By Ifa Bayeza
Last Friday, August 28th, marked the anniversary of three pivotal events of the last half-century of American history—events which have brought black Americans from the neo-slavery they had endured since Emancipation to the next stage of the freedom struggle we face today.

By Tananarive Due
As a speculative fiction author who has been to Soweto, and who shouted myself hoarse during college anti-apartheid rallies, I was electrified by the trailer’s gritty, documentary-style sequences of a spacecraft hovering over Johannesburg… But a debate among some filmgoers about the depiction of District 9’s black characters is an example of how allegory can be rife with landmines.

By Greg Tate
What black American culture—musical and otherwise—lacks for now isn’t talent or ambition, but the unmistakable presence of some kind of spiritual genius: the sense that something other than, or even more than human, is speaking through whatever fragile mortal vessel is burdened with repping for the divine, the magical, the supernatural, the ancestors.

By TaRessa Stovall
I believe that the popularity of the story,”Genius Burning Brightly: The Unraveling of Gil Scott-Heron,” and the response it generated are a thundering testimony to the fact that it is the people—not the professional pundits parading before us in the mainstream media—whose views, feelings and opinions reflect the gloriously diverse and evolving kaleidoscope of humanity that is us.

By John Payton
As we take a moment to reflect upon the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina we must appropriately pay tribute to the storm’s survivors whom have shown tremendous resilience in their efforts to restore their communities and homes. But we must also vow to never forget the suffering endured by those who lost their lives while continuing the fight to ensure that tomorrow’s Gulf region is a more equal and just community for all of its citizens.

Microsoft has taken some heat for changing the head, but not the hands, of a black man to a white man in a workplace-type photo, which also featured a white woman and an Asian man, whose images, on the website of its Polish business unit. The photo shows a black man on its US website. Microsoft pulled the altered image, apologized, and said it would investigate to learn who had made the changes.

By Lee A. Daniels
I can and do look at the Kennedy brothers in national, even cosmic terms. Their contributions to the betterment of humankind will stand the test of time. But I also remember them with what for me is a deeply provincial pride of place.

By Chinyere Osuala
Just Food, a non-profit organization that advocates a just and sustainable food system in New York City, hosted a site visit on Tuesday to the Farm at Miller’s Crossing in Hudson, N.Y. to bring staff, volunteers, and clients of inner-city emergency food organizations in touch with the farms that provide them with fresh fruits and vegetables, weekly, through Just Food’s Fresh Food For All Program.

LDF is deeply saddened by the passing of our colleague, friend and hero in the Senate—a voice once thunderous in the cause for justice is now silenced forever.  At the same time, we are heartened by reflecting on the grand legacy of his life’s work, and the vision and hope he left us for a more just society.