Author Archives: Bomani Armah

Election 2008: It’s All About Color

Like most 30 year old urban professionals, I am completely thrilled with this election season. I am awe struck by Barack Obama’s ability to navigate the shaky political landscape that has been set before him. Between the unnecessary or ill planned wars, economical travesties, the class warfare, and the never ending battles over the government’sContinue reading “Election 2008: It’s All About Color”

Bomani on NPR’s “Tell Me More”

Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin has re-ignited the debate on what’s best for the family: moms who stay at home, or moms who work? This week’s Mocha Moms Jolene Ivey, Asra Nomani and “Mommy Wars” author Leslie Morgan Steiner are joined by special guest Dad, Bomani Armah to discuss Palin and the public response toContinue reading “Bomani on NPR’s “Tell Me More””

Real Sex…for 10 Year Olds: Why Abstinence Only Doesn’t Work

Imagine for a second, a 50 year old adult with their eyes squinted shut, their pointer fingers jammed in their ears, and their whole upper body swiveling like a water sprinkler yelling “La La La La La!” at the top of their longs. That is the personification of the abstinence only program many socially consciousContinue reading “Real Sex…for 10 Year Olds: Why Abstinence Only Doesn’t Work”

Palin for President

Did you notice that tremendous thunder this Friday following the awe-inspiring speech by Barack Obama from over a mile high in the sky? No? That’s because the McCain campaign stole it with it’s out of this world decision to select Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate. This announcement made her the first women to everContinue reading “Palin for President”

Reflecting on Read a Book

The end of last summer I felt that I was in the midst of a perfect storm, that place where conscious/socially relevant art was clashing with commercial media and the on going battle that BET likes’ to call “Hip-Hop vs. America”. This storm is causing a shift in the movement to uplift blacks, and theContinue reading “Reflecting on Read a Book”

Bomani on NPR’s “Face the Nation

Poet and satirist Bomani Armah talks about his Washington Post op-ed, “Okay, Barack. Now Show ‘Em Your White Side.” Obama is “black enough,” Armah writes. “We need to start stressing the idea that his universal appeal is partly due to his being white, like all the presidents before him.” Check out the full interview here.

Barack, Show’em Your White Side

“That’s why I chose you. See . . . you one a ‘dem!!” – Samuel L. Jackson in “A Time to Kill” So the hubbub has finally subsided. The King of Black People (Jesse Jackson) and the Prime Minister (Al Sharpton) have officially knighted Senator Obama as black enough. Of course it took a gangContinue reading “Barack, Show’em Your White Side”

Bomani & “Read a Book” in the Washington Post

His Punch Line Smarts Hip-Hop Parodist Bomani Armah Juggles Sense of Humor and Identity By Kevin Merida Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 22, 2007; C01 Bomani Armah (“I’m not a rapper, I’m a poet with a hip-hop style”) hops into a bar chair at the ultracool Artmosphere Cafe in Mount Rainier. It is aContinue reading “Bomani & “Read a Book” in the Washington Post”

Bomani & Christylez in the Washington Post

Where Hope Meets Hip-Hop D.C. Artists Will Use Reality-Based Rhymes To Reinforce Martin Luther King Jr.’s Message By Darragh Johnson Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 15, 2007; B01 Chris Bacon is at a table in one of the few sit-down restaurants east of the Anacostia River, the Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, where he once workedContinue reading “Bomani & Christylez in the Washington Post”