Uptown Notes

Strom Thurmond has passed away at 100 years old. Well, the last death mentioned was Maynard Jackson, a great civil rights advocate. Strom was the kind of folk that Maynard had to be active against.

Also, not all victories in Court this week have been on the side of civil rights. In a first ammendment victory to some, loss to myself (and anyone else with their head screwed on), a firefighter and police officer were found to have been wrongfully fired for participating in a float that mocked the James Byrd dragging in Texas.

And in one of his scariest, yet smart, political moves thus far Ward Connerly has vowed to come to Michigan and host a ballot initiative to remove race as a factor in higher education admissions. This is a pretty savy move because a local ballot initiative can block “the law of the land.”

And lastly, the hip-hop generation is finally getting some props for its intellectual depth. No, you probably won’t ever see these folks on the BET awards, but it’s a beginning!