theblackbottom

NPR
When NPR Books invited audience members to nominate and vote for their favorite Young Adult novels, more than 75,000 responded. The extraordinary outpouring speaks of the passion connecting the books section and its followers.
But in that response also lie the seeds of a defect, for lack of a better term, in the poll. The resulting [...]

The whole world opened to me when I learned to read~Mary McCleod Bethune
Once you learn how to read, you will be forever free!~Frederick Douglass

REVIEW Nuruddin Farah was born November 24th 1945 in Baidoa, in what is now the Republic of Somalia. Farah is the author of several novels, including From a Crooked Rib, Links [...]

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From The Washington Post
Seven in 10 American adults online are using video sharing sites such as YouTube, with minority users leading the way, according to a report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
And much of the video streaming is being done on mobile devices, according to a separate study, which reported that YouTube [...]

Source: New York Times MY first encounter with my own blackness occurred in the checkout line at the grocery store. I was horsing around with my older brother, as bored children sometimes do. My blond-haired, blue-eyed mother, exasperated and trying hard to count out her cash and coupons in peace, wheeled around furiously and [...]

BY:Latina.com
By Damarys Ocana | 11/29/2011 – 12:00

The frustrating ironies of being Afro-Latina hit Yuly Marshall with stunning regularity: At work at a Miami hospital, Hispanic patients of the Cuban-born radiology technician usually assume she’s African American, asking her, “Where did you learn to speak Spanish like that?” and expressing shock—even skepticism—that she’s really Latina. Other [...]

Once You Learn How To Read, You Will Be Forever Free!~Frederick Douglass

REVIEW Erin Aubry Kaplan is a Los Angeles journalist and columnist who has written about African-American political, economic and cultural issues since 1992. She is currently a contributing editor to the op-ed section of the Los Angeles Times, and from 2005 to 2007 was [...]

Source: Taunya Banks Concurring Opinions
Harvard Professor Henry Louis, perhaps best known to most Americans for his run-in with a Cambridge Police Officer, than for his scholarly writings and academic entrepreneurship, is back on public television.  His television series is entitled Black in Latin America.  The name of the series is somewhat misleading since three [...]

Once You Learn How to Read, You Will Be Forever Free!~Frederick Douglass

REVIEW Janny Scott has been a reporter for The New York Times since 1994. She is currently assigned to cover ideas and intellectual life for the culture department. Over the past year she has also written extensively about media coverage of the Monica [...]

Tara Betts is the author of the book Arc and Hue, her debut collection on Aquarius Press/Willow Books. Tara is a lecturer in creative writing at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. She is also a Cave Canem fellow.
Tara’s poetry and prose has appeared in various journals and anthologies. She has also been a freelance [...]

After reading a wonderful article about Camila in Home & Garden of all places about her extraordinary philanthropy and commitment to serve the vulnerable inner city children. Her accomplishments are recognized internationally!
Camila Batmanghelidjh is an amazing woman and will live in your memory forever once you hear her speak. She is a true inspiration in [...]