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Mike Brown’s Death Changed the World, but Local Activists Say It Hasn’t Changed Ferguson
Today marks five years since Darren Wilson gunned down 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was far from the only black man to die at the hands of the police that year; other high-profile cases—Eric Garner died in New York months earlier, Laquan McDonald would be shot and killed later that fall—sparked protests and…
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Black Man Walked With Rope by Mounted Police Has Mental Illness, According to Family: ‘They Don’t Care to Know the Whole Story’
Family members of Donald Neely, the 43-year-old homeless man who was handcuffed and led by a rope by two white Galveston, Texas, officers on horseback last weekend, said he has struggled with mental illness for years—and that his condition was well documented. Neely—whose arrest went viral after photos of him walking down the street, flanked…
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Invoking the Racist Dog Whistles of the Past, ICE Arrests Nearly 700 Undocumented Immigrants in Mississippi
In what Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are touting as “the largest single-state immigration enforcement operation in our nation’s history,” nearly 700 undocumented immigrants were detained in raids at food processing plants in Mississippi on Wednesday. As CNN reports, the ICE raids hit seven sites in six different Mississippi cities. Many of those detained are…
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'Houston We Have a Problem': Megan Thee Stallion and Lizzo Team Up for the Most Pure Hot Girl Video
We are one day away from the release of Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj’s much-anticipated collaboration, “Hot Girl Summer,” but Meg found it in her heart to gift us with one more blessed hangout: her and the incomparable Lizzo. The link-up started out as many Megan events do, with the Houston rapper pouring a…
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Ain't No Way: Estate Conflict Reveals Aretha Franklin Once Kept $750,000 in Uncashed Checks in Her Purse
The battle over Aretha Franklin’s estate has gotten capital M-MESSY, requiring a long, drawn-out court hearing this week in which deep familial divisions—and some pretty shocking details about the late great singer’s finances—were on full display. Among the revelations: Franklin, who allegedly did not have an accounting system while she was alive, once had $750,000…
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Judge Orders Baton Rouge to Release Psych Report of Cop Who Killed Alton Sterling Amid Reports of Abuse, Unprofessional Behavior
Days after Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul admitted that Blane Salamoni, the police officer who shot and killed Alton Sterling in 2016, should never have been hired, a Louisiana judge has ordered the city of Baton Rouge to release a psychological evaluation used in Salamoni’s hiring. The judge handed the decision down Monday; Sterling’s…
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In Wake of Deadly Mass Shootings, Texas Gun Laws Will Get Even Looser
Texas is slated to ease its gun laws—already some of the most lax in the country—next month, making it easier for Texans to carry firearms in schools, churches, and foster homes across the state. The new laws were passed before the shooting in El Paso last weekend, though they’re receiving renewed attention in the wake…
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In New TV Series, Jay-Z and Will Smith Will Show the World Through Mamie Till's Eyes
A long-delayed TV series focusing on Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, will finally see daylight, thanks to executive producers Jay-Z and Will Smith. The anthology series, which currently has the working title Women of the Movement, was picked up by ABC, which announced the project Tuesday, according to Vulture. Previously, the series had…
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Atlanta Will Return to FX for a 4th Season…Eventually!
FX announced that it will renew Donald Glover’s critically acclaimed TV show, Atlanta, for a fourth season—effectively giving fans two more seasons to see if Earn, Paper Boi, Darius and Van will get their shit together…or not (my money is on “not!”). According to Deadline, FX confirmed the renewal during its presentation at the Television…
