Monthly Archives: July 2011

The Magic of New Orleans: Superman, Lucky Charms, and Bible Scriptures

Posted on July 30, 2011 by

This is the fourth post in a mult-part series on The Magic of New Orleans. Part I: Bon Jovi and Cats; Part 2: Saturday Night on Frenchmen; Part 3: Remarkable People. Los Angeles freeways are jammed with pricey European sports cars alongside beat-up compacts from the … Continue reading →

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A Recession for White Americans, A Depression for Black and Latino Americans

Posted on July 29, 2011 by

A new study from the Pew Research Center reports staggering gaps in median wealth–a person’s accumulated assets minus her debt–between whites ($113,149), blacks ($5,677) and Latinos ($6,325). That’s a 20-to-1 white-to-black ratio of wealth and a 18-to-1 white-to-Latino ratio. Essentially, … Continue reading →

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Anti-Trafficking Enforcement in the U.S. is an Abysmal Failure

Posted on July 14, 2011 by

It’s been over a decade since the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) was passed into law, and a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that astonishingly little has been done since. The … Continue reading →

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The Magic of New Orleans: Remarkable People

Posted on July 10, 2011 by

There is no way to do justice to “the people” of New Orleans in a blog post, a book, or even a thousand books, and that is not my goal here. Instead, I will introduce a few of the people I have come to love while living and working part of each year in New Orleans since Katrina. Continue reading →

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Silsbee Rape Case Update: Silsbee Bee Editor Resigns

Posted on July 8, 2011 by

The Silsbee Bee is reporting that Gerry Dickert will resign as the paper’s editor to assume a new position as Coordinator for Public Information for Lamar State College — Port Arthur. No details were released as to what prompted this career move. Dickert … Continue reading →

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Essence Festival Presents a Challenge to New Orleans’ Racial Segregation

Posted on July 6, 2011 by

Essence Music Festival, the “party with a purpose,” is a three-day event in New Orleans, featuring speakers during the day and musical performances at night.  It also caters to an almost exclusively black audience, bringing 400,000 people to the Crescent City each … Continue reading →

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Lessons from Transformers 3: Machines are Subjects, Women are Objects, and Female Leadership is a Joke

Posted on July 5, 2011 by

Only two main characters in the large ensemble cast are women, and none of the Transformers (alien robots for the uninitiated) are female. And the two female characters are so offensive – an unmitigated object and a caricatured mockery of female leadership – that none might have been better.
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Posted in Media/Media Criticism, Race & Racism, Sexism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments