John H. Kennedy
A group of retired athletes, academics, writers and social activists convened a forum on race and gender in sports here this week, and generally described a bleak landscape for the African American athlete in the 21st century.
The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, headed by Prof. Charles J. Ogletree Jr., staged its annual Vineyard forum Wednesday, this year entitled Between the Lines: Race and Gender in Sports in the 21st Century.
Daily newspapers shuttered. Radio and TV networks swimming in red ink. Reporters and editors enduring widespread buyouts and layoffs.
This was the landscape of the news business that Boston University professor Christopher B. Daly confronted as he began researching the history of American journalism about eight years ago. It occurred to him that he just might end up having to write the obituary of American journalism.
Islanders seem to voice the complaint nearly as often as they grumble about summer traffic backups at the blinker light and spiking prices at the gas pump:
You can’t find a primary care doctor on the Island.
On a recent sparkling morning at Inkwell Beach, summer resident and retired Boston judge Ed Redd emerged from his daily swim and carefully considered a question: Does Martha’s Vineyard still retain a certain magic for African Americans — longtime residents and new visitors alike? Judge Redd, a barrel-chested, affable ambassador for the Polar Bears, the historic group that finds invigoration and spirituality in morning swims at the Inkwell from July 4 to Labor Day, didn’t pause for long.
A juror in the Cessna plane crash case said Thursday that the case was “a toss-up” and might have resulted in a verdict for either side had it not settled on the eve of jury deliberations.
The female Edgartown resident, who did not want to be identified by name, said the panel bonded during the monthlong trial but abided by the judge’s instructions to refrain from discussing the case or drawing any conclusions until all the evidence had been presented.
The legal saga of Alec Naiman, Jeffrey Willoughby and Jessica Willoughby vs. Cessna Aircraft Company ended abruptly this week, after the three 2005 plane crash victims accepted settlement offers.