Portside

Shortly before his death, James Baldwin wrote that in the U.S., “White is a metaphor for power,” an observation that is deep background for much of the discussion in the masterly book under review, where race and class are intertwined, yet surface differences are used to split the labor force and maintain capital’s hegemony. The book can usefully inform debate on race and class and aid in reconstructing a revolutionary project in the context of Trumpworld.

Wideman's mixed-genre work examines the lives and legacies of the young Till, his father, Louis Till, and what they can tell us about racism and about families.

Like everyone, we’ve been straining to keep up with astounding developments over the past year. We've also made a lot of changes, to create better tools to help meet the needs of the moment. So if you haven't donated yet, it's not too late.

The #TimesUp action was organized by and for women of color activists that reached millions. What’s wrong with that?

In America, white supremacy is the establishment — not part of it, but all of it, our politics, prisons, schools. And white supremacy dominates our food, our media, even our escapism.

Female-fronted comedies have arguably seen the most aggressive cuts from the gameplan by Netflix.

Reflecting contemporary tensions that explode into violence, Virginia poet Mary Anna Dunn explores the failures of imagination to create resolution.

Fresh from her remarks at the Golden Globes Awards ceremony, Oprah Winfrey is being touted in the mainstream media as a potential presidential candidate in 2020. Whether it's a passing fancy or the start of a serious draft effort, now is a good time to look back on celebrity journalist Kitty Kelley's 2010 biography of Oprah, which the reviewer in an essay alternately caustic and refreshing, credits Kelley with "a very powerful understanding of what makes a modern celebrity. She gets the journey, to use a favorite Oprah word, but she also gets the cost of the journey."

The well-known scientist and commentator on science has presented us with a primer on his subject that is aimed at a wide and popular audience.

"I can’t think of a previous batch of statuette-season contenders so politically on point and of the moment, and I credit — although that’s not quite the right word — Donald Trump. His rise and presidency have brought so many of the cancers of American life to the surface, where we can no longer avoid them, and the movies reflect that. He’ll be at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards not just as the butt of a gazillion jokes. He’ll be there as an inspiration."