The “Queen of Soul” died Thursday. By Alex Henderson, AlterNet — The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, has died at the age of 76. Franklin, who had suffered from pancreatic…
Angela Davis, whose bond Franklin offered to post in 1970, says that the singer’s work “helped to shape and deepen a collective consciousness anchored in a yearning for freedom.” By…
The latest from the legendary filmmaker, which made its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, features a David Duke character who sounds awfully familiar to Donald Trump. By Richard Porton, The…
The award-winning writer, actor, singer and rapper has dominated the internet with his provocative, politically charged hit This is America, the latest step in an illustrious, unconventional career By Katie Bain, The Guardian — Try, if you can, to watch This Is America, the new music video from Childish Gambino, while keeping your eyes off the man in the camera’s gaze. It’s not easy. You may have to watch it twice,…
How Kanye’s ignorant comments fortify the most pernicious lies of white supremacy. By Clint Smith — This past week, in an interview with TMZ, Kanye West claimed that slavery was a choice. “When you hear about slavery for 400 years … 400 years? That sounds like a choice,” he said. Much has already been written about West’s recent exploits on and off Twitter. In the past week, he has publicly embraced…
Kanye West wants freedom—white freedom. By Ta-Nehisi Coates — I could only have seen it there, on the waxed hardwood floor of my elementary-school auditorium, because I was young then, barely 7 years old, and cable had not yet come to the city, and if it had, my father would not have believed in it. Yes, it had to have happened like this, like folk wisdom, because when I think of that…
February 5th Fund Drive Edition of Vantage Point Topic Award Winning Writing/Author Edwidge Danticat and International Acclaimed Guitarist Alix Pascal Discuss the Legacy of Legendary Haitian Folk Singer Manno Charlemagne…
Masekela began playing the trumpet at the age of 14, after seeing the film Young Man with a Horn. By Nino Pagliccia — Legendary South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela –…