Today, at age 75, Don Cornelius was found dead as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound authorities are calling a suicide. The tragic news jump-started Black History month. It was the end of the warm voice, the smooth cat-daddy composure, and the effortless swagger that was on full display for decades as the conductor of the Soul Train, the black community’s weekly TV party. For allowing us to ride on “the hippest trip in America,” Mr. Cornelius will always be remembered as the Afro-ed hero of a culture. Or will he?
PolitiFact Lie of the Year 2011: “Republicans voted to end Medicare”
Despite the extra scrutiny brought by the “big lie” (your interpretation) above, I appreciate fact-checking websites, and the rising industry that J-school professors and media pundits love to tut-tut these days. But who among us doesn’t find Washington Post’s Pinocchio icon chuckle-worthy? And how could any truth-seeker not bask in the flames of the “pants-on-fire” rating dispensed by PolitiFact’s truth-o-meter? Are you not entertained, people? But gimmicks aside, the explanations these sites offer are mostly thoughtful and transparent (also see: factcheck.org). With all the handwringing about “objectivity,” we should welcome the rise of fact-checker sites that attempt, in their way, to add more clarity to a fuzzy arena.
“You will no longer hear the buzz of African belly flies / There will not be a weekend wrap-up of the continuing Sudanese Genocide / There are far too many characters for every fallen hero to be eulogized / But the photo of your junk, it will be publicized…”
It’s true, a cappella rap battles ruined spoken word, mocking poetry slams’ finger-snapping pretension with WorldStar worthy debates about who “styled on” whom. But the message of Ronnie Butler, Jr.’s latest satirical poem Photographs of Your Junk (Will be Publicized) added a few extra layers to some important, if obvious, truisms. That is, the internet has ended privacy as we know it; and the nets can be a brain-draining wasteland, where social responsibility and intellectual curiosity
What will become of a broken country’s most vulnerable citizens? What follows is a very long story about Haiti’s Restavec children-known to some as “child slaves”-surviving in post-quake Haiti.
In a series of pre/post-quake interviews with the family pictured here, several restavec children and people who work on the issue, I search for answers.
Tim Scott at his first meeting with (Democratic-leaning) blacks in SC.
If you follow me on Twitter, you might recall some weeks back when I said I was on the campaign trail with South Carolina’s black Republican hopeful Tim Scott, who is a frontrunner in the race for the state’s 1rst congressional seat. Today it looks like Scott is about to make black Republican history as the first black Republican congressman from the south since Reconstruction. As the only reporter on duty when this black elephant quietly strutted into a meeting with black leaders; connected with black Democratic politicians; and embraced one white man who’d never imagined he’d vote for “a man of color,” I see the GOP’s race issue in a new light. Here, I’m on a three-stop mission with Tim Scott, as he offers a message to blacks everywhere: “Welcome to the Tea Party.”
“I feel like a black Republican, Money I got commin’ in/ Can’t turn my back on the hood, I got love for them”- Nas ft. Jay-Z, from “Black Republican”
As the first African-American Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele has a thankless job. Unlike Barack Obama’s historical first-black presidential break-through, which was celebrated as a “post racial” moment for all Americans, Steele has been mocked by blacks and kicked around by his fellow Republicans. Of course, it hasn’t helped that, since his appointment, his voice box has been replaced by a gaffe machine. He’s been beat down by his own party for calling the Afghanistan war one “of Obama’s choosing.” The establishment dissed him for promising to set the Republican party in more “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.” And he was smacked down by the GOP pro-lifers when he called abortion an “individual choice.” To be sure, there are many other instances in which Steele’s words caused a stir and based on his desire to speak his mind (see below), there will surely be more to come.
Morehouse College, the historically black institution for men, and Martin Luther King’s alma mater, has a girl problem—a “mean girl” problem to be exact. Aliya S. King’s latest story in VIBE magazine explores the lives of gender bending cross-dressers who fight for their right to express themselves. The story has been causing quite a stir. Before the story hit stands, the President of Morehouse said he was “insulted by what is to be published. Addressing our young men as ‘girls’ is deeply disturbing to me, no matter what the remainder of the article may say.” Here—thanks to my extra special inside track—Aliya S. King responds to the Morehouse president and explains the story behind the story.
By Erik Parker [Originally published in VIBE magazine April/May, 2010]
Haiti's pre-Carnival Celebration, two days before the quake. A chicken burns in the fire. (photo E. Parker)
OH MY GOD! Are you alright?!” It’s the morning after the earthquake and my wife answers the phone. She’s frantic. In the twelve hours since the quake hit, she’s heard nothing from me. I’ve been trying to get a call out every 20 minutes or so, but this is the first time my phone has rung. I search for words.
