African American Issues

Latest Articles

In 'The Tradition'

Bannister’s ‘Five From Providence’ honors its namesake
In 1978, Rhode Island College presented “Four from Providence.” The exhibit was a call to revitalize the reputations of four Providence artists of color who had often been overlooked since their peaks in the late 19th and early 20th century.
By GREG COOK | June 10, 2010

Freedom Watch: Speak no evil

Why are African-American leaders silent about slavery in Sudan?
It wasn’t the first time members of the Congressional Black Caucus had heard – and done nothing about – Sudan’s dirty secret. Even before a recent House international-relations subcommittee hearing on human-rights violations in Sudan, they knew that kidnapping and slavery had become a barbarous byproduct of Sudan’s bloody holy war.
By TIM SANDLER | May 20, 2010

A black leadership silent on abortion fabrications

Choice
Last month, controversial anti-abortion-rights billboards appeared in Georgia hinting that abortion is a tool of black genocide.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | March 24, 2010

Ask A Black Woman: Criminal intent edition

Diverse City
Ask A Black Woman: Why are Blacks committing all the crimes lately in Maine and doesn't this say something about Black people's natural inclinations?
By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | March 03, 2010

The power of money

Shame on the nation's biggest health insurer; shame on the Black Caucus
While a cadre of conservative Democrats continues to conspire with Washington's mendacious Republican minority to block national health-care reform, the nation's largest health-benefits company — amusingly called WellPoint — is going about its business of screwing policyholders and scoring record profits in the process.
By EDITORIAL | February 18, 2010

Keep streets safe and children in school

Letters to the Boston editor, February 19, 2010
Thank you for your very insightful "War Over Peace" article.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | February 17, 2010

Ask a Black Woman: Harry Reid edition

Diverse City
Just in time for Black History Month, another installment of "Ask a Black Woman," thanks to JT in Portland who in early January asked me: What's your take on the Harry Reid thing?
By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | February 03, 2010

Is there 'hope' in Hollywood?

Three controversial (and sure to be Oscar-nominated) films tackle race in the age of Obama
Buoyed by President Barack Obama's campaign slogan, many had hopes for change after his election.
By PETER KEOUGH | January 29, 2010

Rainbow Nation

The US isn't the only country exploring its complex racial history. South Africa prepares for its moment in the sun.
After a torturous history of being treated like second-class citizens, the black population in this country stunned the world by pulling off the unimaginable: voting a black man in as president.
By LANCE GOULD | January 28, 2010

Booked solid

A hefty season of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry
The holidays are over — time to hit the books.
By BARBARA HOFFERT | January 04, 2010

Deep cuts

Kara Walker's emotional film at Bowdoin College Museum of Art
The beauty of Kara Walker's silhouettes lies in their concurrent brutality and daintiness, and in her unabashed exploration cutting to the meat of the black-and-white binary in American contemporary culture.
By ANNIE LARMON | November 24, 2009

Menino, again

Plus: Latino gains, same-sex defeat, and a buzz for pot
At a time when Americans are racked by anxiety about the uncertain future of a weak economy, Boston voters handily returned Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to an unprecedented fifth term.
By EDITORIAL | November 04, 2009

Holding his punches

The pundits think a desperate Michael Flaherty needs to throw haymakers at the mayor, but he insists steady pressure will win the fight
All year, Boston’s political observers have been watching for signs of an anti-Menino tipping point in the mayoral race.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | October 21, 2009

Final four?

The City Council preliminary is seldom a preview of the finish. But this time, it just might be.
Some of Boston's savviest political insiders were confident of one thing going into last week's preliminary election: the top four finishers in the at-large City Council race would not be the same quartet to actually win those four seats in November.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 30, 2009

Ask the black woman

Diverse City
I've lived in Maine for seven years and been writing for this fine publication for about five, and during that time I've covered a wide array of subjects on the issue of diversity in Maine.
By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | August 19, 2009

Who's next?

