Food For Thought
Emphasizing the need for food, the abuse of food, or the communal aspect of eating, somehow unlatches a secret, emotional spring of insecurity.
By Gerald Early
Do The Right Thing
"Most blacks, without question, would rather be successful capitalists, however “exploitative” of land and labor, than wards in an egalitarian socialist state because, in the end, even members of a persecuted group, the dream is to have power, not justice. Or put another way, the acquisition of power becomes its own form of justice. The problem with Riley’s book is not its conservative message, but that the message is not sufficiently framed to appeal to black folk’s sense of racial destiny and pride. In short, it is insufficiently chauvinistic, less chauvinistic than the title promises."
Jesus, Son of Aslan
For some readers, this may be a new and exciting–even revolutionary!–perspective on the historical Jesus. Aslan certainly hopes so: he describes Zealot as the culmination of “two decades of rigorous academic research into the origins of Christianity.” For scholars, however, Aslan’s research is neither novel nor especially rigorous. It is clear that Aslan has indeed been fascinated by the historical Jesus since his teenage years, but he is not an academic specialist in the New Testament or in early Christianity, and he does himself a disservice by portraying himself as one.
Prose With A Purpose
Editor Gerald Early welcomes readers to The Common Reader, Washington University in St. Louis's new interdisciplinary journal, with a full menu of articles about issues of the day, and special events in the future.
From The Devil’s Dictionary
Even before the Internet, and even before Goerge Orwell, Ambrose Bierce's classic The Devil's Dictionary taught us how to see through the veil of language to words' true meanings, which are always open to interpretation.
Back-Seat Rebel
Jackie Robinson's famous 1944 court-martial revealed not just the hierarchy of power in language, but also the tension between the U.S. Army's efforts of integration and the ongoing struggle of black soldiers in their fight against Jim Crow.
R&B Odes From Jim Crow’s Jailhouse
In life and in music, The Prisonaires never got the justice they deserved. John Dougan's new book The Mistakes of Yesterday, the Hopes of Tomorrow works to even that score.
The Show of Shows
Kevin Cook writes an informative, insightful biography of Comedian Flip Wilson, the first black entertainer to successfully host a TV variety show. Gerald Early reviews Flip: The Inside Story of TV’s First Black Superstar.
Remembering the Rumble in the Jungle
When violent unrest broke out in Ferguson Aug.9 and several ensuing days after the police killing of a young unarmed black man, Gerald Early made the analogy to the 1964 Philadelphia race riot.
Michael Jackson’s Lonesome Highway
“Remember The Time” gives us peeks at the King of Pop through the lens of staff who worked closest with him, and thought the most of him.
Remembering Murray Weidenbaum
How late Washington University economist Murray Weidenbaum waged a gentleman's battle against the syndromes of small-mindedness.
Black History in March? No Good
Why March is the month of my Black History memories, the truth about the Sonny Liston-Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) championship fight, and The Common Reader comes into being.