Can Rap Regain Its Crown?

“Not long ago, rap dominated album sales charts. Now, the music that has been a driving creative and commercial force in American culture is struggling to get its swagger back.
“The music industry is suffering across-the-board drops in CD sales, but rap is in a steeper slide: This year, rap sales are down 33% from [...]

Friday Flashback

If only I could have been there as it was happening.

Father’s Day: Fatherless Homes Decimating The Black Community

Tiger Woods cried after winning the 2006 British Open a few weeks after his father’s death. Denmark Vessey called Tiger’s sorrow “the greatest testament to black fatherhood we’ve seen in a long time.” Tigers’s a brother on his own now . . .

“More than 19 million children — about one in four [...]

One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding

“Pre-World War II, many couples got married in clothes they already owned. Today, they spend thousands. In her new book, One Perfect Day, Rebecca Mead shows how the wedding industry became so powerful and who it has exploited in the process.

“Marketing is replacing organized religion and extended family in people’s lives, Mead writes, and as [...]

The Lost Art of Family Cooking

From the NY Times. . .TEN years ago, right after the birth of Paulette Mullings-Bradnock’s son Reginald, her mother came to visit from Kingston, Jamaica.
“She saw our lifestyle, the going to work at 7 a.m. and not coming home until 8 at night,” said Ms. Mullings-Bradnock, 46, who was born in Jamaica and is [...]

Hog Huntin’

A proud Texas rifleman stands next to his trophy wild boar.

While I (J) was in Texas a while back, I got into a conversation with a group of folks about hunting. To my surprise, all of the men and the women in the group loved hunting and owned several rifles. I have gone hunting [...]

Can A White Guy Win a BET Award?

Robin Thicke was nominated for 2 BET Awards! Best Male Artist + Viewers Choice!
Thicke on Hip hop:

“I’m less honest than 50 and T.I., but everyone is getting on their case about how they are saying b**ches and h*es. I’ve certainly used those words before, but I wouldn’t put them in songs — does that [...]