It’s no accident that the rhetoric around Trump has shifted from “he’ll be impeached the moment the Democrats take the House” to “oh, it would be a mistake to impeach him, we don’t have the[…]
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Category: Social Issues
We Invented the Remix, Part II
Last time, we looked at hip-hop sampling as a outgrowth of African polyphony, a way of creating something new by placing a different and contrasting line over the original. But there is more to it[…]
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Black Music As Philosophy: We Invented the Remix, Part I
Hip-hop music is unique. It has been multiracial from the start, and it has been embraced and naturalized all over the globe, and yet it still retains a basic, unbreakable connection with its natal black[…]
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Not Playing the Background
Out of all the great black American talents, the ones who have arguably fared the best are the singers and musicians. While it may only be a fraction of what they deserve, they have at[…]
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The Power-Morality Gap
One simple principle explains so many of the mysteries of modern life: the Power-Morality Gap. You may have heard it said that “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” (Lord Acton). In actuality, the[…]
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District 12 Votes This Week
AUGUST 7th 2018 By this time next week, the last special election for US Congress before Election Day will be all over… except the tears. But who will be crying is yet to be written. […]
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Zora Neale Hurston and the Problem of Audience
My first real understanding of the power of affinity on attention came in 9th grade. When my teacher assigned a project called “The African-European Connection,” I was enthralled by history for the first time, as[…]
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Top 10 Movies: #1 – Children of Men
Repost: Just rewatched this amazing film recently, and what once felt like a warning from the near future now feels ripped from the headlines… Today, most people know director Alfonso Cuarón as the first Latino[…]
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2018 US Midterm Elections
First, a couple of disclaimers. There are many issues I’m conservative on, and some I’m increasingly conservative on. I’ve voted for Republicans in the past, and I’m have a wealth of complaints about the Democratic[…]
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Kindred
Repost in honor of Butler’s birthday, and her selection for a Google Doodle: The late, great Octavia Butler was best-known as a rare black female superstar in a genre –science-fiction –largely dominated by white men.[…]
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