Big Sole Blog (BSB)

Today is Memorial Day, and as I did last year, I remind readers again that CNN has a resource that helps us reflect on the number of soldiers' lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, its casualties map. You can move your cursor over the spots on its map of the United States to read the names of soldiers who have died from those areas.

You know that the spoken word poem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron left its mark on America because the title's become a commonplace. For instance, I heard a television reporter making reference to the poem during the so-called "Arab Spring" protests of this year as a point of commentary. He said, "Apparently the revolution will be televised." The title of Gil

Set to Sara Bareilles "Gravity," Kayla Radomski and Kupono Aweau perform a So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 contemporary routine choreographed by Mia Michaels, who envisioned it as a story of a woman's addiction to drugs. I thought the routine was stunning and moving then and I still think it's stunning and moving. Sadly, sometimes romantic relationships with people run this course as

I added this video of the 300 Morehouse men, Oprah crying, and interview with Morehouse president on May 26. Dr. Franklin says that Oprah believes it's cheaper to educate than incarcerate and that since the airing of the Morehouse graduates paying tribute to Oprah and people learning that these men are paying their scholarships forward, donations have poured in.I confess that I have watched all

My aunt in Memphis told me about President Barack Obama surprising students at Booker T. Washington in Memphis, Tenn., on May 16, She said it made her cry. CNN posted a longer video of his surprise visit on YouTube. Obama later spoke at their graduation.

I know people who live in Terrebonne Parish and near the Atchafalaya Basin. Naturally some of them are suspicious about the reasons behind the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) decision to open the Morganza Spillway because its opening will result in flooding an area that includes approximately 25,000 people in south-central Louisiana. This event is rightfully described as a modern-day

New Orleans-located infectious disease expert Dr. Brobson Lutz says in the video above that people going to watch the rising Mississippi River along the area's levees should be more concerned about the viruses they could catch from mosquito bites than about encountering a snake. He said that whenever flooding makes the news, you can count on someone to air video with a snake swimming in the flood

Here's video of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama's Wednesday, May 11, evening event of Poets at the White House. The president started the evening saying, "The power of poetry is that everybody experiences it differently. There are no rules for what makes a great poem. Understanding it isn’t just about metaphor or meter. Instead, a great poem is one that resonates with us,

On April 26, 2011, the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus held a rally on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge to protest Gov. Bobby Jindal's cuts to higher education. The most urgent matter on the minds of the speakers was Jindal's push to merge Southern University of New Orleans with University of New Orleans, SUNO with UNO.The event was hosted by the Southern University

Updated Wednesday: President Obama says White House will not release Osama bin Laden death photos: "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies"The White House should not make the photos of bin Laden's body available for broadcast. For Americans who want to see the body photos, the government should put the pics in a case at the Pentagon. The morbidly curious can contact the military if they want

I did not think this day would come, but about two hours ago, my son rushed into the living room and said, "Mom, Osama bin Laden is dead!" "What? Was it natural causes?""No," he said. "He was killed." (Later sources reported that bin Laden was shot in the head, shot through the left eye.)I stopped watching Treme on HBO and turned to CNN where I saw that about 30 or 40 people had already gathered