Rights and Democracy
Rape 101
Prospective female students may have a new question for admissions counselors as part of the college decision-making process: How likely am I to be raped on your campus? This is no idle inquiry. According to new statistics, women have a 1-in-5 chance of being the...
The Snide World of Sports
When Michael Sam became the first openly gay football player drafted into the NFL, he also made sports TV history by kissing his boyfriend on camera. And he has no harsher critics than his fellow athletes. The public is rapidly growing more tolerant of LGBT Americans,...
Saved by Swing
Fifteen years ago, I'd boxed myself into a job and lifestyle that didn't suit me. Lindy Hop legend Frankie Manning led me to dance my way to a better place. I was covering global crises as a financial reporter. Writing snappy articles about soulless International...
Backsliding on Educational Equality
I believe that landmark Supreme Court rulings like Brown v. Board of Education gave me a better chance to get a great education and to reach my potential. And I am very thankful for everything Civil Rights leaders accomplished — big and small. Their struggle made it...
Navigating Back to Segregation
Fashion-Minded Men Hop Aboard Yummy Train
Attention, men. Yes, you people with Y chromosomes — it's time for some man-talk. Specifically, we need to address how you dress. First, the good news: At long last, the "metrosexual" look, style, demeanor, and even the idea of the metrosexual man are dead. I know...
Hyping the GOP’s Prospects in 2014
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is forecasting a "tsunami" victory for his party in the 2014 midterm elections. Democrats are despairing over election-forecasting whiz kid Nate Silver's projections, which indicate that the GOP may gain six Senate...
Supremely Mistaken about Affirmative Action
In a disturbingly lopsided 6-2 vote, the United States Supreme Court once again became a willing accomplice in the recent onslaught of attacks on 60 years of civil rights progress. Less than a year after it effectively dismantled the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the...
Apartheid America
What do you think when you hear the word "apartheid"? For most folks, it evokes images of Nelson Mandela's fight to integrate South Africa in the face of extreme racial segregation and brutal violence. Maybe it's a word you associate with the past. But segregation...
Our Law-killers Are Back in the Saddle
They're back. They're rested. They're ready! I'm talking about our Congress critters. They've returned to their workplace after enjoying a badly needed and two-week-long Easter vacation. After all, it had been a full four weeks since their last vacation in March, and...
