equally dismal. It made no sense." East Bay Express
May 21, 2003
Political Animal
The Intellectual and 'The Matrix' "'I said, "Good God almighty,"' [Cornel] West recalled. 'He [Wachowski] said my writings had been influential in his writing the movie. He had read my first book, "Prophesy Deliverance!," and "Race Matters." I was flabbergasted. He said he had written a role for me, Councillor West, and he wanted me to play it. I said, "You've got to be kidding."'" Los Angeles Times
May 20, 2003
Beef-a-Real
Adams Says Principal Wrong On Barring "Overdressed" Students From Graduation "Kimberly Reed, whose son was told he looked like a pimp, told Channel 12, 'I feel that it was very racist for her to tell my child that he looked like a pimp. My child do not know what a pimp is. And also, he is making honor roll today. And his name is Walter Williams, and I'm very proud of him.'" Sigh. Too dressed up for graduation. And they wonder why they can't get parents involved in their children's education. The Chattanoogan
May 16, 2003
Sports
Michael Jordan Tried to Steal My Date "In my jilted eyes, Jordan's a role model all right—a role model for spoiled athletes who think they and their hangers-on can run roughshod over anyone. He has to dominate, even in casual social situations. And he's remarkably thorough about it. At Cafe Milano, when I received the bill, I couldn't help noticing that the ravioli and champagne Christine had picked up at Jordan's table had been transferred to my tab." This guy got punk'd. And he still wants to date her. Washington City Paper
May 14, 2003
Sports
An American in Berlin “'I didn’t have any f—kin’ money. I still don’t; but, by God’s grace, I’m here and not there. Frankly, America was completely over for me after the 2000 presidential election. It was the Supreme Court, not the American people, who decided who was going to dictate policy in the United States. And the American people sat down for it. If that had happened over here, the Reichstag would be in flames. I’m no great fan of the French—their national hero is who? A farmer who charbroiled the golden arches? But when the right-wing Le Pen won a majority vote in the French primaries, the population freaked. They were out in the streets. Did the Americans do that after Florida? No. So I respect the French. It’s ironic there is anti-French sentiment in the U.S. right now in light of the fact the present practice of democracy originated with the French, the heads of tyrants in baskets and all that.'” You're not allowed in the streets anymore. MSNBC/Newsweek
May 13, 2003
Music
Hanging the Judge "'I thought a long time ago that Stanley was going to get canned,' offers jazz critic Amiri Baraka, who is, politically at least, [Stanley] Crouch's polar opposite and a man who has debated Crouch in print. Baraka's view is especially pertinent because he revolutionized jazz criticism in the 1950s and '60s by integrating black politics into music journalism, setting off similar fiery reactions. His move to Marxism in the 1970s began a downturn in his frequent assignments from left-of-center editors.
'If editors can't stand the stuff I'm saying because of my Marxist overtones, I didn't think they were going to stand for Stanley's straight-up "white-people-this" and "white-people-that." As much as I disagree with Stanley, about everything, music is the one thing he knows something about, so I hope he does make a stink. The funny, fucked-up thing is that Stanley is a right-wing son of a bitch, but he's got the right to say some of the backward shit other people are saying.'" Village Voice
May 11, 2003
Political Animal
Shock Therapy for Police Recruits "The recruits heard a lecture, accompanied by shocking photos, about police practices in Nazi Germany from Peter Black, a museum historian. And Ms. Becker, associate director for law enforcement outreach for the Anti-Defamation League, explained the similarities between the mandates of the local police in the Third Reich and those of the recruits.
Her list included having knowledge of their communities, investigating suspicious behavior, marshaling power and responsibility, making good use of their training and experience, instilling trust in the public and ensuring the continuity of an orderly society.
Ms. Becker reminded the recruits that they would enforce laws they did not have a hand in writing, among people who often did not welcome them and under the scrutiny of an impatient, skeptical public. As she completed her analogy, it seemed to be dawning on the recruits that 60 years ago in Germany young men and women just like them, perhaps just as certain of their purpose, were blindly committing themselves to evil." Would that there were a black history museum where the "Without Sanctuary" exhibit could be permanently installed so these recruits could see shocking photos of police practices closer to home. Free registration required. New York Times
Music
Soul Men (and Women) of Memphis "The concert sequences, filmed mostly in and around New York City in recent years, demonstrate the durability of a style that continued to flourish below the mass-media radar long after disco supplanted soul in the mid-1970's. The movie also makes courtesy calls to Motown (to catch up with the former Supreme Mary Wilson, who sings a middling version of 'Love Child') and Chicago (the hometown of the Chi-Lites and Jerry Butler), where the soul music was sweeter and more cosmopolitan." Free registration required. New York Times
Books
'White Teeth' in the Flesh "Contrary to the ideas of your average male M.F.A. student, fiction writing is not really about power. Properly executed it becomes the exact opposite of worldly power. It neither hurts nor heals in any material sense; no phalanx of soldiers will broach borders for it, no one will lose or gain employment as a result, and no babies shall be birthed. Its sublime bloody uselessness — here lies its attraction for this particular novelist. For even if I am very bad at it, nothing too bad will come of it. I am a bit like my Archie Jones that way: the less practical effect I have in this world, the happier it makes me." Free registration required. New York Times