Colorlines Magazine articles from December 2002

Colorlines Magazine archives from December 2002

Note from the editor.
December 22, 2002... There are many different threads in this issue, the last one of the year for us. As we go to press, I find myself stepping back from the immediate demands of meeting deadline and turning my thoughts to bigger questions. At the top of them is,...

Note from the publisher.
December 22, 2002... Things are heating up and the stakes are rising. In homes, schools, workplaces, and communities across the country, people are feeling the consequences of national policies and practices. The establishment of the Homeland Security Department...

Racefile.
December 22, 2002... Blackfeet Tribe Holds Feds Accountable A historic victory for the Blackfeet Nation may have Interior Secretary Gale Norton scrambling for a rock to hide under, On Sept. 17, a federal judge found Norton and Assistant Secretary for Indian...

Powerful Illusions: Glen Ford blasts the exploitation of class and age divisions in the "civil rights vs. hip-hop" debate. (Politics & Bling Bling).
December 22, 2002... The historical foes of Black America--right-wing bigots and ideologues backed by corporate money--are engaged in a new and multilayered strategy to subvert the general political consensus that has prevailed among blacks since the dramatic death...

Between baby boomers and Russell Simmons: Todd Steven burroughs reflects on generation gaps, black leaders, and movements. (Politics & Bling Bling).
December 22, 2002... The phone call started simply enough. A fellow freelancer wanted to chat about her penning of a story on the Rev. Al Sharpton's responses to post-9/11 racial profiling. The NAACP and other civil rights bodies, she argued, are nowhere to be...

Making a way: Never mind the movie boycotts and hip-hop celebrities, Tammy Johnson calls for real vision and change. (Politics & Bling Bling).
December 22, 2002... When I channel-surf on a Sunday afternoon with Moms and sister Stephanie, we are as likely to pause to hear what Farrakhan has to say, as Jesse Jackson or Mos Def. But it's a better bet that we will skip them altogether and move on to other...

Hmong-town, USA: This year, Mee Moua became the first Hmong American elected to minnesota's state senate; her campaign was the culmination of a remarkable Hmong political mobilization in the Midwest. (Report).
December 22, 2002... After the election, stories came in droves--about an old Hmong man who went to the polls three times before he had the right documentation to vote, a Hmong woman whose supervisor never said hi to her until the night Mee Moua won. They came via...

The best interest of the child: Samiya A. Bashir examines changing dynamics of transracial adoption. (Report).
December 22, 2002... In a landmark 1972 statement, the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) declared its opposition to transracial adoption. It called the practice of placing black children in white adoptive families "a blatant form of racial and...

And justice for all. (Report).
December 22, 2002... Immigrants and communities of color have faced the brunt of hate crimes, raids, and detentions since 9/11. But in Washington State, those under attack are standing up to hold the government publicly accountable. Asha Mohammad, a...

Uncertain future: The Absconder Initiative uproots a Filipino family from Kentucky. (Report).
December 22, 2002... Unlike the appearance of much of the populace in her home state of Kentucky, Myleen Manalastas doesn't come across laid-back and easygoing. As we drove in her car down the South Dixie Highway from Louisville to Elizabethtown, Myleen spoke in...

Sent back. (Action).
December 22, 2002... Cambodians convicted of felonies have spent years in indefinite INS detention. In March, the U.S. government struck a deal to repatriate them to Cambodia. Now 1,500 Cambodian Americans await deportation. What happens next? My family...

Lessons in humidity: The fight for power in rural Philippines. (Action).
December 22, 2002... The humidity makes my shirt stick like flypaper. It's high noon in the dead of summer, where even the water buffalo seeks shade from the heat of the sun. After one hour on the plane from Manila, and five on the bus across the island of Leyte, I...

Urban Islam and the war on terror: Amidst media sensationalism over the capture of American-born jihadis, few are examining why urban youth of color increasingly gravitate toward Islam. (To the Point).
December 22, 2002... Since the capture of the six Washington men accused of engaging in weapons training to join Al Qaeda and would-be terrorist Jose Padilla, a Brooklyn-born Puerto Rican ex-gang member who encountered Islam while in prison, terrorism experts and...

