America The Violent by David Muhammad   7-01-2009 3:02 (EST)"Violence is as American as Apple Pie." This has become a popular saying. America has more violent crime per capita than any other industrialized nation in the world. Homicides, shootings, assaults, rapes, domestic violence, school violence, are all far too prevalent in cities across America. The extreme amount of guns available legally and illegally is daunting. The excessive portrayal of violence in media: in movies, tv shows, music, magazines, nightly news, and especially in video games, is extraordinary. We are surrounded, in fact bombarded, by messages of violence.

The Love We Lost by Cheo Tyehimba   7-01-2009 2:12 (EST)The first Sunday following the death of Michael Jackson, I'd venture to bet that in every black church or mosque in America a minister used the life and tragic death of Michael Jackson to illuminate a truth or parable about life's journey.

Michael Jackson and How Society Works by Pendarvis Harshaw   7-01-2009 2:09 (EST)... After all the jokes are cracked, and the dancing moves have been reenacted, and the voice has been mocked to the point of annoyance.... a subtle sober moment of clarity arises: damn yall, a little Black Boy was born into the worst Black community in America- and grew to be a world renown icon...

The New Double Consciousness by David Goldberg   7-01-2009 1:53 (EST)By now the controversy over Mudflap and Skids, two "Little Black Sambots" featured in Michael Bay's "Transformsers: Revenge of the Fallen" should have crossed your Internet radar.

Can You Loan Me $20 by Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt   7-01-2009 1:48 (EST)Sure, our 401k balances are ridiculously low... but we're young and have time to ride the storm, so the balances will bounce back. Maybe we didn't get a nice annual pay increase as we did in years past but, at the end of the day, we're still employed. We may eat out less, shop a little less frequently, think twice before we make major purchases, or forego the latest gadget for the sake of saving money. But overall, we're doing ok. It may seem a little bleak to us, but compared to some others, we're doing well.