EthnoBlog

3 Things to Watch for Post Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

By Jamilah King, Aug 4, 2010 5:13 PM

SAN FRANCSICO -- Today a district court judge in San Francisco ruled that Prop 8, California's same sex marriage ban, was unconstitutional (Read the full decision here). The ban's been in effect since November 2008 when 52 percent of California's voters passed Prop. 8. The controversial law overturned the state's Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage. It's a victory, for sure. But it's also just the beginning of what's sure to be a long legal battle that puts love and desire on trial in a country that' has lots of angry and reactionary folks waiting to bust.

When Grief Kills

By Jamilah King, Jan 4, 2010 4:48 PM

It's official: Grief can kill.

I once read Alice Walker's words that her father, a sharecropper in Georgia, ultimately died from "heatbreak." I think the same principle can apply to the families of murder victims, especially Black folks whose cases rarely land headlines.

Heartbreaking news out of Florida. Denise King, the 40-year-old mother of murder victim Simmie Williams, collapsed and died in her apartment just hours before midnight on New Year's eve.

Young Activist Faces Deportation in Florida

By Jamilah King, Dec 15, 2009 12:40 PM

Editor's note: This blog originally appeared in WireTap.

Distressing news out of Florida.

Last week, ICE officials in Broward County detained 24-year-old undocumented community organizer Andrea Huerfano after committing the criminal act of trying to pay a traffic ticket.

Authorities could deport her as soon as Tuesday.

iLL-Literacy, Lego Heads and Open Source Freebies

By Jamilah King, Dec 10, 2009 11:55 AM

Editor's note: This blog originally appeared on WireTap.

Three dudes in lego heads might make an uncharacteristic early Xmas gift for most people.

But Brooklyn-based band iLL-Literacy, the recently expatriated Oakland trio known for their high-energy spoken word shows, is anything but ordinary. After years of traveling the country as a performance arts collective, the group recently released the first chapter of their first album, ib4the1.1.

Jay-Z: The Black Walter O'Malley

By Jamilah King, Dec 3, 2009 2:59 PM

On my way to work this morning I was listening to Jay-Z's Brooklyn Go Hard (such a better precursor to that annoying ass NY anthem that's colonizing the radio right now). In it, I noticed a line I'd missed all of last year: "Now when I bring the Nets, I'm the Black Branch Rickey."

The New Jersey Nets recently broke the NBA's record for the worst start ever by going 0-18 this week.

$5.7 Billion Spent Annually to Lock Up Youth of Color

By Jamilah King, Dec 2, 2009 12:05 PM

And that's not even the half of it.

Black youth are incaracerated at almost five times the rate of white youth for drug-related offenses, and even though the majority of young people behind bars are non-violent offenders, most are held at residential facilities that cost an average of $240 per day, versus functional family therapy programs that could yield up to $13 in benefits for every dollar spent.