Under strange stars: Black writers and fans explore race through science fiction. (Culture).
December 22, 2002... Science fiction has been a part of the Black American experience from the first moment slaves looked to the skies to follow the "drinking gourd" North to freedom. To enslaved people ripped from their homeland and dragged to a new world, the...

Live in your world, play in ours: David Leonard examines social fantasy and racial cross-dressing in video games. (Culture).
December 22, 2002... Video games represent a modern, sophisticated, multicultural, virtual form of minstrelsy. In other words, they provide players--a broad cross section of white middle-class suburbanites and young, urban people of color--with the opportunity to...

Race Experts: How Racial Etiquette, Sensitivity Training, and New Age Therapy Hijacked the Civil Rights Revolution. (Book Reviews).
December 22, 2002... By Elizabeth Lasch-Quinn On the surface, Elizabeth Lasch-Quinn's assertion makes sense: a therapeutic approach to race relations has trivialized the issue while we lose the goal of achieving institutional equality. She cites 50 years of...

Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World. (Book Reviews).
December 22, 2002... Edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson Finding resources to help students and teachers go beyond simplistic, pro-corporate analyses of globalization is becoming increasingly difficult. The Milwaukee-based activist-educators at Rethinking...

Goapele. (Race Records).
December 22, 2002... Even Closer (Skyblaze) This Oakland songstress' debut is a beautiful blend of neo-soul sway and hip-hop swagger. Featuring some strong collaborations from local legends Zion I and Hieroglyphics and her own proud, uplifting lyricism,...

Mantronix. (Race Records).
December 22, 2002... That's My Beat (Soul Jazz Recordings) This compilation features some of pioneering hip-hop and electro producer Kurtis Mantronik's favorite jams from the early 1980s. With hip-hop culture ossifying into a shortsighted strongest-man...

The roots. (Race Records).
December 22, 2002... Phrenology (MCA/Universal) The world's hardest-working hip-hop act returns with a stunning, world-weary effort sure to surprise even their staunchest supporters. Torn, frayed and fiery, Phrenology manages to reinforce and reinvent all that...

DJ/rupture. (Race Records).
December 22, 2002... Minesweeper Suite (Tigerbeat6) Jace Clayton is more than just a Harvard-educated know-it-all; he's also one of the world's most gifted DJs. Blending some of the most violent sounds around with a post-national political panache, Clayton's...

Various artists. (Race Records).
December 22, 2002... Extra Yard (Ninja Tune) Rule #1: Always be suspicious of someone who tries to "invent" or orchestrate a genre. This mix inaugurates a black British musical movement Ninja Tune terms"bouncement," a rugged, tough re-imagining of hip-hop...

Charlie Christian. (Race Records).
December 22, 2002... The Genius of the Electric Guitar (Sony Legacy) Though Christian died prematurely at the age of 25 in 1942, his influence on modern music is unspeakably profound. The sadly overlooked jazzman was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar...

The national coalition on black civic participation. (Activist Web).
December 22, 2002... http://www.bigvote.org/ Formed in 1976, the NCBCP comprises 86 member organizations dedicated to increasing African American participation in civil society. The website offers information about its voter participation, activism, and...

National commission on federal election reform. (Activist Web).
December 22, 2002... http://www.reformelections.org/ Is a joint effort of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs and the Century Foundation. Central to this website is a report that focuses on voting technology, ballot design, election...

Ballot initiative Strategy Center. (Activist Web).
December 22, 2002... http://www.ballot.org/ Formed in 1998 to help stem the tide of rightwing ballot initiatives sweeping local and state elections, the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center offers a variety of resources for activists, journalists, and progressive...

Opensecrets.org. (Activist Web).
December 22, 2002... http://www.opensecrets.org/ It's not too difficult to see why a site like Opensecrets.org would win a Webby Award: it's a veritable clearinghouse of campaign finance information. Opensecrets allows users to track campaign money by...

Center for voting and democracy. (Activist Web).
December 22, 2002... http://www.fairvote.org/ Offers news, research, and educational material surrounding fair elections and election reform. The site's online archive of reports includes materials covering instant runoff voting, proportional representation,...