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September 25, 2003
Political Animal
Black = Terrorist = Thug: The New Racial Profile? 
"'This isn't anything racist,' Webster replied, apropos of nothing. 'Sometimes these things just happen.'" Village Voice
Sports
Smooth Operators "Of course, some athletes have always lived life on the (razor’s) edge: swimmers (who allegedly shave to cut down on drag) and cyclists (who shave so that leg scrapes can easily be bandaged for faster healing) and bodybuilders and professional wrestlers (who have always been just totally weird about their bodies). But basketball players—and football players (like Jeremy Shockey, who proudly shows off his noticeably sleek pits by hiking up his jersey sleeves)—define masculine norms in America. Where pro athletes in this country go, average men follow. And at the moment, pro athletes are straying into territory once occupied mainly by transvestites and pre-op transsexuals." New York Magazine
September 21, 2003
Music
Will The Real Feminem Please Stand Up “To some extent, this is a case of gender trumping genre and race: Women of any sort have a hard time transcending sex-toy status, convincing the world that their musical skill is more than some fashion or style they slip in and out of for pop America’s viewing pleasure. It’s hard to imagine even a black female rapper being marketed as, say, the female 50 Cent, sporting a nine-bullet halo and declaring herself harder than an algebra equation. A woman—especially a black woman—who is that “real” is also far too emasculating to please any male audience: black, white or other.” Salon.com
September 20, 2003
Music
When Rap Sounds Anything but Urban "Such celebration of Southern folksiness isn't new in hip-hop. Eleven years ago, Arrested Development became one of Southern hip-hop's first crossover successes with 'Tennessee,' a wistful, bohemian-influenced song about the scars of history. But the group was a one-hit wonder. In the years since, Southern rappers like Outkast, Juvenile and Master P. have become multiplatinum sellers though their lyrical themes are less rustic than those of Arrested Development. Nevertheless their success focused attention on the South and opened doors for rappers like Bubba and Nappy Roots, whose rhymes deal with the vicissitudes of Southern life. In the hands of these rappers, the idea of a dirt-poor, time-out-of-mind South has become as compelling as the exploits of gangstas and drug dealing. It is "keeping it real" of another order." New York Times
Music
Did 'Cosby' Do Better in College? "In Hillman's all-black world, dissent could bubble up. Characters mocked one another's Afrocentrism or buppie pretensions. They examined insider issues, like skin color preference and black macho. Despite its broad mainstream audience, the show even began to take oddball stylistic risks right out of experimental theater, incorporating blackface and minstrel-style performance art. In an episode from Season 6, Dwayne and Whitley bicker about gender politics after a Halloween party; Dwayne passes out and has a florid, episode-long dream in which Ms. Guy plays a swaggering 'Jill Blinton' and Mr. Hardison plays a mighty freaked-out black male Hillary." I loved this show. New York Times
September 19, 2003
Beef-a-Real
Teen-adult dating not rare "'When this guy met Shemeka, he said he was 19 years old,' said Tracie Turner, Patterson's aunt. 'When the mama found out, she had them break up.'" Houston Chronicle
September 12, 2003
Genealogy
When Racial Discrimination Is Not Just Black and White "White families have begun to acknowledge mixed-race connections after centuries of denial. But the attitudes of some Native Americans have not evolved in the same way. Both the Seminole and the Cherokee tribes have employed discriminatory policies to prevent black members from receiving tribal benefits — and to strip them of the right to vote in tribal elections." New York Times
September 7, 2003
Music
All Hail the Ice Queen "Because of these irregular melodic phrases and unrhymed lyrics, it always takes a moment to adjust to Björk's songs. They can sound clumsy at first, strangely forced, unfocused or simply incomprehensible. The end result, though, is that her music has a freshness, an air of the unexpected, that is unusual. In most pop songs, an attentive listener can pick up the basic structure almost immediately. Consciously or not, he or she anticipates the rhymes, the call and response of the phrases. Björk's songs keep even the most exacting listeners a little off balance. There are no rhymes to guess at, no way of predicting what will come next. They force you to listen intensely." Exactly. Salon
September 3, 2003
Music
Being Black at Bob Jones U. “'Okay,' he says. 'The idea is you’re an eyewitness to this happening and you’re sharing it with us in your cabin, as it were.' Then Dave tells him to raise his wrists as in shackles over his head. He tells him to mimic rubbing salve on the wounds of a beaten man. It’s a jarring moment in the universe: One of the college’s few black students being told how to perform for a lily-white Bob Jones audience what it means to be enslaved in 1843. I can’t help but wonder how the 11th grade curriculum will treat the era of desegregation, but no one else in Studio 5 seems worried about it. The small team bows heads to pray that this will go smoothly and they roll the film." Killing the Buddha