What the Banner 's closure means for Boston's African-Americans
If Melvin B. Miller has his way, last week's shutdown of the Bay State Banner — the African-American-focused weekly paper Miller ran as editor and publisher for nearly half a century — won't be the end.
By ADAM REILLY | July 21, 2009

King, as in mayor

Another page from an optimist's agenda
To begin with, I'd like to set down the political and ideological frame of reference under which I try to live.
By TOM SHEEHAN | July 13, 2009

Art in America

From the Old West to middle-class guys
The legend of the Old West's cowboys and Indians, flinty pioneers and buffalo killers, sheriffs and gunslingers started with the tall tales that cowboys themselves told of their glorious exploits.
By GREG COOK | June 19, 2009

Review: American Violet

Racism is bad
Arrested for a crime she didn't commit, Dee Roberts is enlisted by an ACLU lawyer (Tim Blake Nelson) to sue the county for racist intent and stop the DA from what is continually referred to as "terrorizing the black community."
By JASON O'BRYAN | April 28, 2009

Swan song for Southie?

As circumstances have changed for Irish Bostonians, the political talent pool in South Boston has dried up. Plus, voting a black slate?
South Boston is famous for producing politicians the way Detroit is known for manufacturing automobiles.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 22, 2009

Lawmakers to probe prison

Several investigations begin simultaneously
For years controversy has churned over the Maine State Prison's treatment of both inmates and correctional officers. For the first time, legislators have taken action.
By LANCE TAPLEY | April 08, 2009

Blackballed

If Chuck Turner is innocent, why is he aligning himself with a coterie of disreputable African-American leaders?
Turner might want to avoid hitching his fortunes to those of such utterly disreputable pols as former DC mayor Marion Barry, ex-Newark mayor Sharpe James, and Dianne Wilkerson.
By CHRIS FARAONE | March 10, 2009

Black like him?

Obama is, apparently, our first African-American president. But is that the identity he touted as a candidate?
Whatever your race — and whatever you think of his résumé, or his politics, or his yen for tax-cheating cabinet nominees — Barack Obama's arrival in the Oval Office is something to celebrate.
By ADAM REILLY | February 11, 2009

Mixed Magic's When Fate Comes Knocking

Living history
It's been said before and it'll be said again: the election of Barack Obama casts a new light on the Civil Rights Movement. Or, in Ricardo Pitts-Wiley's words, "We get to tell the story in a different way."
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | February 12, 2009

Review: Rebound!

The Celtics and the busing rift
According to Boston Herald writer Michael Connelly, the deep racial wounds opened up by the Boston busing crisis of the mid '70s first began to heal when whites and blacks came together to support the Boston Celtics' championship team of 1981.
By KEN BROCINER | February 13, 2009

Nice to meet you

Diverse city
Hello, I'm Black America, and I just wanted to introduce myself. You'll be seeing a lot of me now that the Obama family is in the White House.
By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | February 04, 2009

Uh, race still matters, folks

Diverse city
In a few short days Barack Obama will go from being our first black president-elect to our first black president. Yes siree, the black guy is finally going to be in charge. We finally did it. Welcome to post-racial America!
By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | January 07, 2009

Black or blue

MLK EVENTS
What if blue eyes were like black skin?
By DEIRDRE FULTON | January 07, 2009

Sports Blotter: A farewell to OJ

Any columnist covering this field who failed to note O.J. Simpson’s lamentable change of status from in-it-to-win-it sports-crime competitor to DQ’d resident of High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, Nevada, would be grossly derelict in his duties.
By MATT TAIBBI | December 30, 2008

Corrections changes

NAACP leader challenges Maine prison policies
Like a movie hero, the NAACP’s new, young national president, Benjamin Jealous, swept into the 900-inmate Maine State Prison in Warren on Monday, quelling protests among the prisoners and, at least temporarily, rescuing the organization’s prison chapter from being snuffed out by state corrections officials.
By LANCE TAPLEY | December 10, 2008