ColorLines Features: September 2009 Archives

Photo by Reuters/Bradley Bower

Check out the new story about Michael Vick on ColorLines.com. Here's an excerpt:

You might wonder if Michael Vick had to check “the box” on his job application—you know, the box where you have to declare whether or not you are a convicted felon. But whether he had to declare his background or not, the label has loomed over him from the moment he walked out of Leavenworth federal prison after serving 18 months of a 23 month sentence for overseeing a dog-fighting operation.

On August 13, following months of speculation and debate about Michael Vick’s future, the Philadelphia Eagles announced that it had signed him to a contract. Vick, who was drafted first overall in 2001 and whose 10-year, $130 million contract was the largest in the football history, lost everything following his conviction: his contract, endorsement deals and his wealth-he filed for bankruptcy in 2008. Yet, before the ink had dried, the Eagles' decision to sign Vick elicited widespread condemnation, especially from animal rights activists throughout the country.

Read the full story here.

In Washington, D.C., Pastor Kendal Brown welcomes everyone to his church, the City of Refuge. Check out the story on this radical church that reaches out to queer Black communities at ColorLines.com. Here's an excerpt:

You, and everything about you, is welcome in this house of God,” Pastor Kendal Brown declares as he removes thick-framed glasses to wipe sweat from his brow. “Welcome home.”

His outstretched arms wave before him, palms open and extended toward a crimson crucifix at the front of the church. Members moved by the Holy Spirit run circles around pews filled with teary-eyed worshipers. Organs and drums invade the air with deafening force as members cry out in Pentecostal tongues.

Each Sunday, in the desolate town of Lanham, Maryland, north of Washington, Brown preaches the controversial doctrine of Radical Inclusion, an emerging trans-denominational philosophy that aims to provide safe, affirming space for those wounded by “oppressive,” traditional religion. His church, the City of Refuge, reconciles this concept of GLBT-focused, “affirming” worship with Pentecostalism, a branch of Christianity known for a conservative doctrine as well as intense worship styles, like speaking in tongues.

Read the rest of the story here.

The author and activist talks to ColorLines about his new book, white denial and gay rights. Here is a sneak peek:

Tim Wise isn't your average white guy.

The author and activist, who began his work as an organizer with the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, has spent the last three decades combating racism from within “the belly of the beast of whiteness,” as he puts it.

In his new book, Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama, Wise reflects on what he calls Racism 2.0—a new brand of white supremacy that operates under the guise of post-racialism.

Read the full interview here.

Dan Choi's coming out will definitely be a story to remember. Erasmo Guerra, for ColorLines magazine, goes into the details of the story in this week's web exclusive article on ColorLines.com.

A first-generation Korean-American, Choi, who jokes that he doesn’t wear his race on his sleeve, but on his face, didn’t tell his brother he was also gay. He kept his sexual orientation a secret until as late as last spring, when he came out on The Rachel Maddow Show, publicly challenging the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning gays from serving openly.

Soon after his announcement, Choi received a letter of dismissal from the Army on the grounds that disclosing homosexuality “constitutes homosexual conduct.”

More than 12,000 soldiers have been discharged under this policy, which has been in place since 1993, and this past summer, a June 30 hearing of National Guard officers recommended that Lt. Dan Choi be likewise discharged. A final decision has still not been issued.

As a final decision has yet to be made, Choi has been traveling throughout the US coming out against the policy that unfairly discriminates against queer people in the military.

Read the rest of the story here.

ColorLines executive editor, Daisy Hernández, went to check out the new film District 9, and found herself not knowing whether to love it or hate it. The film has been attacked for racist stereotypes, but it's still worth watching. Why is it so compelling?

Here's a peek at what ColorLines has to say about the film:

Given the film’s bloodthirsty Nigerians, its hateful black South Africans and the malnourished aliens, what, then, makes District 9 worth watching?

Wikus, the white anti-hero.

Played superbly by Sharlto Copley, Wikus is the petty bureaucrat whose job it is to evict the aliens. But when he finds himself in the middle of an accident, Wikus becomes overnight a fugitive, one that’s being hunted by his own company and its private military. It is this white character’s emotional journey that makes District 9 such a moving and, in the end, memorable film.

It seems it has never been more expensive to be a student without papers. As the recession takes a blow at college budgets, students without papers are looking at major financial obstacles as they figure out ways to pay for law school and even community college classes while oftentimes trying to support other family members.

From Cindy Von Quednow's article on ColorLines.com:

Geraldine, a 19-year old Guatemala native, is one of the 65,000 estimated undocumented students who graduate from a U.S. high school every year, according to the Urban Institute, a Washington D.C. research group. Of those graduates, about 13,000 enroll in public colleges and universities each year.

Dr. William Perez, assistant professor of education at Claremont Graduate University and author of We ARE Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American Dream, said the undocumented student experience is an extreme example of what students who come out of low-income communities of color have to face in higher education.

“This financial crisis has exacerbated the situation and really made access to higher education and all of the challenges undocumented students face, even more intense,” added Perez. “The barriers are much higher now.”

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Also, Educators for Fair Consideration in collaboration with Mission Graduates have put together a resource guide of scholarships that do not require a social security number. The guide contains up-to-date info about local, regional, and national scholarships available to students, regardless of citizenship or residency status. You can download the guide by clicking here. For more information contact E4FC at info@e4fc.org.