US
Opportunity knocks for Sarah Palin
This is my latest piece for The Guardian:
Sarah Palin speaks during the Tea Party convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Photograph: Josh Anderson/Reuters
Sarah Palin may not know that Africa is a continent, but if there is knowledge that she is not lacking, it’s a canny ability to spot, and seize, any opportunity that will propel her into the spotlight.
Palin’s [...]
Happy Martin Luther King Day and why we must keep on dreaming
Happy Martin Luther King day! I wrote a piece for The Guardian – “King dream meets Obama’s reality” - on Obama’s first year in office and what it means for Martin Luther King’s vision for America.
The crux of the piece is that one person cannot singlehandedly change everything, particularly in the space of one year. We [...]
Black British film renaissance
On a recent trip back to London, I attended a couple of events that made me feel really pleased. One was the launch event for The TV Collective, a newly launched group aimed at Black and Asian professionals working in the TV and Film industry. The event – a conversation between Pat Younge, formerly head [...]
How to hold Obama accountable
I have been accused of being an Obama butt-kisser. Apparently I am not critical enough of him.
There have been some people, especially in the black community, who feel that it is their duty to criticize the president at every turn. This, they believe, keeps him ‘accountable’ and helps him to do his job properly. Except [...]
Obama’s Cairo speech: America & Islam look to the future, together
Embedded video from CNN Video
As you can see, I thought the speech that Obama gave in Cairo (which is in Africa by the way, not the Middle East) was excellent. President Obama clearly realizes that in order to create something new, in order to transform a situation, you have to start from a place of [...]
What does an improvement in race relations actually mean?
According to a new CBS/New York Times poll, perceptions of race relations are at an all time high. They say:
For the first time in CBS News polling history, a majority of blacks are casting race relations in the United States in a positive light.
It was also found however that:
Despite the increasingly positive perceptions, however, most [...]
Rush Limbaugh for president
Now that RNC Chair Michael Steele has apologized to Rush Limbaugh, in their mini-battle over who is the de-facto leader of the Republican party, does this mean that Republican party members – that is, actual politicians – consider Limbaugh their leader?! From the way it’s going, it looks like it may be Obama v Limbaugh [...]
Changing Race: New Faces Need New Messages
Bobby Jindal’s lacklustre address last week may perhaps have been the death knell for his future as the great hope for the GOP.
His national debut, which has been badly received by Republicans and Democrats alike, perhaps also gave the Republicans yet another well-needed lesson in how they use a politician’s minority status (in terms of [...]
Race: White Privilege, Black Disadvantage
In a recent article – “Saying Sorry For Slavery Isn’t Enough” – that I wrote for the Guardian about the US House of Representatives’ apology for slavery, one of the readers made a comment to the effect that he/she is white and is sick of hearing about race.
This type of comment is one that particularly [...]
Obama & The Rest Of The World
If the rest of the world could vote in the American elections, Barack Obama would certainly win. The adulation that he was greeted with on his tour of Europe, the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan show as much. Obama symbolizes a great deal to a world fed up with President Bush.
Americans, however, seem not to [...]