by BAR contributing
editor Richard O'Connor

An Irishman fell in love with a Black woman, and then
found that he had also become socially Black in the United States. Apparently,
crossing the racial privilege line is a cardinal sin in the U.S. of
muthafuckin' A, even if you are nominally white. But how white are you? The
author takes us on his journey from just being an Irishman, to being treated as
a Black man in a White Man's Country. "They say black don't rub off. They're
wrong," he writes. Violation of the color code leads to blurring of one's own
color lines, in the eyes of the larger society.

by Askia Muhammad

Rep. Keith Ellison went along with the rest of
the U.S. Congress to condemn the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for
advocating genocide of Israelis, as did all Congressional Black Caucus members
who voted. The Minnesota congressman has shown that he is not the Great Muslim
Hope, by any definition. Iraq's leader, President Ahmadinejad, never called for
the extermination of Israelis, but the U.S. media treats the lie as the truth.
Congressman Ellison, it seems, cannot resist the rule of the corporate
narrative, no matter how false. Is there really a Muslim in the U.S. Congress?

by BAR contributing
editor Margaret O'Connor

A Black teacher's sojourn in white-dominated school
systems can kill the soul, and erase a career. After years of trying to find
"race neutral" fields of study, the author discovered that white students could
not forgive her for "always talking about race" - the forbidden subject. Their
response was to leave "cutouts of Aunt Jemima and black athletes with nooses
around their necks." Don't talk about race, at all, or the white folks will get
upset. "My world view as a black person" was incompatible with the educational
system. And so, in the end, she had to exit.

by BAR contributing
editor Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich

The disease that is ravishing Africa and
African Americans, AIDS, is vectored by sexual inequality. Millions die because
of the unspoken truth: men spread the disease, and women are helpless to resist
infection. Any effective anti-AIDS program must include a women's empowerment
component, to redress the balance of sexual forces. In Africa, as in the U.S.,
prevailing male norms of behavior are the social structures that spread the
virus. The disease has become global, and so must the struggle against it.
However, if we do not recognize that male-female relationships are at the heart
of the problem, we will have missed the point, and millions will die as a
consequence.

by Fidel Castro

Cuban President Fidel Castro, a hero of the
world, having stood up to the war machine of a superpower, is nevertheless an
old man reflecting on his life. What does it feel like to be stalked by the
greatest power on Earth? Mr. Castro has escaped multiple assassination schemes
organized by the U.S. government - and still marvels at the death apparatus.
Castro has read all the documents and digested all the data on his planned
death. He outlived most of his assassins, but the struggle continues, and so
does Fidel. While the time is left, he shares with us the details of his own
murder.

by BAR contributing
editor Margaret O'Connor

A Black teacher's sojourn in white-dominated school
systems can kill the soul, and erase a career. After years of trying to find
"race neutral" fields of study, the author discovered that white students could
not forgive her for "always talking about race" - the forbidden subject. Their
response was to leave "cutouts of Aunt Jemima and black athletes with nooses
around their necks." Don't talk about race, at all, or the white folks will get
upset. "My world view as a black person" was incompatible with the educational
system. And so, in the end, she had to exit.