Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Five Artsy Things to See This Week, Including Big Holes and Female High Jumpers

This week's list offers artists making rules, breaking rules or trying to figure out what the rules even are. It also includes a walking tour. 5. War against the photograph Around 2004, painter David Hockney, famous for slick, smart renderings of SoCal swimming pools and uncomfortably posed sociali ... More >>

'Stop SB 48' Doesn't Want California Students to Know About James Baldwin?

James Baldwin​In the history of the world, gays and lesbians have always made important contributions to many different societies. One such person is James Baldwin, the American novelist, essayist, and social critic. ''I would place him very high among writers,'' Benjamin DeMott, professor o ... More >>

2Pac and Walt Whitman

Two professors anthologize the best rap lyrics

Reagan Grandson's Arrest Compared To That of Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Papa Michael Reagan.​After his son was arrested outside his San Fernando Valley home, Michael Reagan, himself the son of late President Ronald Reagan, compared his progeny's arrest to that of black Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. outside his own home in July. "Where is the American Ci ... More >>

Stage Raw: Pee Wee Forever?

The LATEST NEW REVIEWS are embedded in this week's COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSAlso, this week's STAGE FEATURE on Hair, at the Chance TheatrePEE WEE FOREVER?​Photo by Greg GormanNot quite "forever," but Stage Raw just learned that The Pee Wee Herman Show, originally slated for Nov. 8 - 29 at the ... More >>

Obama 'Joker' Poster: It's All About Race

Ted Soqui​Was it something I said?Early last week I posted a brief blog noting the appearance of those "Obama Socialism" posters, in which the president's face is made up to resemble Heath Ledger's Joker character from The Dark Knight. That Batman-film derived image had been Photoshopped by Firas ... More >>

Off-White Like Me

Biracial? Tell it to the hosts of Fox and Friends. Obama is black.

What Lies Beneath

Carl Hancock Rux on Asphalt, war-torn cities and the state of black literature in America

Miller's Crossing

Can a pro-Bush comedian get laughs?

Visible Men

Blue Like Me

On race and depression

Summer of Spike

On Lee's First "White" Film, the Elusive "Black" Audience and Other Gray Areas