245 Search results for "abuse of power"

Dear Yemaja (Lucumi/Santeria Mother Goddess), Last year, I wrote a blog entitled, Some Natural Disasters are not so Natural but Vodou (Spirit) will Prevail. Yes, I wrote that Spirit and Spirits would rise and rattle those who seek to indebt and control Haiti. I wrote that Haiti would rise. I wrote that Vodou—a spiritual and […]

This month Vibe Magazine featured an open letter from Karrine Steffans telling of her struggle to leave an abusive relationship. What Karrine Steffans is known for is her truth-telling first about the gender and sexual violence of being a “video vixen”in the rap industry and now she is known for her truth telling about her […]

I was blessed last week to hear one of our most profound scholars Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu. His lecture was an alarm bell sounding the state of emergency in our communities especially economically. One of the incredible stats he presented was that the black community combined made $836 billion dollars last year, but we spent only […]

…Tuskegee and Guatemala are drops in the bucket when it comes to testing on vulnerable populations. However, I will say what often makes some of the medical mistreatment of blacks so egregious is that we have been such important catalysts to medical discovery. So while Tuskegee was happening, whether blacks were infected intentionally or got syphilis on their own accord, there was a cure available. The withholding of treatment was not some random clerical error.

History always has a way of repeating itself. Madonna & Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin & Christine O’Donnell, Mike Tyson & Chris Brown. When debating in the hallowed halls of Congress many elected officials use history as vital reference points for their arguments in favor or opposition of legislation. Ideally the historical roadmap should guide the […]

If the Southern segregationists had to assemble an ideal 4 X 100 meter relay team they would probably be unstoppable. Senator Trent Lott would be the first leg. Since he believes that all the problems in the United States could’ve been avoided had Strom Thurmond been elected President in 1948, he will get a fast […]

“Fuck the Police!!!” I have lost count. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I have heard the above phrase in my life. In my experience, people in the hood have a distaste for the police. I am not sure of the exact reason. In the house that I grew up in, people who […]

In high schools and colleges popular portrayals make male athletes out to be strong, powerful… and invincible?  The worst part is that lots and lots of misogynistic males buy into this hero-worship and view becoming an athlete as a lifestyle. This dynamic is demonstrated in high schools where the teenage jocks are at the “coolest” […]

At the tender age of 23, and just one album into her solo career, Lauryn Hill was catapulted unexpectedly into mega-stardom, and looked upon with an almost divine level of adoration and respect. Clearly, Hill was not ready for it….

I speak as a – a sister of a sister. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on my birthday. And for over 30 years, Coretta Scott King and I have telephoned, or sent cards to each other, or flowers to each other, or met each other somewhere in the world. We called ourselves “chosen sisters” […]

A short while ago I wrote about Tiger Woods’ fall from mixed-race grace. The same tumble Obama is currently taking. They are both–Barack and Tiger, two wildly popular individuals in powerful positions, in white male dominated fields–politics and golf. If only I could say the similarities ended there. In my first column about Tiger Woods […]

Jimmy Santiago Baca, a leading contemporary Latino poet writing in the United States, reminds us that “Poetry’s mission is to subvert, to question, to challenge, provoke, to flail one’s vulnerability and voice into the marvelous whirlwind of poetry’s awe, flagging at the horns of the raging beast that is societies gluttonous comfort…affirm poetry at any […]