May/June 2003

CONTENTS

COVER STORY (Cover photos: From left, Voldi Tanner(2); Odell Mitchell)
— Next of Kin
*Direct descendants of slaves, including the Hurdle siblings whose father was a slave, have added new fuel to the fight for reparations
By Tatsha Robertson

FEATURES
— In the War Zone
A television correspondent embedded with the United States Marine Corps provides an eyewitness account of his experience on the frontlines of Iraq
By Byron Pitts

— Once Upon a Time in America
Locals are trying to revive Idlewild, a Michigan segregation-era resort that once counted Black intellectuals and entertainers among its summer guests
By Trevor W. Coleman

ISSUES & VIEWS
— Last in Line
Africa continues to garner little attention when it comes to U.S. foreign relations, despite the fact that the world's most devastating threats—AIDS, poverty, security—have their greatest urgency on the continent
By Salih Booker

DEPARTMENTS
- Editor's Note

- Up Front: Black women in the military make strides; The renaming of South Central Los Angeles; Baltimore Marine was one of first casualties of war in Iraq; Legal team seeks justice for victims of 1921 Tulsa race riot; Teen leader prominent in anti-war movement; Advice for college graduates facing uncertain world, economy
Questions: The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) on the Bush Administration's civil rights record

- The Color Line: Marc Mauer of The Sentencing Project on the unintended consequences of increasing incarceration

- Crisis Forum
* Music: The state of African American divas in the opera world
* Books:
— Reviews of Ripple of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches edited by Josh Gottheimer;
— Summer Snow: Reflections from a Black Daughter of the South by Trudier Harris;
— The Making of a Black Scholar: From Georgia to the Ivy League by Horace A. Porter;
— Ella Baker and The Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby;
— Triple Take by Y. Blak Moore;
— Getting Mother's Body by Suzan-Lori Parks;
— and My Heart Will Cross the Ocean: My Story, My Son Amadou by Kadiatou Diallo

- Backstory: Willie Pugh on coping with his little sister, a U.S. Marine, being called to war in Iraq

- The NAACP Today
* NAACP participates in affirmative action rally at U.S. Supreme Court.;
* Gun lawsuit goes to court:
* Branch News: Topeka, Kan.

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The Hurdles:
Their Father was a Slave