The oil spill in the Gulf has been all over the news lately, and, frustrating though the lack of progress has been, there have been many efforts to stem the oil geyser. What about oil spills that don’t have a large impact on Americans? The Times looks at the Niger River Delta, which has seen the equivalent of the Exxon-Valdez spill a year every year for fifty years, with little attempt at cleanup or attention to the disastrous effect on the area’s ecosystem or economic future.
Guest-blogging for Ta-Nahisi Coates, Jelani Cobb writes about teaching African American history in Moscow and the commonalities he’s found between African Americans and Russians.
Adriel Luis writes on the Race in America blog that Oriental, long out of fashion in polite American discourse, may be a better term than we think. She makes a compelling argument, and if you just got a certain song from Avenue Q stuck in your head, you’re not alone.
Meanwhile, author Neesha Meminger talks about the need for publishers—not just small ones dedicated to diversity like us, but big ones, too—to invest time and energy in working with submissions by people of color, and the importance of not just reading them from a white perspective.
Lastly, we’re back to the Times for an article on the lag in enrolling Latinos in New York City charter schools, despite the great steps charter schools have taken in enrolling African Americans.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
