“So You Have a Problem With Men?” originally appeared on Persephone Speaks.com: Tuesday, February 19, 2008So You Have a Problem with Men? Tayari Jones is the author of two novels, The Untelling (2005), which wonContinue reading

Please see Jelani’s open letter below and support this brother. Go, Obama. Go! Dear Friends: I recently declared my candidacy for delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. If elected I will be one ofContinue reading

If you want to be among the luminaries of contemporary Black writing and thinking, then you attend the National Black Writers Conference. Yesterday, powerful ideas, encouragement, and joy in the celebration of Black writing predominated.Continue reading

Read Alice Walker’s essay on TheRoot.com and her daughter Rebecca’s comment , the first one on the site. Joy! Go, Obama. Go!

Thanks to Elizabeth Nunez and Tina McElroy Ansa for sending me this info: The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence was inaugurated last year to honor works of African-American fiction. The award carries aContinue reading

Thanks to Sabiyha Prince for sending me this: Open Letter to the New York Times — by Rev. Jeremiah Wright Open Letter (not published) to the New York Times Read more on BET.com. March 11,Continue reading

Malik Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party called FOX’s Sean Hannity out. According to Jason Linkins on The Huffington Post, Hannity asked Shabazz: “What I don’t think you’re understanding here, Malik, is that whenContinue reading

According to Philly.com, activist Mumia Abu Jamal has been removed from death row. Read the court opinion. Read earlier stories on Mumia.

Please listen to our conversation, where we move toward a definition of Black as distinct from African American, discuss the ways identity impacts the writing process, and suggest methods to identify well-crafted prose. (The distinguishedContinue reading

After Obama’s thrilling speech, one of the finest speeches in American history, a speech New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof compared to Kennedy’s speech on Catholicism and called “a symphony,” a speech theContinue reading

Please listen to my NPR “News & Notes” discussion of Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Obama’s speech on race with media assassin Harry Allen, Eric Brown of the Detroit News, and host Farai Chideya. HarryContinue reading

My good friend and Cosmo Girl! magazine Senior Editor Tara Roberts wrote an op-ed piece for TheRoot.com on why she supports Hillary. In it, she asks why race trumps gender and freely imagines a worldContinue reading

On Wednesday, March 12th I joined Guardian journalist Gary Younge and BET Vice President of News and Public Affairs Keith Brown in a discussion of Obama and the media. Dr. Noel Anderson organized and moderatedContinue reading

Today Barack Obama gave one of the most important speeches in American history. My sense is that Obama is carrying us forward, to a better place, one devoid of racialist thinking. Just stunning. We won’tContinue reading

Omar Wasow offers a fresh perspective on the Spitzer Sex Scandal media blitz. Read his short article on TheRoot.com, where he identifies Jack Johnson as the first victim of the Mann Law now being usedContinue reading

The finest show in American television history ended last night. HBO’s The Wire expressed life in Baltimore City this B-more girl and proud Westernite can testify is our truth. Props to David Simon for knowingContinue reading