Color blindness

Color blindness, or color vision deficiency, is the inability or decreased ability to see color, or perceive color differences, under normal lighting conditions. Color blindness affects a significant percentage of the population. There is no actual blindness but there is a deficiency of color vision. The most usual cause is a fault in the development of one or more sets of retinal cones that perceive color in light and transmit that information to the optic nerve. This type of color blindness is usually a sex-linked condition. The genes that produce photopigments are carried on the X chromosome; if some of these genes are missing or damaged, color blindness will be expressed in males with a higher probability than in females because males only have one X chromosome, whereas females have two and a functional gene on only one of the X chromosomes is sufficient to yield the necessary photopigments.

Color blindness can also be produced by physical or chemical damage to the eye, the optic nerve, or parts of the brain. For example, people with achromatopsia suffer from a completely different disorder, but are nevertheless unable to see colors.

Colorblind (book)

Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity is a non-fiction book by the anti-racist writer and educator Tim Wise, and is published by City Lights.

Critical reception

Reviewing the book, Kel Munger from the Sacramento News and Review states that "Tim Wise dismantles the myth that full equality has been won and the playing field is level with hard facts, citing studies that have shown the persistence of institutional racism and white racial preference in all areas, including employment, education and health care." In another review from AnnArbor.com, La'Ron Williams highlights Wise's attempts at addressing contemporary concerns: "Focusing on disparities in four key areas--employment, education, healthcare, and housing--and drawing upon a wide range of academic studies, Wise pulls back the veil from the face of contemporary 'invisible' racism. He also, simultaneously, points out the ways that so-called 'colorblind' social policies--those which are based on programs meant to 'lift all boats' by raising the overall economic water level for working class and poor people--will actually worsen the problems of racial injustice."

Colorblind (Counting Crows song)

"Colorblind " is a song by American rock band Counting Crows. Written by band members Adam Duritz and Charlie Gillingham for their third album This Desert Life (1999), production was helmed by Dennis Herring and David Lowery. It was prominently featured in the 1999 drama film Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair, and has since been covered by various artists, including Between the Buried and Me, Leona Lewis (for Hurt: The EP), and Natalie Walker.

Charts

Weekly charts

Leona Lewis version

In December 2011, British recording artist Leona Lewis released a three track extended play entitled Hurt: The EP, which included a cover version of "Colorblind" as well as two other covers. Lewis re-recorded an acoustic version of the song for inclusion on the deluxe edition of her third studio album Glassheart (2012). It was originally written by Adam Duritz and Charlie Gillingham of Counting Crows, and Fraser T Smith served as the song's producer. "Colorblind" received positive reviews from music critics upon the release of Hurt: The EP, who praised Lewis's rock interpretation. The EP charted on national single charts, therefore "Colorblind" charted as part of a three track collective, and peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart. On September 28, 2012, the acoustic version of the song was released as a free digital download on Amazon.co.uk.

Let Go (Avril Lavigne album)

Let Go is the debut album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, released on 4 June 2002. For a year after signing a record deal with Arista, Lavigne struggled due to conflicts in musical direction. Lavigne relocated to Los Angeles, California, and recorded there, her earlier materials for the album; the kind of sound to which the label was not amenable. She was paired to the production team The Matrix, who understood her vision for the album.

The album was credited as the biggest pop debut of 2002, and was 6x platinum in the United States. It was released to generally positive critical reviews, although Lavigne's songwriting received some criticism. It also did extremely well in Canada, receiving a diamond certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association, as well as reaching multi-platinum in many countries around the world, including the UK in which she became the youngest female solo artist to have a number-one album in the region.

As of 2013, Let Go had sold over 20 million copies worldwide, becoming Lavigne's highest-selling album to date. According to Billboard magazine, the album was the number 21 top-selling album of the decade. A Rolling Stone readers poll named Let Go as the fourth best album of the 2000s.