TheLoop21.com

Tom Joyner's 2 Great-Uncles Pardoned By South Carolina Thomas and Meeks Griffin, two great-uncles of Tom Joyner, and two other Black men were sent to the electric chair 94 years ago for the 1913 murder of a veteran of the Confederate Army. They were unanimously pardoned posthumously Wednesday, after Joyner spoke on their behalf to the South Carolina state parole board. Joyner said he learned his relatives' story from the PBS documentary African American Lives 2, with ...

Why I’m grateful for Joe Wilson and racist fury TheLoop21.com's Keli Goff writes about how the future of our country, particularly when it comes to race relations, is really looking up. ...

Mainstream Media: We're Failing At Covering Race In MarketWatch, Jon Friedman writes about an issue we're always tracking at TheLoop21.com: how the mainstream media is covering race. Friedman's assessment is that after incidents including Rep. Joe Wilson heckling President Barack Obama, the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., former President Jimmy Carter's comments about race and Obama, and other racially-charged incidents, mainstream media's failing. ...

Former Vibe Editor Resurfaces At The Root Danyel Smith, a novelist and former editor in chief of Vibe magazine, was named today the new executive editor of the Root, an online magazine of politics and culture aimed at a Black audience. Ms. Smith, 44, will have primary day-to-day responsibility for the Root, which was begun by The Washington Post Company in early 2008. She succeeds Lynette Clemetson, the managing editor who stepped down this year. The writer Henry Louis Gates, who helped conceive the magazine and overs ...

911 Caller Lucia Whalen Honored Lucia Whalen, the 911 caller in the controversial Henry Louis Gates Jr. incident, was honored by the city for "simply doing the right thing." She was presented with a special citation by the city of Leominster, Mass., and local crimestoppers in a formal event. Whalen said last month that she would have still made the call if put in the same situation. "She never got invited to the White House. So we thought we'd invite her to Ladies Night to show her our appreciation for ...

Obama Headed For Vacation At Martha's Vineyard President Barack Obama will arrive at Martha's Vineyard Sunday for a 10-day family vacation. The Obamas are renting Blue Heron Farm, an estate owned by a Mississippi businessman who is a registered Republican. Th ...

'Jungle monkey' comment endangers the police Boston police officer Justin Barrett is suing the city after being fired for sending an e-mail calling Henry Louis Gates Jr. a "banana-eating jungle monkey." While Barrett has since apologized, his lawsuit confirms his lack of understanding of his actions and makes it difficult to sympathize with the police. ...

Cop who called Gates 'jungle monkey' says 'I'm not a racist'
Wed, 08/05/2009 - 12:55
Boston Officer Justin Barrett, who called Harvard professor He ...