Madison J. Gray
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Madison J. Gray
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Continue reading Is a Black Harvard Student an Accessory to Murder, or Just Caught Up in One?

Continue reading Judge Reverses Some Damage Done to ACORN

At a house party one time, I saw a honey-colored, really cute sista. In between swigs of wine, as friendly introductions were being made among party-goers, I attempted to introduce myself to her:
"How you doin', sweetheart," I said as I smiled my winning party smile and extended my hand to shake hers in a gentlemanly way
Her response: "How you doin', what?"
I repeated: "How you doin' sweetheart?
Her response (this time with her lips parsed and her nose turned up): "How you doin', what?"
By this point, the soft grasp I had of her hand became a clawing Kimbo Slice-style grip she had conjured to show that she resented the way I made my introduction. After repeating the futile exchange once more just to see if this woman was for real, I dropped it, refusing to apologize for being friendly at a social function.
But I did get her point: Shaking her hand softly and calling her "sweetheart" was apparently an attempt to turn back years of women's lib, and I needed to be tarred and feathered - sexist pig that I was.
Looking back, I'm sure that if I ran in to her now, "sweetheart" would probably not be on the list of things I'd call her.
Still, as I read through the pages of Cleveland-based journalist and The Root commentator Jimi Izrael's new book "The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can't Find Good Black Men," I couldn't help but think of this and other incidents, where I had to be the bad black guy for being at the wrong place at the right time around the wrong sista.
Continue reading The Denzel Principle -- Are Brothers and Sisters at War?

Continue reading Turns Out ACORN Didn't Get Roasted After All

While trumpets were blaring and Mardi Gras beads were being tossed after the Saints' monumental Super Bowl victory, revelers were asking "who dat?" But urban politics had already given its latest answer.
Earlier this month, voters in the Big Easy chose Mitch Landrieu as mayor, making him the first white mayor of the city since his father held the office more than 30 years prior. But the election signifies something very different: a change in the voting tastes in cities with large black populations.
Continue reading Has Black Voting Gone Post-Racial?

The mysterious billboard in Wyoming, Minn., with a picture depicting former President George W. Bush asking, "Miss me yet?" has caused quite a stir, with many asking where it came from and what it's supposed to mean.
The ad towers over Interstate 35, which winds through rural Minnesota and features Prez 43 seemingly chuckling as if he were saying, "I told you so." But he really isn't. According to NPR, it turns out the mystery is solved.
The billboard was purchased and placed by a group of local small business owners who feel that Washington "is against them." The whole thing seems to have viral potential too. Already bumper stickers and T-shirts are popping up all over the country. It probably won't be too long before guitar-strummed country songs with the same title and theme pop up all over YouTube a la "Pants on the Ground."
But since the billboard poses a question, I'm happy to answer it: HELL !@#%ing, NO. I DON'T MISS YOU!

Continue reading Is 'Precious' a Black Classic or Dirty Laundry?