Hello Readers! I was on NPR's News + Notes with Jozen Cummings, editor of King-Mag.com, and Desmond Burton of AfroNerd. We discussed Super Tuesday results, and celebrity endorsements. But unfortunately the most interesting debate got cut short. The topic was the police shooting of a woman and her baby in Lima, Ohio. I was able to set up the issue, but didn't get to offer my opinion. And I definitely got sidetracked when Desmond brought up the woman's "afrocentric" name, Tarika Wilson, as a factor to consider. I don't really need to spend a lot of time explaining why this was troubling, or why I disagree with this assessment whole-heartedly, do I?

As for the actual issue, my stance is this: no, I don't think the fact that Wilson was living in a house with a known drug dealer with her kids, all of whom were fathered by drug dealers, should be glazed over. But I think the bigger issue is that there are women like Tarika Wilson all over the country — with kids by several different (often criminal) fathers in stagnant, dangerous situations — who probably feel like they have no other options. It's a cycle that needs to be broken. But the obvious, major issue is, why the hell did the police shoot an unarmed (?) woman and her baby? But we didn't even come close to discussing that…

You can listen here!

Four of the Jena Six were back in court today, and protests were planned in cities across the nation. Bryant Purvis — you might remember him from the BET Hip Hop Awards red carpet — was the last of the group to be arraigned. He pleaded not guilty; his lawyer said he was 30 feet away from the brawl when it happened.

There hasn't been much buzz on the blogs or, well, anywhere about this. Are we over the Jena Six? This was one of the topics I discussed today on NPR's News & Notes Blogger Roundtable, along with Desmond Burton of AfroNerd and Baratunde Thurston of Jack & Jill Politics, both of whom are very smart and funny. We also chatted whether it means anything that Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes endorsed of Rudy Giuliani. Our consensus: No.

You can listen to it here.

Admit it. You have just been dying to put an actual voice to these words you read everyday. Good news: I was a guest on NPR today. Bad news: it's not such a great voice, and I'm going to need to retire "you know" from my repertoire.

I was joined on News & Notes' weekly blogger's roundtable by Shay Riley of Booker Rising and Brandon Whitney of Homeland Colors. Today's topics were the Jena Six's BET Hip Hop Awards cameo, Bill Cosby's Meet the Press appearance, and the acquittal of the defendants in the boot camp death case, all of which are things you pretty much know my opinions (which I'm much better at expressing in written form, unfortunately) on if you read the blog. Still, it's fun to listen. Click here to check it out.

This doesn't sound very zen! Russell Simmons lost his temper during an NPR interview to promote his book, Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success, because he's frustrated that everyone wants to talk about violence and misogyny in hip hop instead of his book. Apparently, NPR journalist Farai Chideya bore the brunt when he snapped, "'I had a book tour about peace and love, and everyone wants to talk about b***ches and hoes.'"

I can't say I blame the interviewers, because hip hop is obviously more interesting than the book. The title alone nearly puts me to sleep.

[EUR]