News: Signatures of the Times
Jymi Bolden The number and the enthusiasm of volunteers bodes well for repealing legal discrimination against gays and lesbians, according to Gary Wright (right) of Citizens to Restore Fairness. Fairness is coming to Cincinnati, but it will take more than a year to become part of the city charter. Citizens to Restore Fairness (CRF)…
Cover Story: Letters Set People Free
Farid Tukhbatullin was imprisoned March 4 in Turkmenistan. He wasn't jailed because he'd stolen something or committed a violent crime. Tukhbatullin was jailed because he is a civil activist and co-chair of the Ecological Club. To put it simply, his views differed from those of the people in power. But after only two months, Tukhbatullin…
Cover Story: Law Students Defend Human Rights
Jymi Bolden Human Rights Quarterly aims for a general audience, according to editor Bert Lockwood. Cincinnati holds a distinction among people concerned about human rights, but not for the reasons you might think. "People are always surprised to find out the oldest endowed human rights institute (in the United States) is in Cincinnati," says…
Music: Oh My Goth!
There might be "doom and gloom" in their lyrics and a cult-like fan base, but don't call AFI a "Goth" band. It only took Northern California's AFI (short for "A Fire Inside") 12 years, multiple lineup changes and a constantly evolving sound to become an overnight sensation. Growing up and out of the Hardcore…
Made Me Look
Walter Deller "This ain't rappin', this is street-hop …" — Nas There's a glitch in the Hip-Hop Matrix, a departure from the norm: One who walks among the Hip-Hop glitterati, making his rounds on the BET and MTV interview circuits while using his mic as a tool to warn young men and women about…
Can Nazi Racial Laws Teach Us?
What if one day you wake to find you're not who you think you are — and your country hates you for it? That's what happened to several hundred thousand people under Germany's 1935 Nuremberg racial laws — the spouses, children or grandchildren of Jews. Hitler branded them "Mischlinge" — "half-breeds." Mostly Christian, some didn't…
Whirlygig: 83: Out on the Town
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Mary had a great idea for a romantic Friday this week: Tour the Contemporary Arts Center between 7 and 9 p.m. and then go out for a quick bite to eat after the dinner rush calmed down. We even found free Rock-star parking about a block away from the CAC.…
Cover Story: Burma Save
Clayton C. Knight Patrick Kearns has used Animal Farm in his work with Burmese refugees. Aung San Suu Kyi is under arrest again. The Nobel Laureate and leader of Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD) was traveling in northern Burma May 30 when she was taken into custody following an attack on her motorcade…
Puttin’ Out the Bone
"America has become more conservative! That's why Bush is president and both houses are Republican." Wrong. "Look at Ohio. Taft is governor. Both state houses are Republican. In fact, a Republican holds every statewide office. I'm telling you, America is settling into long-term political conservatism." Still wrong. "Oh, yeah? What about Hamilton County? Except for…
Diner: Haunting Menu
I 'm an urban patriot, dedicated to the vitality of our city. I'm more allergic to than incompatible with super-sized suburbia, and I feel congested and anxious among the homogeny and Humvees, so I'm generally reluctant to spend my leisure time and entertainment dollars farther north than Kenwood. However, a recent assignment to a restaurant…
News: Discriminating in God’s Name
Jymi Bolden Bishop T.D. Jakes advocates accommodating diverse cultures, but then mockibgly refers to gay men "wearing pink boas." The times haven't changed as much as we might think. Consider the assessment of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. almost a half-century ago: "Eleven o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America."…
The Great Art Disconnect
Cincinnati's latest arts criminal sports loose-fitting chinos, a white T-shirt and wire-frame glasses over wiry brown hair. His name is David Dillon, and he's done nothing wrong except work hard as an artist and the operator of Semantics Gallery, a storefront space in the city's gritty little Brighton neighborhood. Semantics has become a second home…
Film: The Angel Giggled
Woodrow J. Hinton Hello Angels. Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu flank top angel Drew Barrymore for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Drew Barrymore looks down the long banquet table. Seated to her right — but several feet away — are Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz. The stars of Charlie's Angels are in an ocean-front hotel…
Cover Story: Building a Free Nicaragua
Donna Leist Donna Leist made friends with these children in Monkey Point, Nicaragua. Despite her dangly, whimsical earrings and soulful, sun-ripened smile, Donna Leist is a diehard fighter. Toting an "I Love Nicaragua" key chain and a Nicaraguan flag on her car, this Cincinnatian has dedicated her life to the cause of impoverished and…
Television and Radio: Tween Queen
Christy Carlson Romano After finding out where CityBeat is published, actress Christy Carlson Romano gushes, "My mom's from Cincinnati. She went to UC and my Dad went to UC, too. They met at UC, decided to get married, and had a kid, lived there for a few years before moving to Connecticut." Suddenly, her…
Locals Only: : Suck On That Emotion
In a city as rich in original (and not so original) music as Cincinnati is, it isn't easy to escape the typical when you give local music a chance. After giving the person who checks (or fails to check) your ID, your $5, you generally experience something so similar to everything else it is…
Writer’s Block
Getting to know CHARLES E. BROOKS through his photographic travelogue, JOURNEY ACROSS CHINA, isn't easy. He sporadically hops through locales in the Far East, snapping images of landscapes, structures and citizens. The joy here is the unexpected, an indication that Brooks, who will sign and discuss his pictorial at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers,…
Cover Story: Tortured for Meditation
Jymi Bolden Dr. Sunny Lu says she cannot safely visit China, where she was born. Arrest and torture await Dr. Sunny Lu if she ever returns to China under its current regime. Her crimes are truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Lu is a psychiatrist and assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. Born in Beijing,…
