Uptown Notes

On Sunday night, Kanye West once again burst into the limelight with his interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at […]

A look at what happens when race and gender are uncorked in a chicago eatery

Do you know some Black birthers? I bet you do!

Why I didn’t jump up and talk about swimming pools or Skip Gates … and maybe why you may not as well.

One of my favorite portions of Assata are the verses interspersed. In honor of our great freedom fighter Assata Shakur […]

What Michael Jackson taught me about Social Justice

I thoroughly enjoyed New Muslim Cool for its careful treatment of Hamza who beautifully embodies two of the most powerful social forces of the past 30 years: Hip-Hop and Islam. As a child of Hip-Hop and an admirer of Islam, I was pleased to see that the “new muslim cool” may just be the maturation of the old muslim cool.

The recent death of Chris Jones, attributed to a gang in suburbia has sparked more hysteria about the violence, gangs, and most importantly race without mentioning race.

This Sunday, in Harlem, find out and discuss the direction for the new Black Left.

I spend most days in the classroom teaching on issues of race, social class, mobility and opportunity. The discussions I have always intrigue me, particularly because most of my students are people of color from working class backgrounds. After listening and reading, I’m beginning to think the belief that anything is possible, clouds us from seeing what is probable. I say this not to be a pessimist, rather because I wonder what the line between naivete and willful denial of reality is. And if there are or what are the consequences for this thinning line for our people.