Jim Crow Laws

The five best jail-inspired musician memoirs

Pop culture incrementally improved the chances that books would outlive CDs when news spread that Lil Wayne had inked a deal to write a memoir about the eight months he spent locked up on gun charges. Titled Gone 'Til November, the book is scheduled to be released in May. While the hip-hop blogosphe ... More >>

Photos: Alex Landau faces Alex Martinez at Michael DeHerrera police brutality rally

Earlier this week, Alex Landau, who was brutally beaten by police in 2009, expressed frustration about the reinstatement of an officer previously fired in a separate incident involving Michael DeHerrera, and also complained about Manager of Safety Alex Martinez's decision not to meet with him about ... More >>

Alex Landau frustrated by cop reinstatement, latest delay in bloody beating investigation

Earlier this month, the Justice Department decided not to charge the officers who beat Alex Landau to a pulp with federal civil rights violations. This conclusion frustrated Landau, but he figured that at least he'd find out the results of a local investigation put on hold due to the feds' actions. ... More >>

The House I Live In blends explosive statements and soft scenes

Marijuana: Amendment 64 is a social-justice issue, says NAACP

At 10:30 a.m. today, the NAACP's Colorado/Montana/Wyoming conference will formally endorse Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. Rosemary Harris Lytle, communications director for the local branch, who's among the speakers at the event, taking place in Denver's Five Points neighborh ... More >>

A tradition of keeping African-Americans voters from the polls

New laws in dozens of states could take out Barack Obama this fall.

Crossing the Line

Freedom under fire: A Village Voice Media Special Report

Howard Simon, ACLU executive director, says Florida voting changes are racist and wrong

Editor's Note: The following is a guest-post by Chuck Strouse, editor-in-chief of Westword's sister paper, the Miami New Times. It's video side-bar to Strouse's piece that ran in Westword this week, "Welcome back, Jim Crow: A tradition of keeping African-Americans voters from the polls."As I show in ... More >>

What Goes Around

Jazz singer Rene Marie talks about the past and her future

How do I get my dad to handle my dating a Mexican?

Mexicans know I'm black -- what gives?

From Mel Gibson to Halle Berry: What's with the race-war custody battles?

Is that baby black?​As evidenced by the hideously protracted custody battles that seemingly arise every time two celebrities break off their romantic engagement in favor of stroking their turgid, throbbing sense of their own importance, large egos and small children do not mix well. Well, at l ... More >>

Rare at the Blair

Tom Tancredo: Joe Sestak job offer could lead to impeachment even though Obama's black

Photo by John JohnstonIs impeachment a black-and-white issue?​The idea that a White House job offer to Pennsylvania's Joe Sestak -- one allegedly designed to convince him not to challenge Senator Arlen Specter -- might be an impeachable defense has been popular in Republican circles of late. ... More >>

Tom Tancredo's call for troops on the border picked up by one of his least favorite politicians: John McCain

Photo by John JohnstonTom Tancredo has a new and unexpected ally.​On Monday in this space, ex-Congressman and former presidential candidate Tom Tancredo called for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border following the murder of ranch ... More >>

Tom Tancredo bad for Tea Party movement?: Tancredo responds to Dick Armey's claims

This isn't how Tom Tancredo will appear at Tea Party events.​Yesterday, ex-Congressman and former presidential candidate Tom Tancredo decried the murder of Arizona rancher Rob Krentz and called for troops to be placed on the U.S.-Mexico border -- a wish the Obama administration is extraordinar ... More >>

Get on the Bus

Awele Makeba tells it like it was

Bygone Days

Crossroads Theater resurrects the Rossonian.

Black and Blues

Jim Beam and Coke

Stadium Inn

The Boys Next Door

In the rush to ban sex offenders, cities and counties may inadvertently be creating more of them down the line.