Nothing.

Remember, Bob Johnson--the avid Clinton supporter who made his fortune by putting black booty shakers on TV?

He was the first prominent black man to say publicly that Obama, whose mother was a white woman from Kansas and father was an African from Kenya, hadn't done as much as Hillary Clinton has done to help blacks. He also claimed that Obama wouldn't have been the front-runner in the primary race if he had not been black.

Before I kick Ralph Nader in his butt, I have to give him credit for one thing: He's said publicly what some black leaders, especially those who were part of the civil rights movement, have been saying privately since Sen. Barack Obama announced his intention to run for the White House.

Obama has dismissed Nader's comments as a desperate attempt to get attention.

But don't think Nader is being courageous. Old-school black leaders know most black voters don't want to hear it. They are too close to turn back now.

A study that used virtual reality stimulation found that "given a fraction of a second to respond to images of men popping out from behind garbage dumpsters, people were more likely to shoot blacks than whites."

Deneice Franklin, the cousin of Shapell Terrell, called me on Tuesday. Terrell was the 39-year-old man who was shot and killed by police in the 8500 block of South Oglesby at about 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 22.

Franklin wanted to set the record straight about Terrell's criminal background, which she says the police deliberately distorted in an effort to protect the police officers' action. She also shared her family's version of what happened the night Terrell was killed by police.

Please note that a spokesman with the Chicago Police Department declined to comment.

Still, I think it is important to discuss Franklin's accusations. Hopefully, witnesses of the shooting will contact the Independent Police Review Authority so that this matter can be resolved as quickly as possible.

It's been quite a while since I've been able to blog.

Thanks to my friends in New Media, I've come up with a blog schedule that works for me. Initially, I'll post at least twice a week--on Tuesdays and Thursdays--and have agreed to post your comments throughout the day.

As for topics, I'm still interested in keeping a civil dialogue going about our racial attitudes, which means I won't be posting comments that include the N-word, or the W-word, or the B-word.

This is primarily a platform for you to talk to each other, not to me. If you want to do that, you can e-mail me at marym@suntimes.com or check out my live chat on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m., at www.suntimes.com.

After being booted off of MSNBC and CBS Radio for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," you would think Don Imus would steer clear of racial remarks.

But Noooooo.