Barack Obama made this video for TBS 20 years ago. more ›

Adopted or not, close to our parents or no, there are things about our own DNA that most of us know from birth. Our gender, for example, or our hair, eye or skin color is pretty obvious, and we begin developing our identity from a young age based on these things. But what if at the age of 34, you discovered you had a piece of your identity all wrong? What if, for example, you discovered you were black instead of white? This strange-but-true story is Michael Fosberg's. He never knew his father and was raised in an all-white suburb with his white mother and stepfather. With very light skin and an all-white family, Fosberg had no reason to believe that he was anything but white. It wasn't until he tracked down his biological father that he discovered his black heritage. more ›

At first glance the title of a new exhibit at Columbia College, Fear into Fire, for all its alliterative bounce, doesn’t quite seem to mesh with its subtitle: Reclaiming Black Male Identity Through the Art of Tattooing. In fact, it does—especially when you listen to Nicole Harrison, the exhibit’s 25-year-old curator, describe “fear” as representing the challenges black youth face and “fire” representing the strength it takes to overcome those challenges. The photographs in this collection explore the connection between the black male body and skin art as they work in tandem to shape culture, influence personal identity, and create lasting bonds within the community. Columbia College alumnus Harrison chats with Chicagoist about the exhibit and what it was like to curate her first show. more ›

Michele tips us to an online treasure of recently discovered and annotated African American historical artifacts, tirelessly collected by a dedicated researcher. more ›

Comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know, NYC's purveyor of the crass and offensive, will make a one-night-only appearance at the Lakeshore Theater this Thursday. Known for their delightful vulgarity, the Kids will tackle everything from celebrity worship to potty humor, and will no doubt throw some beastiality somewhere in the mix. Prepare to giggle nervously. more ›

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It’s coming, folks. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009. You won’t be able to eat your Wheaties in the morning without reading something about Lincoln, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. more ›

Image credit: Nature abhors a vacuum more ›

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's? Bostonist dug deep to uncover Barack Obama's unpaid parking tickets, their Governor's latest ethical lapse, and a plagarizing sports writer. Chicagoist had everything in twos: two views on having the Olympics, losing two members of their Super Bowl team, and two music festivals. DCist put their noses in legal books as... more ›

Discussions about Black History Month have become as complex as discussions about race. Debating the labels ‘black’ and ‘African-American’ lead to debates about biracial identity and, recently, whether Senator Obama, Joe Biden’s “first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” friend, is actually African-American. In the same vein, Black History Month has increasingly been relabeled African-American Heritage Month and African Heritage Month, terms emphasizing the present and future as... more ›

In the US, February marks Black History Month, and while there are no shortage of opportunities to learn about important and significant people of African descent this month, the purpose and history behind the event is sometimes lost. While Africans have been present in North America at least since colonial times, black history had barely begun to be studied — or even documented — when the tradition formally began in 1926. It wasn't until later... more ›

WORDSFest, a premier collection of local African-American performers and one of the most entertaining events you’ll see this Black History Month, opens tonight at the Theatre Building. The two-weekend showcase shares a path with last month’s Sketch Fest. Each grew from an impulse to bring together and raise the visibility of a talented community, each arrived at the Theatre Building when they outgrew their original space. Both open their arms (and their workshop) to aspiring... more ›

Three photography shows have come across our radar within the last day and we'd like to share them with you. They're each very different from one another but all seem worth checking out. The first is helping celebrate Black History Month. "The Journey: The Next 100 Years" is a photo exhibit on display at Roosevelt University and shows life in the black community, Chicago through the eyes of African-American photographers. The opening ceremony is on... more ›

Remix albums are often a very bad idea riding the back of the easy cash-in cow. There have been exceptions, as with Massive Attack’s Mad Professor mauled No Protection or even The Space Monkeyz Vs. Gorrilaz collab Laika Come Home, but usually they just end up more like P-Diddly-doo’s We Invented the Remix. Recently Vice Records gave us a re-tooling of this year’s Bloc Party debut in remix form and that arguably could be filed... more ›

Store window buzz in this town usually revolves around Marshall Field's legendary holiday creations, a State Street tradition since 1897, or everyone's favorite mannequin-comes-to-life-and-seduces-Andrew-McCarthy-in-a-hammock film classic. However, as the Sun Times is reporting, a slightly different kind of display on the north end of State is drawing some not-so-positive attention. G'Bani Shoes, a Gold Coast boutique well known for hawking expensive designer kicks to fancy folks, is raising eyebrows and blood pressure with window displays... more ›

For anyone who still hadn’t seen it, the line that can be drawn as the shortest distance between the two points of gospel and soul music was sketched quite neatly in a sequence from the film Ray. As Jamie Foxx’s Ray Charles is wooing his soon-to-be wife he steps into a version of “I Got A Woman” that’s even more tinged with the rhythm and movements of gospel than the version eventually laid down on... more ›