By Eisa Nefertari Ulen
It is entirely fitting that the character that must risk the most in this film, and change completely, is a white dude. Cameron has explored geo-political realities facing our world that make the politics of color in this film work.

By Janet Singleton
White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers stepped down from her position this month, and said farewell: She told the Chicago Sun Times that serving the country “had been an honor and a privilege.” She was leaving, she said because she wants to “explore opportunities in the corporate world.” She denied her decision stems from the scandal in which a couple and a separate individual were able to sneak into a state dinner given by the Obama administration to honor Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November.

By Eisa Nefertari Ulen
As we digest and debate the results of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards—including the racial aspects of various wins and nominations—Hollywood insider Valerie Joyner’s debut novel, Hollyhood, has special resonance and relevance.

By Lee A. Daniels
What was the scope of the lawlessness some New Orleans police officers unleashed against people in that devastated city in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck?
How many people did officers unlawfully shoot? How many did they kill? How many others were victimized in other ways by police officers’ illegal use of force? [...]

By Jill Nelson
One could ask that question of Michelle Obama, but without expectation of the satisfying “reveal” provided by the game show. Not only are the stakes way too high, but the object of our attention and affection is too smart, pragmatic, in control, and cognizant of history and her own recent experience to fall for the fleeting drama of full disclosure.

By Jackie Jones
Over the past 20 years, cancer death rates for men have decreased by 21 percent for men and 15-16 percent for women, but increasing obesity rates threaten to reverse those trends, especially for African-American women, according to Otis Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

By Eisa Nefertari Ulen
In her debut collection of poetry, Arc & Hue, Tara Betts articulates deeply-felt human emotion in a lyrical, beautiful way. Betts is a poet for the people.

By The Editors
This month the U.S. Census Bureau issued new guidelines that could significantly alter how inmates in state prisons are counted for the census. That, in turn, could affect whether voting districts across the country gain or lose population in advance of the 2011 Congressional and state legislative redistricting.

By Carleen Brice
It is 2002, 2003, 2004 or 2005 and I am listening to Jill Scott’s song, Try, a lot. I’m writing my first novel while holding down a job, and editing an anthology about black women and midlife.

By Doug Miller
Legislation in Congress that would make it easier for workers to form unions is doomed because the Obama administration , with so many other hard contentious issues on its agenda, won’t risk political capital in its defense, according to some experts on trade unionism.