A gay African-American male friend of mine (no one you know, trust me) recently applied for a grad school grant/scholarship. He had gotten to the point were he was sure he was a lock to receive the grant. All that was left was a background check -- apparently this is a common step these days, and he knew he'd have no problem with it ( Read more... )

A few months ago I heard this wonderful NPR piece about the forgotten black soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day: A Distant Shore and the Segregated Units of D-Day
The moment that struck me most was the story of someone asking a Normandy tour guide about African-American soldiers' involvement on D-Day. The guide was like, "There ( Read more... )

Following are the remarks I wrote for Vassar's 18th Annual Kente Cloth Ceremony, which I emceed this past Saturday ( Read more... )

First read this:

• Why I Hate Blacks, a column by NYC-based Kenneth Eng. This was published a few days ago in AsianWeek, a specialty weekly paper based in San Francisco.

[Good commentary and follow-up can be found here.]Hmmmmm. Someone wasn't editing their mag properly, eh ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

Overheard last autumn in Maryland:
Barack Obama isn’t a threat to the U.S., is he?

(If that link doesn't work for you, I got it from here.)

All hail the opening of Club Platinum which (according to my darling HX Magazine) is "Philly's new alternative club catering to African American men and women seven days a week. Tuesday dom and fem nights, Wednesday all drinks for one dollar, and Thursday night Mega Men, male exotic dancers ( Read more... )

[ I was gonna go to this but a "prior" is engaging me the same evening. But I can pass the word on and hope some of y'all get out to see him. ]
Tim'm West
with Monica McIntyre, and others...
October 27, 2006 (this Friday!) at ( Read more... )

Some video selections, for your perusal... (Note: all links in this post open into a brand spanking new window.)

• Real Life vs. The Internet from GPrime.net . I find this one hilarious even though I don't get the videogame reference at all. It's just damn funny, IMHO. Ooooh, I just realized that they've got other videos too...
   
• Steven Colbert is ( Read more... )

Your Linguistic Profile:
60% General American English 25% Yankee 10% Dixie 5% Upper Midwestern 0% Midwestern
What Kind of
American English
Do You Speak?
So it may look like I'm jumping on the "What Kind of American English Do You Speak?" bandwagon a little late here, but actually I took the quiz on September 16, 2005. So I was a pioneer in ( Read more... )