Urban Thought Collective

About Me:

Cameron Turner is a Los Angeles-area native whose editorials, entertainment news features and audio documentaries have been featured on black-oriented radio, online and in print outlets for two decades. The devoted father of two is developing a series of books children's books to inspire the imaginations of urban youth.

OBAMA KILLS STEREOTYPES
A recent Los Angeles Times article asked if having Barack Obama in the White House would change negative stereotypes about black men. Well, I don’t think it will change a thing. Anyone who is prejudiced enough to believe that the majority of black men are dangerous, unintelligent, lazy, immoral and predisposed […]

The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States represents a major, attitudinal shift in America with regard to race. Bigotry and racism are still alive in our nation (on both the individual and institutional levels), but Obama’s victory proves that most Americans want to move past the divisive and oppressive […]

Wow.
We’re actually here.
It actually happened. In our lifetime!
I don’t have a whole lot to say right now. The historic nature of Barack Obama being elected President of the United States is simply too big, and my thoughts and emotions are too overwhelming, for me to try to sum up […]

OBAMA: THE NEIL ARMSTRONG OF THE OVAL OFFICE
I was six years old on July 20, 1969 when the Apollo 11 astronauts became the first human beings to walk on the Moon. To this day I feel honored to have been able to witness that historic and very exciting event. Now, as our […]

OBAMA
Our hearts go out to Barack Obama as he puts campaigning on hold to spend a few days with his critically ill grandmother. Everyone, regardless of where they stand on the election, should take a moment to acknowledge the sadness of this moment. One can only imagine the valley of heartbreak that our […]

One of the many things that Queen Latifah loves about her new movie, “The Secret Life of Bees,” is that it offers a gentler vision of life in the Jim Crow south than we may be used to seeing onscreen.
For one thing, the Oscar-nominated actress is excited to play a character that […]

THE EXPRESS
Playing Civil Rights-era football star Ernie Davis in the inspiring new movie “The Express” gave actor Rob Brown a greater understanding of history and a deeper sense of personal responsibility.
As one of the few black students at Syracuse University in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, Ernie Davis faced overt racism on campus, in […]

All that cramming Sarah Palin did over the last few weeks paid off Thursday night. The governor of Alaska was surprisingly poised and knowledgeable during the vice-presidential debate. She was charming, folksy and likable, too. But she also dodged the issues and failed to show how John McCain’s policies would differ from […]

As members of Congress were battling over how to keep U.S. financial institutions from “cratering” (to borrow the term John McCain used when he called David Letterman to bail out of that interview at the last minute), the auction house Phillips de Pury & Company was gearing up for a sale of jewelry formerly owned […]

WHEN THE SAINTS COME MARCHIN IN…
Directing the ambitious World War II epic “Miracle at St. Anna” presented Spike Lee with several daunting challenges. Filming in the steep, rugged mountains and narrow, rough-hewn village streets of Tuscany, Italy presented a host of logistical problems and, since he speaks only English, Lee had his hands full directing […]