Educate and excite, inform and infuriate.
May 2nd, 2008 — Africa, Controversy, Journalism, Media, Politics, Race, Religion
Photo by ProtestShooter.com
“Hillary ain’t never been called a n-gger!”
Have you noticed that, of all Jeremiah Wright’s decontextualized quotes, this one has been completely dropped out of the mediated discussion of his statements?
When USA Today‘s Donna Leinwand, vice-president of the National Press Club, moderated the now-infamous Q&A with him on Monday, she asked him about Farrakhan, AIDS, “chickens coming home to roost,” etc., but not one question about this statement.
Why?
April 30th, 2008 — Africa, Controversy, Crime, Gaming, Law, Race, Sports
Beats dogfighting any day: Three of Sean Bell’s five killers
This past December, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in Federal prison for dogfighting.
Of what significance is the fact that, for that cruel sport, he will serve far more time than New York Police Department detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora, and Marc Cooper, above, will do for killing Queens resident Sean Bell, in a hail of 50 bullets, the morning of his wedding day? Continue reading →
April 21st, 2008 — Africa, Black Music, Entertainment, Music Video, Pop Culture, TV
No, your eyes do not deceive you, and, no, we will not see the likes of it again: That’s Luciano Pavarotti and James Brown, together, performing “This Is A Man’s World.” (Brown died in December 2006, Pavarotti in September 2007.)
April 17th, 2008 — Africa, Black Music, Controversy, Crime, Entertainment, Hip-Hop, Journalism, Magazines, Pop Culture
“I’m sorry…I meant to go to jail!”: Akon makes a mean face
I’m not even an Akon fan. However, I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to write that headline before another blog did.
The Huffington Post got to The Smoking Gun earlier than the rest of us did, pointing out what rigorously fact-checked hip-hop magazines should have known a long time ago: When Senegal-born singer-songwriter-producer Akon
settled on “Konvicted” for the title of his second album, which sold nearly three million copies last year … “Kontrived” might have been a more accurate choice.
Akon’s ad nauseum claims about his criminal career and resulting prison time have been, to an overwhelming extent, exaggerated, embellished, or wholly fabricated, an investigation by The Smoking Gun has revealed.
February 21st, 2008 — Africa, Culture, Politics, Race
I came across these stats a week ago:
In 2005, the U.S.-led Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria made a financial commitment to attacking those diseases in Uganda. The grant package’s worth totaled $367 million.
In 2008, according to the National Retail Federation, Valentine’s Day spending on U.S. pets was expected to reach $367 million.
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