The Loss Independence Produced

By Tikia K. Hamilton

In my estimation, one of the other reasons why my family no longer gathers for holidays such as today has to do with the nature of the society we live in. As young people have grown up and sought “independence”—one of the hallmarks of American society, of course—the emphasis that was once placed on family and communal values has diminished. In African-American communities in particular – communities linked to a history whereby kinship groups once exalted the family or clan, above individualism, this tradition has subsided tremendously.

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Is Fifty keeping it real or just running Game?

by Anthony Robinson

03/11/05

Many in the hip hop world thought they were witnessing a replay when two rising hip hop stars recently engaged in verbal warfare that spilled into the streets. The dispute stems from the Game’s departure from Fifty’s G-Unit family though both remain with the Interscope label. Fifty and Game disagreed on how it went down but what both seemed to agree on was that the Game was no longer part of Fifty’s G-Unit clique.

A member of the Game’s Black Wall Street crew was wounded after shots were fired between the two factions in front of New York City’s Hot97 radio station early last week. While I am encouraged by Fifty Cent and Game’s mutually agreed truce, I am aware of the criticism both will face in the days and weeks ahead from the many individuals who embrace and even romanticize the “thug life”.

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From Living Color to Living with Oscar

by Anthony Robinson


Jamie Foxx’s ascension to the Academy Award for Best Actor seemingly came out of nowhere. Remember, Foxx first caught our attention on Keenan Ivory Wayan’s “In Living Color” in the early 1990’s. Who knew watching Foxx dress in “drag” to play “Wanda” would lead to an Oscar a little over a decade later? It is still praiseworthy but a little less unique when I remembered Tom Hanks started his career in similar fashion. What Generation X person could forget Hanks in the sitcom “Bosom Buddies?”

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Tuesday, January 18, 2005

IS IT TOO LATE TO SELLOUT?
by G. Dan Buford
12/06/04

We live in a generation where people think of a crossover as Iverson on the perimeter giving Jordan a few reasons why he should have stayed retired.

Twenty years ago, in high school, a crossover was what we called that lone minority kid in a clique of 10 to 20 whites. If my school had been in suburbia, perhaps he could have gotten a pass. What bothered us most about students like him were how his mannerisms mimicked the others in the group in which he traveled, as if clearly stating his desires to be the other.

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