Bet on a Brown and Green America
(Special to The Root) -- The face of America is changing dramatically. New census data shows that for the first time in our history, babies being delivered in hospitals all over the country are predominantly African American, Latino, Asian and other minorities. It's not just our babies who are growing more diverse. It's our neighborhoods, our communities and our workforce. In some of America's largest cities, a new majority has already emerged -- one made up of people of color.
The faces of voters are changing, too. In the 2010 election, the percentage of Hispanic voters reached a record high. Meanwhile, census projections show that in just 30 years, nonwhites will represent a larger block of America's total population than whites.
Why 'Think Like a Man' Won't Open in France
International appeal is extremely important to the bankability of Hollywood films, and Global Voices writer Fabienne Flessel looks at how this paradigm affected the release of Think Like a Man in France. Despite the film's box-office success in America and a ready-made audience comprised of Afro-Europeans in France, the film based on Steve Harvey's best-selling book is not available in French theaters.
Mitt Romney's America Isn't Ours
Mitt Romney's recent commencement speech to Liberty University students was standard fare, except that the conversation could have occurred in 1950, says Washington Post columnist Colbert I. King. Romney's words do not resonate with the struggles of today's graduates and, by extension, today's voters.
It was the kind of speech that could have been delivered — sans the pandering and the references to more-contemporary figures (the late Chuck Colson; the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded Liberty University; and the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.) — to college graduating classes in the 1950s or even in 1900.
What Adult Bullies Look Like
Recently Basketball Wives viewers watched as Tami Roman attacked castmate Kesha Nichols for what appeared to be no reason. While fighting is standard fare in contemporary reality shows, S. Tia Brown writes in Ebony that adults are weak by choice, where as children are relegated to that position due to circumstances that are larger than they are -- so why didn't the other castmates intervene?
The Browning of America
News to Use: The Browning of America
Census Milestone Eluded Most Front Pages
New U.S. Census figures showing that white births are no longer a majority in the United States have implications for the news media as well as for the rest of society.
The same figures pegged the "minority" population at 37 percent, a far cry from the 12.3 percent counted in newsrooms in the 2012 survey of the American Society of News Editors, which included newspapers and online outlets. While the U.S. population of people of color is rising, the number in newsrooms is sliding, down from 12.7 percent the previous year.
NAACP Endorses Same-Sex Marriage
Ten days after President Barack Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, the NAACP has voted to endorse it as well.
From the Washington Post:
The NAACP now presents itself as a counterbalance to the influence of the traditionally socially conservative black church. It can also help establish closer ties between blacks and gays, two of Obama's most loyal constituencies.
Donna Summer, Nonsmoker, Dead of Lung Cancer
Following the death of disco queen Donna Summer on May 17 at age 63 from cancer, there was speculation about her illness, according to CNN. The five-time Grammy winner and voice behind "Love to Love You Baby" and "She Works Hard for the Money" succumbed to a battle with lung cancer; however, she was not a smoker.
CNN reports:
Summer's family issued the announcement in the wake of how "various reports currently surfacing about the cause of Ms. Summer's death are not accurate," representative Brian Edward said.
Is Hakeem Jeffries Brooklyn's Obama?
Brooklyn, N.Y., Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries is running for Rep. Ed Towns' seat (D) and he might be aided by his similarities to another black man in office, President Barack Obama. According to the Washington Post, Jeffries' primary opponent in the upcoming primary on June 26 is City Councilman and civil rights activist elder Charles Barron, and some say the multicultural leanings of the young contender and former lawyer might work in his best interest.
The Washington Post reports:
Father of 30 Kids Wants Child-Support Break
Knoxville, Tenn., native Desmond Hatchett is in financial trouble, according the Los Angeles Times and WREG-Memphis, because he can't afford his numerous children. Hatchett has fathered 30 offspring with 11 different women and is unable to pay the court-appointed child-support sums with the salary he earns as a minimum-wage employee. Some of the mothers of Hatchett's children get only $1.49 a month.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
How Hydeia Broadbent Moved Magic Johnson
In March, Magic Johnson's documentary The Announcement aired on ESPN and he was reunited with Hydeia Broadbent, a woman he'd first met when she was a child in 1992. Then, Johnson and 7-year-old, HIV-positive Broadbent were part of a Nickelodeon special on HIV/AIDS, which put a younger face to the disease, according to CNN.
