Uptown Notes

For a few years now, Michael Steele has been trying to meet me on Beat Street by being more “Hip-Hop” [...]

The term racial profiling has been part of my vocabulary and reality for nearly 15 years now, but it shouldn’t [...]

So for the past few years I’ve been jousting with my family and loved ones around the issue of same [...]

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.

A brief round-up of the best pieces on Sotomayor’s nomination by Barack Obama for the Supreme Court.

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.

The conservative news magazine has been really consistent with their critique and analysis of Obama, check out the March and April Covers.

Over a year ago, controversy over the Kahlil Gibran International Academy unfolded, if you don’t know who Kahlil Gibran was stop reading and click here – yeah, he’s that important, in Brooklyn. The visible battle over the mission of the school, its practices, and its leadership put the academy in the national spotlight for discussions of ethnicity, language, religion and identity. But soon, this spotlight faded and many have forgotten that the school still is in operation. Colorlines runs a great web article by Seth Wessler entitled, “Silenced in the classroom” on what is happening with the school now.

Yesterday Outgoing President George W. Bush gave a speech on the market at the Manhattan Institute, this is probably my [...]

Well, it looks like Proposal 2 passed in the state of Michigan last night 58% to 42%. The passing of [...]