Colorlines Magazine articles from June 2004

Colorlines Magazine archives from June 2004

Overcoming segregation.(Publisher's Note)
June 22, 2004... This year, communities nationwide celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case in which the Supreme Court established for the first time that the principle of equal rights under the law overrides local...

Soft on Starbucks.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 22, 2004... I am deeply disturbed by your latest issue (Spring 2004) I read the article about Starbucks by the alleged "union organizer," Kim Fellner. So she wants to write "dangerously?" Well she has written such a puff piece about this huge transnational...

The future of Brown: fifty years ago, Brown v. Board of Education was one of the linchpins of a social revolution that ended Jim Crow. In many ways it was more successful at ending segregation in public life than it was in changing our schools. What is Brown's relevance for the next decade?
June 22, 2004... By the time this article is read the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education will be well underway. Last year the academic press began the process of commemorating Brown with...

"With all deliberate speed": the question of desegregation.
June 22, 2004... Despite decades of desegregation orders, the majority of children of color, particularly blacks and Latinos, remain in segegrated schools. Worse yet, their access to a quality education is dismal. Brown v. Board of Education put the weight on...

The question of desegregation: lesson for our times.
June 22, 2004... On the courthouse lawn in the town of Moncks Corner, South Carolina--the seat of Berkeley County--there is no Confederate statue. It is the only Southern county where I know that to be true. I have always wondered what brave stories lay behind...

The question of desegregation: where do we go from here?
June 22, 2004... It's been 50 years since the Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that different schools for black and white students were separate and unequal. The decision was a springboard for the growing civil rights...

Not your mother's PTA: beyond the call for desegregation, community organizations of parents and students of color are building campaigns for racial equity within and beyond the schools.
June 22, 2004... While Bush touts his No Child Left Behind law that does little to increase federal funding for public education, it is young people and their parents who are pushing the envelope on school reform issues. Community-based organizations that...

Hey teach! who's in the classroom and why it matters.
June 22, 2004... "Miss, what are you?" was the phrase I heard most often during my first day of teaching at Upper Darby High. The school was about 50 percent students of color, but--as far as I could tell--I had doubled the population of minority teachers....

Beyond Brown; snapshots of a new era in education; Education snapshots: Brown is not just black & white.
June 22, 2004... Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of...

Terror City: the lasting effects of the FBI's anti-terror campaign in Jersey City have local residents, prosecutors and agents wondering where to draw the line.(Report)
June 22, 2004... Inside a cramped railroad apartment near Jersey City's Journal Square, two Muslim friends spoke guardedly about other Muslims and Arabs in the neighborhood whom the FBI had interrogated. The two alleged the agency was also spying on the...

The death of Tallulah prison: taking on racism, corruption and cronyism, a small coalition in Louisiana pushed through statewide juvenile justice reform.(Action)
June 22, 2004... For nearly 10 years, the Tallulah youth prison has sat on the edge of northeastern Louisiana--imposing, barb-wired, a warehouse for hundreds of young men locked on the inside. Built on the momentum of the national "tough on juvenile crime" wave...

Bringing globalization home: lessons from Miami in projecting the voices of people of color and connecting global forces to local problems.(Action)
June 22, 2004... Since making a public debut in Seattle in 1999, the U.S. wing of the global justice movement has often stuttered on a single internal issue: the need to diversify its ranks and take a lead from communities of color most affected by corporate...

Dreaming of an education: the immigrant rights movement gears up to pass legalization for undocumented students this year, but the bill has its pitfalls.(Action)
June 22, 2004... Unnoh, an undocumented student who did not want to give her last name, reached senior year of high school before she realized her predicament. She had immigrated legally with her parents from Sierra Leone at age six, but their family's visas...

Art & unrest in the Andes: Bolivia's indigenous filmmakers explore race and identity issues with a frankness that has forced these debates into the national dialogue.(Culture)
June 22, 2004... As Bolivia's political struggles intensify, the country's indigenous filmmaking--which first made an impact in the 1960s--has been invigorated anew. It is currently producing some of the most exciting and innovative work in all of Latin...

Reels get real: three documentaries, soon to debut, map new geographies of race and class in post-9/11 America.(Culture)
June 22, 2004... Decades from now, film critics will look back and mark 2004 as the year realness broke through. From the flag-waving nostalgia of Miracle to the alternately sashaying and bruising feminism of Against the Ropes and Monster, Hollywood this year...

Poor people's dreams.(Culture)
June 22, 2004... The New Americans begins in a refugee camp in Benin, Africa. As the Nigerian couple Israel and Ngozi Nwidor board a bus to start their journey to the U.S., the remaining refugees burst into a heartfelt rendition of "We Shall Overcome." This...

We Took the Streets: Fighting For Latino Rights with the Young Lords.(Book Review)(Book Review)
June 22, 2004... By Miguel "Mickey" Melendez, St. Martin's Press Miguel "Mickey" Melendez recounts in this memoir his service to the Young Lords during their three years of existence, 1969-1972, as a mediator, member of the Central Committee and later...

Richard Perez 1944-2004.(Obituary)
June 22, 2004... Tenacious. Compassionate. Brilliant. Consistent. There are only a few adjectives that can begin to do justice to the legacy of Richard Perez. On March 27, 2004, one of the most prominent racial justice leaders of our time passed away after a...

Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd.(Race Records)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... In What Language? (Pi) Last April, pianist Iyer and poet/rapper Ladd teamed for this one-off show examining lives lost in transit. Set amidst the hustle and bustle of the international airport, Iyer's fiery playing and Ladd's words slyly...

Senor coconut and his orchestra.(Race Records)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Fiesta Songs (Emperor Norton) Uwe Schmidt is a very confused man. Having recorded groundbreaking minimalist techno sides under the names Atom Heart and Geez 'n' Gosh, Schmidt returns to his most playful alter ego for another...

Andrew Hill.(Race Records)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Passing Ships (Blue Note) Originally recorded in 1969, the pianist Hill's inspired session was shelved for years because of unfounded concerns over its sound quality. Swirling with dense poly-rhythms, striking textures and excellent...

Kelis.(Race Records)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Tasty (Arista) Let's hope Kelis' upcoming marriage to rapper Nas doesn't end up overshadowing her own excellence. Kelis second American album is full of the spunky attitude, sexy come-ons and out-there production one has come to expect...

Thelonious Monk.(Race Records)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2004... Live at the Olympia (Thelonious) Few of us ever had the chance to see Monk live and this two-disc set is an excellent primer for anyone interested in just how great the man was. The first disc features a sparkling date from the Olympia in...

Inter Press Services.(Portals to Third World News)
June 22, 2004... www.ipsnews.net Journalists seeking to create an alternative to the mainstream and corporate wire services and news agencies founded the Inter Press Services (IPS) news agency in 1964. IPS calls itself "civil society's leading news agency...

Allafrica.(Portals to Third World News)
June 22, 2004... www.allafrica.com The largest provider of news and information for the continent of Africa, Allafrica.com is the successor to the Africa News Service. With offices in Johannesburg, Lagos, Dakar, Port Louis, Mauritius and Washington D.C.,...

Asian Times On-Line.(Portals to Third World News)
June 22, 2004... www.atimes.com Asian Times On-Line (ATOL) is a major portal for news throughout the Asian continent. The site is the successor to the daily Hong Kong newspaper Asian Times that collapsed due to the Asian financial crisis of the late-1990s....