“The Oprah Myth” (2009)
With Oprah Winfrey’s astronomical success, the rise of the black woman in America has been well documented and celebrated. But when one considers that over the past thirty years, black men have been falling further behind black women in both education and employment, one has every right to question the rhetoric of the new Black Media Elite.
Bridgeportword.com
http://bridgeportword.com/MichaelLipscomb/index.html
“Can the Teacher Be Taught? A Conversation with KRS-One” (1992)*
Before Jay-Z and Kanye, before Tupac and Biggie, there were Chuck D. and KRS-One: rap music’s reigning intellectuals. But back then, this title neither coveted nor attained crossover success. In this lively conversation, KRS-One riffs on race, American and African history, and the responsibility of Hip Hop. What we find are insights one can scarcely expect from stars today.
Transition: An International Review, Oxford University Press. Issue 57.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2935165
*Winner, Best Interview; ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award, 1993
“Antonin Artaud: A Twentieth Century Actor” (1985)
Though the Surrealists are well known and celebrated today, we must not forget that they once had a formidable adversary. What else could they expect from someone who founded The Theater of Cruelty? But as a tool for deciphering the absurd, Artaud’s ‘madness’ is no less valuable to us than the Surrealist’s ‘revolution’.
Subject To Change, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
“Blame It On Muhammad Ali” (2023)
If the Civil Rights Movement shifted the ground of American race relations, then Muhammad Ali can be said to have laid the soil and seed for bolder expression. But while this made him the world’s most famous athlete, it also sabotaged the Christian humility that had been the bedrock of Black public discourse. The result has been militancy without discipline, prosperity without substance, and a mutual complacency in both the haves and the have-nots.
Medium.com
https://medium.com/@condemnedplayground/blame-it-on-muhammad-ali-79ccc48fea70
“The Grievance Test” (2023)
If America’s Right and Left are two wrestlers rolling in back of a Buffalo Wild Wings, then The Grievance Test unlocks the combatants one appendage at a time. How? By applying one, multi-dimensional standard for the growing list of contenders. Maybe then, we can get morality and self-interest back to their mutual corners.
Substack.com
https://michaellipscomb.substack.com/p/the-grievance-test
“On Being Nice” (2024)
Though being nice can sweeten small moments and dampen awkward ones, it too often trades clarity for an ostrich peace, and lulls us into a dull, well-fed stupor. A far cry from its ancestor: kindness.
Substack.com
https://michaellipscomb.substack.com/p/on-being-nice
The Public Library: RIP (2024)
A dicey proposition from the start, the public library has always been able to resist the transformation from a practical mind to a technical one. Until now. Three nails (rudeness, illiteracy, and public policy) have fastened the coffin lid. Will technology supply the fourth?
Substack.com
https://michaellipscomb.substack.com/p/the-public-library-rip