Why Is The Peace Movement So White?
By Keith Boykin 

The thought hit me at church on Sunday as I pulled up in a cab to the North Presbyterian Church on 155th Street in Harlem. As I paid the driver and stepped out of the cab, I noticed a small crowd of liberal protesters carrying signs and banners against the war. That was no surprise. After all, I had come to this church for a town hall meeting on the Iraq War. The featured guest and speaker at the town hall session was Harlem’s own Congressman Charlie Rangel.

What surprised me was not the demonstrators outside. Instead I was surprised that all of them were white. I was surprised but I was not shocked. I had seen white liberals gathering at other events in the black community many times before. And anyone who has ever attended church in Harlem has seen the throngs of white tourists who flock to the popular churches to sit in the balconies and absorb a part of black culture. So the group outside was not a shock. But when I walked inside the church I got the shock of my life. Almost everyone inside the church was white.

For the rest of the story, click here. 

Book of the Day: Debating Race by Michael Eric Dyson

It ain’t easy being Michael Eric Dyson. In addition to being a tireless advocate for the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, the Penn professor has produced 14 books in 14 years. From the groundbreaking Reflecting Black, to the classic bio-criticism I May Not Get There With You, to the elegantly written and brilliantly argued Is Bill Cosby Right? and Come Hell or High Water, Michael Eric Dyson has managed to provide rigorous, accessible, and timely analyses at a remarkably productive rate. As if that werent enough, Dyson has participated in important conversations in all corners of public and counter-public life, from Tigger’s Basement to the Senate floor.

It is this tireless scholarly activism that informs Dyson’s latest tome, Debating Race. The book, a collection of conversations with a dazzling array of interlocutors, demonstrates Dyson’s remarkable improvisational wit, intellectual depth, and rhetorical dexterity. Some of the book’s highlights include: an interesting conversation on segregation with Mara Tapp, Gary Orfield, and Arturo Vargas; a spirited exchange with Elliot Ratzman about Black/Jewish love; a respectful but tense debate about loving Black women on ABC’s The View; a thoughtful and principled conversation about Black youth with John McCain and John Kerry while giving Senate testimony; a loving mini-debate with Jesse Jackson about the role of Black intellectuals; and a hilarious encounter with Stephen Colbert about Hurrican Katrina. The only thing missing from the book’s 27 chapters was Dyson’s highly engaging and rigorous discussion with Princeton’s Eddie Glaude regarding Bill Cosby.

While this book will certainly satisfy Dyson fans, it is highy recommended for anyone interested in the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and contemporary politics. Highly readable, consistently entertaining, and thoroughly informative, this book will only fortify Dyson’s well-deserved reputation as the leading public intellecutal of his generation.

BARBERSHOP RATING: 5.0/5.0 Clippers

Today’s “song” of the day comes from Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose 1984 Democratic National Convention speech is considered one of the 12 greatest in American history. Although I do not share Reverend Jackson’s faith in the Democratic party, the ideas, ideals, and challenges presented in this speech have informed this blog and exposed my vocation.

To hear it, click here. 

Last week, Charles Barkley was dead on about Tim Hardaway’s disturbing homophobia. This time around, he offers a hilariously honest assessment of 41-year-old Scottie Pippen’s chances of NBA success.