‘Commentary’ Archives
Something I Said
Dark girls deserve better By DWIGHT HOBBES Black was only so beautiful when the phrase hit in the 60s. Sure, we were at the tumultuous crest of a movement to throw off society”™s shackles and, in the process, bolster self-esteem. Superficiality, though, runs deep. While we were exultant, reveling in social revolt, it didn”™t displace an entrenched ideal. It didn”™t cure a psychological infection. Folk with African features were no more attractive than they had been since the advent of that age old ditty, “If you”™re white, just right. Yellow is mellow. Brown can stick around. If y”™ black, get back.” However, times have changed, this has stayed the same. Hence, “Dark Girls”, a documentary the Association of Black Psychologists credits with providing,“an opportunity to take a soul-searching look at the effects of racism affect on the self-image of black women. Among several salient [...]
Raise Your Voice
The Elders Have Spoken Peter Molenaar By PETER MOLENAAR Little Earth, Phillips Community Center, Ebenezer Towers on Portland and Park Avenues, and Anderson Community School ”“ for the Phillips Neighborhood, these were the Primary Vote polling places. Thanks to the volunteers who made it happen, those who had navigated the information overload were privileged to exercise their right. It can now be said with certainty: the elders have spoken. To his credit, Joe Biden shook many hands in South Carolina. African Americans, especially the elders, bore witness to his having played second fiddle to President Obama, and trust him not to play a treasonous game with mass bigotry. Moreover, many believe Biden to be the likely candidate to defeat Donald Trump. (We are not in a revolutionary situation at this time!) From the standpoint of our ”˜Popular Front”™, looking back, many were initially drawn to the candidacy of Elizabeth Warren. Elizabeth was [...]
He Has His Own Mind
By MIKE HAZARD and MARTI MALTBY “As you can see, I”™m part Irish American, part African American, and part Native American,” said Vernon. I asked what nation. “My brother says Cherokee.” He thumbed through his cellphone texts looking for a picture of his Irish American great grandfather, Henry O”™Killian. He never found it. We talked. MIKE HAZARD “My father taught me to hunt,” says Vern. “We hunted to eat. Venison, bear, beaver, raccoon, and quail. We lived in southern Illinois, near the Kentucky border. I was a country boy. I”™m ready to go back.” “I was a cook in the military, a biscuit burner. Sister Rose (the founder of Peace House) hired me to cook. I cooked at Peace House for two or three months, and then I got a job as a machinist. Machinist paid more, but I liked cooking more. I cook everything. I learned a lot about cooking from ex-girlfriends. (Laugh.) Italian, Spanish, [...]
