by Latoya Peterson

Reader Crash Happy tipped me to this provocative article published on SoulBounce, asking “How Can Justin Timberlake Still Objectify Black Women and Get Away with It?”
Contributing editor Ro writes:
Someone please explain why Justin Timberlake continually gets a pass to fetishize and exploit the image of Black women. Right now. Because after watching him [...]

by Guest Contributor Matt Egan

Starring Liev Schrieber and Daniel Craig, directed by Edward Zwick, Defiance tells the story of the Bielskis, Jews who fought the Nazis in the woods of what is now Belarus. Zwick is Jewish. Schreiber is Jewish and has done a number of Jewish-themed projects lately, including the relatively unsuccessful adaptation of [...]

by Guest Contributor Jen, originally published at Disgrasian
When I was at Yale, Mixed Company had the reputation of being the “funny singing group.” You know, as opposed to the “hot singing group” (that would have been the Baker’s Dozen, or the “BD’s” for men, and Something Extra, aka “Sextra,” for women) or the “serious singing [...]

by Special Correspondent Nadra Kareem
The Daily Mail has published an article about a British postmaster’s controversial move: He’s refusing to serve customers who don’t speak English. Complicating matters is that the postmaster, who works in a culturally diverse section of Nottingham, is of Sri Lankan decent. He became a naturalized British citizen 17 years [...]

Hosted by Special Correspondent Arturo R. García

We’re back!
After our brief hiatus, your Friendly Neighborhood Snark Merchants are back, with two new additions: everybody, please, welcome Diana and Andrea to the team, as they join Erica and Mahsino in going over “Cold Snap,” a surprisingly eventful (not to mention decent) episode. So let’s get to it!
Going [...]

By Guest Contributor Tami, originally published at What Tami Said

This weekend, I received the following breathless entreaty through a listserv that I subscribe to:
Ebony/Jet Magazine on The Verge of Financial Collaspse (J P)
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:45:31 -0400
One of the most notable permanent fixtures in every [...]

by Carmen Van Kerckhove
“Why? Because… because… it’s just the right thing to do!”
Is that what you blurt out every time you try and convince your colleagues about the importance of diversity?
No wonder you’re not getting anywhere!
I wish it weren’t true, but the reality is this: Proclaiming that your organization has a moral responsibility to work [...]

by Special Correspondent Thea Lim

On Tuesday Samhita Mukhopadhyay posted the article Understanding the Dialogue Around Lovelle Mixon on Feministing, discussing the case and response to Lovelle Mixon. A 26 year-old black man and parolee in Oakland, last weekend Mixon died after shooting and killing four Oakland police officers.
Some excerpts from Mukhopadhyay’s article:
I do not [...]

by Latoya Peterson
*Note – Spoilers and lengthy.*

My mother would never win any awards, believe me. You could call her an absentee parent: if she wasn’t at work she was sleeping and when she was around it seemed all she did was scream and hit. As kids, me and Oscar were more scared of [...]

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

Addicted to Race is New Demographic’s podcast about America’s obsession with race. Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find in this episode:
What are the race and gender implications of the Chris Brown and Rihanna dating violence scandal? Why is an American-born honors student being forced to prove she can speak English? And [...]

by Special Correspondent Arturo R. García, also Posted At The Instant Callback
My, my, Micah, how you’ve grown.
Even if it was the worst-kept secret on the show, the youngest Sanders’ return to the fold was one of several nice touches this week, making “Cold Snap” a welcome turn for the better from the past couple of [...]

Excerpted by Latoya Peterson

Let me start by saying that from where I stand, collective discourse, debate, dissent and demand are crucially necessary for building the political will to advance African Americans’ equity claims. Black voice is critical to this process. I am focused here on that part of black voice that prioritizes political strategies and [...]

by Guest Contributor Sumeia Williams, originally published at Ethnically Incorrect

I came across an article on the Pact website written by Elizabeth Bartholet. In it she says:

The research does indicate some interesting differences in transracially-adopted people’s attitudes about race and race relations, which critics of transracial adoption cite as evidence that supports their position. But this [...]

Compiled by Latoya Peterson
The Daily Beast – Obama’s ‘Third Culture’ Team
John Quincy Adams lived in France, and young Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Europe often enough to master French and German, but Barack Obama is the first modern American president to have spent some of his formative years outside the United States. It is a trait [...]

by Latoya Peterson

Joined by Phil Yu (Angry Asian Man), Jay Smooth (Ill Doctrine), and Kety Esquivel (NCLR and Cross Left), I moderated a panel at SXSW called “Can Social Media End Racism.”
We organized the panel over email (and one lively dinner discussion) and came up with the main outline for the session.
We began by playing [...]