The commentary in our January 13, 2006 issue attempts to address the common use by Black folk today of the word Nigger. Recently, the incident with “Sinfeld” actor Michael Richards (Kramer) using the word in a debasing and flagrant manner during his comedy club act, was more than an example of “When Keep’n It Real Goes Bad!” It became a clarion call for a moratorium on the word by many of our Civil Rights Leaders including Rev. Jesse Jackson, and others,. Many others are siding in defense of the word being used by Blacks like Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. Use of the word has been labeled a “term of endearment” and a source of empowerment for our people by many in the Hip Hop generation, and the word is used ad-infinitum by rappers and singers on records, actors in movies, and our sons and daughters on the corner, at school, in the barber shop and on “My Space”. Debates across the country are taking place on the radio, at conferences, on the television, and in living rooms. This word has again become a “hotbed” of controversy. Data News Weekly would like to know how you feel about the use of the word today. Do you condone the word? Do you think it has changed in meaning with the change in spelling? Will you allow your child to refer to themselves openly as a Nigger, Nigga, Niggah, Nicca, or any other form of the word. Will you let them refer to you that way? If so Why? If not, Why? Sound off, we will be running a feature on this topic in the Feb 10 Issue of Data, and you can be a part of speaking to this issue.