Minstrels of the Gridiron

The coupling of the NFL's most prominent megalomaniacs - Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco - is a monumentally stupid idea. And quarterback Carson Palmer, who reportedly pushed for the Bengals to sign Owens, has nobody to blame but himself. The question is, which of them will go off on Palmer when they don't get the ball thrown their way. As for Marvin Lewis, he must be asking himself whether he was hired to coach a football team or run an insane asylum.

The Sherrod Affair

The Shirley Sherrod affair is sorry commentary on the Obama White House's manner in handling racially charged situations. What is particularly galling is how they allowed themselves to be punked by right wingers determined to bring them down. So hypersensitive to charges of preferential treatment for black folks that they never bothered to get all the facts before rushing to judgement. And the mea culpas by Administration spokesmen, including Obama himself and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, are too little, too late.

The Passion of Mad Mel

The seemingly endless revelations about Mel Gibson imploding over girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva has been a delightful source of summer entertainment, with the former A-lister finding himself twisting in the wind.

Vonetta McGee 1945 - 2010

Vonetta McGee, who died from cardiac arrest July 9th, was an actress who starred in several blaxploitation films, including Blacula and Shaft in Africa.

The Not So Iron Mike

As an example of brutal honesty in self-analysis, Iron Mike Tyson's reflections stand alone. There isn't another public figure who would even dream of describing his life as "a fucking waste." Then again, there was always a tinge of vulnerability that sometimes bordered on self-loathing in Tyson, even during the halcyon days when he was the self-described "baddest man on the planet."

Compared to What

From 1969, pianist Les McCann and saxophonist Eddie Harris performing Gene McDaniel's Compared to What with the lyric that continues to resonate to this day:

The President, he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one nut. God damn it!
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what? (Sock it to me)

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield, one of my favorite musicians, is often spoken of as providing the soundtrack for the civil rights movement of the sixties. But in my opinion, he was that and so much more, as evidenced by these socially conscious and relevant tunes.