Hello. I was in back to back meetings yesterday and the same is on deck for today. As I’ve mentioned before, I am volunteering with a few other colleagues to establish a public, college preparatory boarding school here in Los Angeles. Our academy will serve a mixed population of underserved kids, but the mix will include a majority of foster kids. I’ve been with the project for almost 3 years now — my friends about 5 years — and counting.
Here’s the problem:
Los Angeles has the largest population of kids …

So it’s the night before the inauguration and Carmen is taking me to the Netroots Bash outside of Washington D.C. Everyone around me is in a state of paralytic bliss except me… I’m depressed as hell. Oh, thats right, I’m a Republican, all these people hate me, and they were enjoying the opportunity to let me know as much. My subway ride was a sobering and surreal affair. Chanting and clapping in cadence, the hordes of revelers were an unimaginable cult-like mass of humanity, the …

The most ravaging aspect of racism and bigotry is that they allow the racist or the bigot to strip away all nuance of humanity from entire groups of people. And when we don’t see the “other” as human, we can choose to do horrible things to them without much self-reflection.
I fall prey to the impulse of easy generalizations too, of course. I watch world events and start to feel that all of the brutal African dictators look alike, all of the radical Israeli West bank settlers look alike, all the …

In conversations with friends, I’ve been saying that the moment President Barack Obama took the Oath of Office last Tuesday, everything changed. I mean it in the sense that a new optimism and sense of pride now has a chance to take hold. I am hoping that President Obama makes it "cool" to excel in the classroom. I am hoping young people teased for "talking white" will find strength in our new President’s skilled oratory and understand that mastering standard American English is the thing to do. So many barriers …

UPDATE: Michelle Obama considers the dolls “inappropriate.” To read the full article click here.
One of the ripple effects of having a beautiful, traditional, first family of color, is that many of the broader stereotypical portrayals of the black family will become less influential in our society – and hopefully less ubiquitous. For many people, of all colors, seeing an affluent black family, headed by a father, is a new thing not experienced since “The Cosby Show.” And the lovely littlest Obama’s Sasha and Malia have warmed the hearts of almost …

The day after is here. It’s time for the hard work to begin. Our President has confirmed what I am sure most of us already knew; to turn around the USS America, it’s going to take all hands on deck and that means you and I are going to have to look out for our neighbor a little more carefully than maybe we have in the past.

But yesterday, Inauguration Day was really something. I watched with my mom, at her home in Washington DC as Barack Hussein Obama, our …

I’m very emotional, still processing it all.
Will write soon.

Perhaps because I am still grappling with the last stages of a brutal flu, I was slow to get excited about my trip to DC. I’m not a fan of big crowds and usually prefer the eagle’s eye vantage point I get from watching the biggest spectacles on television. Still, as a native Washingtonian with a mom who grew up in segregation and took part in the Civil Rights protests, I knew I had to get here to soak in the energy of our nation’s renewed hope.
I arrived at LAX …

I distinctly remember seeing ‘New Jack City’ on Friday night of its opening weekend. One of my BFF’s and I headed to Mann’s Chinese in Hollywood for an early show. It was still bright outside when we headed into the theater. As soon as we sat down my friend, who is bi-racial and self identifies as black, said, “Check out where all the exits are. If they start shooting, we’re outta here.” I responded, “Yea. Remember to drop and crawl to get to the doors.” Well, we watched the movie …

And the original from October…. “McCain on the right, Obama on the left – You can vote however you like…”

According to the Associated Press:
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A white former transit police officer accused of killing an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform has been arrested in Nevada on a warrant charging homicide, 12 days after the shooting that sparked violent street protests.
Johannes Mehserle, 27, was being held without bail Wednesday under a fugitive warrant issued from California, law enforcement officials said. Mehserle surrendered Tuesday without incident, according to a statement from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada.
Messages left late Tuesday and early …

So I should’ve gotten the flu shot. For the first time in more than a decade I’ve got a raging flu. And although I was shocked to see the mercury skirting up to 102 on my thermometer, my doctor says bed rest and fluids will take care of everything over time.
Whenever I get sick, I feel extra thankful that I have a warm, clean, comfortable home and time to do nothing but recuperate. I am very well aware that most people in the world do not have this.
At least …

As you may know, Oscar Grant had a criminal record.
Grant also had a criminal record; according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Grant served several months in state prison in 2007 and 2008. The Department of Corrections didn’t disclose the offenses for which Grant was sentenced.
Records at the main Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland indicate that Grant had 12 separate cases between April 12, 2004, and May 8, 2008. But the records for all of those cases are at the Hayward Hall of Justice and weren’t immediately available. …

So, in the wake of the inexcusable killing of Oscar Grant, a small group of people decide to rage around Bay area streets destroying property in hopes of changing…what?
Authorities said 105 people had been arrested in the protest over the fatal New Years Day shooting of Oscar Grant III after a splitter group broke off from the peaceful march and began trashing store fronts, breaking windows, setting fires and damaging at least one patrol car and several other vehicles.
“We live a life of fear and we want them to feel …

I figured this site needed a little beauty right now. Enjoy.
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