During the broadcast, Broadbent wept, telling Johnson that she just wanted to be treated like other children and not like someone who was different because of her disease. The little girl inspired Johnson to become one of America's leading activists against HIV/AIDS in the black community (and a 2011 honoree in The Root 100).
The moment was not lost on Broadbent, either, who now is as outspoken as Johnson.
The New Black Atheism
Other blacks often look at black atheists or agnostics as alien or pitiable, despite their growing numbers, Cord Jefferson writes in an enlightening blog entry at Gawker.
Several years ago, I pitched a freelance piece about black atheism to a prominent magazine geared toward African-Americans. The pitch was denied, but not for any real reason. "That one might be a bit, uh, hard," is all my editor said. I'd later come to find out that he was merely sheltering me from his ultra-Christian executive editor, who would never let a piece questioning religion run in the magazine.
Mississippi to Voters: Show Your ID!
ColorLines blogger Brentin Mock checks in on Mississippi's tough new voter ID law, which was signed on Thursday. Before stepping into the booth, voters are now required to show IDs under the law that is bound to face legal challenges.
Yesterday, Democrats in Congress unveiled the Voter Empowerment Act of 2012, legislation aimed at strengthening election procedures for voters. On the same day, Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law a bill mandating voters show photo ID before hitting the polls, a law that was passed by ballot referendum by 62 percent of voters.
It Is Easy to Be a Straight White Male
At his Whatever.com blog, author John Scalzi, a straight white guy, explains privilege to the same group and points out that if life were a game, their default setting would be easy.
I’ve been thinking of a way to explain to straight white men how life works for them, without invoking the dreaded word “privilege,” to which they react like vampires being fed a garlic tart at high noon. It’s not that the word “privilege” is incorrect, it’s that it’s not their word. When confronted with “privilege,” they fiddle with the word itself, and haul out the dictionaries and find every possible way to talk about the word but not any of the things the word signifies.
An 'Entourage' Star's Family Tree
On Finding Your Roots, Adrian Grenier finds out about a less-than-dignified relative.
Linda Chavez's Multiracial Roots
On Finding Your Roots, the former U.S. secretary of labor learns that her ancestry is more than meets the eye.
The Colorism in Michelle Rodriguez's Roots
On Finding Your Roots, the actress discovers the lengths to which her ancestors went to remain light.
Living While Obama: A New World Leader
President Obama and the newly elected French president, François Hollande, adjust their coats after a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on May 18.
Just three days after being sworn in to replace pro-America President Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande, a Socialist, held Oval Office talks with Obama.
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3 New Steps in the Voting-Rights Fight
(The Root) -- It's been an eventful couple of days in the world of voting rights, with a variety of political and legal factions ramping up efforts to protect access to the polls. From Congress to the courts to the Obama campaign, here's the latest election-protection news you need to know.
A Bill to Modernize the Election Process
On Thursday, House Democrats introduced the Voter Empowerment Act, legislation designed to simplify, strengthen and expand access to the election process. Among other provisions, the bill would do the following:
* Authorize online voter registration
* Authorize same-day voter registration and allow voters to update their registration data onsite
* Require universities that receive federal funds to offer and encourage voter registration
Legendary Pastor Marvin Winans Carjacked
According to 7 Action News in Detroit, on Wednesday legendary pastor Marvin Winans was assaulted and his vehicle stolen by a carjacking gang. On Thursday police arrested two people in the incident and recovered the vehicle.
7 Action News reports:
Winans was pumping gas Wednesday afternoon at a Detroit Citgo station on the corner of Linwood and Davison when at least two men ambushed him.
The carjackers took his deep purple Infiniti QX56 SUV, a couple hundred dollars in cash and his watch.
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