Displaying more dignity and grace than most anyone else could have mustered under the circumstances, Haiti’s Ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, offered a precise explanation of history to address the odious comments Pat Robertson made yesterday while men, women and children lay trapped in agony.

I am absolutely sick of people defending hate filled oratory.
Trent Lott’s comments “weren’t said with malice”.
Rush Limbaugh’s “just trying to rile people up”.
Both words and deeds count.
Think about it.

People.
There’s trouble in our ‘hood.

Our neighbors are bleeding.
Our neighbors need our help.

Please do whatever you can.
Here’s what you can do:
Salvation Army – Haiti Earthquake Relief

American Red Cross – Haiti Earthquake – Red Cross Sends Aid and is seeking volunteers to go. Can you do it?
Via blackperspective.net:
Yobachi Boswell writes: “Food For The Poor is the organization I donated through in 2008, and I was happy with them.” At Yobachi’s urging I, too, donated to Food for the Poor in 2008 and the follow-up was very good.
Yele Haiti is Wyclef Jean’s …

I’ve just returned from three weeks away from the USA. I was visiting Switzerland as I do frequently. Though still wading through the fog of jet lag, I see that Switzerland and its excellent and accessible health care system is being bandied about as a role model for what universal, comprehensive, private, health insurance coverage could look like here in America. Guess what? The Swiss health care system would never fly here.
There are a couple of reasons. The first reason Swiss health care couldn’t work here? It’s because we don’t …

Note to the international community: cut it out! Stop using President Obama to sell snacks and services.
First there were "Obama Chicken Fingers" from Germany, now there’s "Duet" ice cream out of Russia to add to the subtly racist Obama food pyramid:
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian advertising agency has used an image resembling U.S. President Barack Obama to promote a new vanilla-and-chocolate ice cream, drawing the ire of human rights groups who said the ad was vulgar.
Ice Cream Plant No. 3 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg launched last week …

Poor Gordon Brown, he’s having a helluva week. First he’s taken on by the Governor of the Bank of England for overspending, and then he gets to sit uncomfortably as his guest, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, goes off on a racially charged, wince inducing tirade about the reason for the global financial mess:
‘This was a crisis that was fostered and boosted by irrational behaviour of people that are white, blue-eyed, that before the crisis looked like they knew everything about economics,’ he declared.
‘Now they have demonstrated that …

I am saddened by the violence in the Middle East. I do not agree with everything Israel has done nor do I think they are telling their side of the story effectively. I believe hospitals should have whatever they need to treat injured Gazans and residents should not be starved.

But, in what is a too short response, I’m with Israel on the decision to cripple Hamas.
The Field Negro offers one of my favorite posts on the current situation. I suggest you read it in its entirety. Field starts like this:
Quite …

Bees 1, Racists 0
In Bolivia this morning there’s an event going on that that’s sweetly symbolic. Plan 3,000 is the working class enclave that’s home to many Evo supporters in otherwise hostile Santa Cruz. The people there are sick of the way white racist scum continue to try and lord it over them and so they’re fighting back…with honey.
Eduardo Loayza is director of Radio Integración (yeah you got it, Radio Integration) and from 8am to 3pm today, November 30th 2008, anyone who turns up at the door of the radio …

In his latest audio, Ayman al-Zawahiri Al-Qaida’s number 2, has the gall to call President-elect Barack Obama "dishonorable" and a "house negro." According to the Associated Press:
CAIRO,Egypt (AP) – Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri insulted Barack Obama in the terror group’s first reaction to his election, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.
The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Al-Zawahri said in the …

From the Associated Press:
Computers go on sale to general public in Cuba for 1st time
4 days ago
HAVANA — Cubans are getting wired. Computers went on sale to the general public on the communist island on Friday and potential consumers were lining up outside store windows to gawk and consider buying.
President Raul Castro’s government had authorized the sale of personal computers to average Cubans more than a month ago, but they were not made available until Friday.
Computer sales are the latest of a series of measures Castro has taken to …

I feel so much anger, sadness and frustration around the issue of genocide in Darfur that it’s been hard to create a post that’s more motivating than damning. But as I see it, I don’t have the right to be sad about the genocide in Darfur really.

Women raped with weapons and branded by their attackers have the right to be sad.

Men who’ve had their eyes gouged out trying to protect their village and the women and children within it have the right to be sad.
Children whose crayon drawings depict …

Contributor Carole McDonnell’s short stories and essays appear online and in print, in speculative fiction, ethnic, and Christian publications. She lives in New York with her husband, two sons, and their pets. Wind Follower, published by Juno Books, is Carole’s first novel. Her voice adds plenty to our discussion, so I welcome Carole and her column Faith in Color to Allaboutrace.com.
I am often suddenly reminded that the notion we westerners have about ourselves, each other, and folks in the rest of the world is often a notion filtered through Hollywood …

Precious left this as a comment in the Open Thread and I think her story provides an interesting look at race as experienced by a biracial South African/Austrian.
Hi Carmen
I am a young woman living in Vienna, Austria now for 15 years. I thought I would like to share some thoughts with you, maybe it would help. I have also being laughed at a few times with no explanation, starred at insulted and have received a few nice compliments too.
I am actually mixed, my father is white and my mother …