Big Sole Blog (BSB)

I've seen this study before, the one where researchers use puppets to determine whether babies as young as three months old have a sense of morality. CBS's 60 Minutes recently ran an update on this baby research, and here's the video. The research indicates that babies prefer those who help others, that they dislike mean people and want mean people, as well as those unlike themselves, to be

As everyone who is not in a coma or asleep right now probably knows, the verdict is in in the George Zimmerman trial. The Florida jury of six women found Zimmerman not guilty. Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year but claimed self-defense. Martin was unarmed. All I have to say to this news as an African-American mother of a young black male is from now on, we "Remember

In this video, A.P. Tureaud Jr. (son of the famous Civil Rights attorney) and Louisiana historian Alfred E. Lemmon discuss the musical history of Louisiana's free people of color. Their information is pretty accurate. For instance, it's true that prior to the cultural Americanization of Louisiana and before the Civil War, Louisiana neighborhoods were not as segregated as they became later.

Birmingham police arrested Martin Luther King Jr. on 12 April 1963, and he penned his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" while imprisoned, slipping it as a crumpled wad of paper to his friend Clarence Jones. Jones did not know what it was until later. On its 50th anniversary, rather than comment on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," I'm commemorating its

This month the Barman's Fund of New Orleans will give a boost to the city's only street paper, the New Orleans Street Exchange. According to the newspaper's newsletter, "the Barman’s Fund is a motley assortment of bartenders who pledge all earnings from one shift a month for charitable organizations." The N.O. Street Exchange is a street newspaper benefiting the city's homeless community and

I have not yet seen Beasts of the Southern Wild, but bell hooks's negative review of the film is the first negative review I've seen. I respect her and suspect that if she sees in the film what she's written here, then that's probably what is in the film. You can read her entire review at New Black Man (in Exile). What struck me most was her assertion that movie smacks of conservative ideology

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy I watched with concern today Melissa Harris-Perry's segment about America's high incarceration rate on MSNBC. Our rate is the highest in the world. She spoke to Norris Henderson, a New Orleans activist who was "wrongfully incarcerated for more than 27 years," according to multiple sources, and she also questioned

Ticket Rhetoric   By Nordette N. Adams Romney/Ryan.    Mitt's mechanistic;    Paul's penile-Palin,    but smarter . . . maybe. The Double-Mitt Twins conceived to re-position the winds of forefathers: Mayonnaise-y,    retro-phase-y — A paste-hasty    empire strike! Resetting grand narrative to unrainbowed heritage:    America unwomened    then America unblack — The great take-back.

Are there any men out there who will boycott Chik-fil-A because Dan Cathy also downed men who divorce and remarry? He said, ". . . and we are all married to our first wives." (I guess he voted for Obama in 2008, not McCain.) More than likely he disapproves old-school Mormonism, drinking and smoking, and probably scientists who believe in evolution, too. Seriously, it is not news that Cathy is

"At Miami Central and Turner, students were seen pouring out of the school buildings and into the streets just after 9 a.m. [March 23]... In Culter Bay, at Miami Southridge High School students formed a "TM" on a field in support of Martin." (source)911 Call Recording Released(The Atlantic)More InformationThe Killing of Trayvon Martin is Not a "Black Problem" (Mediate)Was his killing self-defense

I've already written about Slavery: The Game here at this blog, and I updated and posted on the topic at BlogHer.com as well. Now there's a twist that leads us to the promotional video's creators.After contemplating speculation that the game was a hoax, possible protest, or some kind of publicity stunt, I have learned that the video on YouTube and the associated website are part of a promotion

I stumbled across this Booknotes TV interview with novelist Walter Mosley. It's fascinating. He's fascinating far beyond his novels. He talks about everything from the birth of Easy Rollins, to his growing up in Watts with an African-American father and Jewish mother, to his vision for making America better. The man is a deep thinker who considers how we can improve the world, which is how he

After reading the depressing New York Times article this morning about recent developments in the DSK rape case, I was glad I found this video. It's called the "world's largest flash mob dance video" produced by Eurovision Song Contest 2010, and I really needed to see something to make me feel better about humanity, at least a way to look at the brighter side of the species.However, I don't think

Some people will read this article at The New Republic, "Why Can’t More Poor People Escape Poverty?," and without going very far into have a knee-jerk reaction and reject its information because the article can be misread to say that all poor people lack impulse control. That's not what it's saying, but I know that's what that I thought until I realized I was wrong.What the article is saying is

This video, "Free But Still Struggling," published by the Houston Chronicle about men wrongfully convicted in Texas is very compelling. But the story of one man in the video, Anthony Graves, that Yahoo posted is beyond outrageous:Anthony Graves would have received $1.4 million in compensation if only the words "actual innocence" had been included in the judge's order that secured Graves's release

I am happy for the people of Egypt, and as someone trained in communications with experience in social activism who has been online since the mid 90s and uses Facebook and Twitter, I understand how social media can be used as a powerful tool to build a movement. So, on some level I like the play of media soundbites such as "Facebook freed Egypt." I like the warm and fuzzy feel of them, but I know

Soledad O'Brien did one of the best interviews I've seen with Jamie and Gladys Scott since their release. They talked about the kidney donation; Gladys reiterated that she wanted to donate a kidney as far back as January 2010, and Jamie said she and Gladys refuse to let bitterness consume them. They also answered questions about how race played a role in their convictions for a crime they

A spokesperson for the Scott Sisters announced last night that the Scott Sisters will be released Friday to begin their new lives on parole. They go home to their mother and their five children and grandchildren. The women were convicted of armed robbery in 1994, but how that conviction came about back then is clouded with dubious court procedures. For more details on this case, as well as

My essay "Haley Barbour Will Free the Scott Sisters: Beyond Race to the Bitter Aftertaste" has just been published at BlogHer.com. I'm definitely happy that the sisters will walk freely away from a Mississippi prison; however, I don't think joy for them, their five children, their grandchildren, siblings, and their mother, Evelyn Rasco, should divert voter attention from the governor's

When I wrote on Wednesday about Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour suspending the sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott, my post's headline emphasized the kidney deal. Barbour's treatment of the Scott Sisters just did not seem right to me. Now I've learned via ABC News that that deal may not even be legal. Read the full story at ABC where bioethicists indicate, "Governor's Deal Violates 50-