March/April 2006

CONTENTS

ISSUES & VIEWS
— The Crisis Interview: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
The new president of Liberia, Africa’s first female head-of-state, lays out her plan for bringing peace and opportunity to her nation
Interview by Lori S. Robinson
— A New Dawn in Liberia
The election of President Sirleaf has put the country on a path toward change, but Liberia must face its history in order to succeed in the future
By Makau Mutua

FEATURES
— Science Matters
Shirley Ann Jackson has had a grounbreaking career in science. She talks about what attracted her to theoretical physics, chairing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and running the oldest technical university in the nation.
Interview by Curtis Stephen

— Mission Impossible
America is trailing other countries in preparing the next generation of scientists. Programs that attract young minds — particularly minorities and females — are trying to reverse this trend
By Stacy Hawkins Adams

—The Visionaries
These science and technology innovators are breaking ground in their fields — from mathematics to robotics and stem cell research


Cover: Chester Higgins Jr

DEPARTMENTS
- Editor's Note

- Letters

- Up Front: Will the immigration debate impact Black employment?; The viability of Black banks in a hi-tech world; The state of older Black women; Defining civil rights; How diversity is faring on college campuses; Harlem gets a new womenowned bowling alley
Questions: Astronaut Stephanie Wilson previews her summer flight on the Space Shuttle Discovery
- Crisis Forum
* Film: Is Tsotsi’s Oscar win an indication that South African film has come of age?
* Gallery: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson of the Hayden Planetarium in New York
* Books:
— A look back at the work and life of Octavia Butler, the late science fiction writer who enjoyed popular and critical acclaim;
— Plus reviews of The Disappearing Liberal Intellectual by Eric Lott;
— The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner and
— Donna Bailey Nurse’s Revival: An Anthology of Black Canadian Writing
- Backstory: Emira Woods, who grew up in Liberia, reflects on the remarkable strides women leaders have made in her homeland and other African countries

- The NAACP Today
* Health division partners with Black AIDS Institute;
* Stefanie Brown appointed new Youth and College director;
* Fire departments in Jacksonville, Fla., and Reading, Pa., fight racism and discrimination

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