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UNCF Honors Students and Stars
(The Root) — A Howard University graduate, comic actor Anthony Anderson seems like a logical choice to host the television broadcast of UNCF An Evening of Stars when it airs on local and national cable channels this weekend. The program spotlights students from various HBCUs and other colleges and universities including Spelman, Wiley, Johnson C.…
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New Sports Website Partners With ESPN
(The Root) — A new online destination for sports fans announced this week that it has arranged a partnership with premiere sports network ESPN. The relationship between the Shadow League, a sports-and-lifestyle website run by former ESPN executive Keith Clinkscales, and ESPN will consist of “funding, as well as the potential to develop various content…
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Howler: A Soccer Mag That Gets It Right
(The Root) — Given America’s glut of professional sports diversions — baseball, basketball, football, tennis and even hockey — it’s generally hard out here for a soccer fanatic. No matter how much loyalists (like myself) proclaim our devotion to what the rest of the world knows simply as “the beautiful game,” soccer still kicks it…
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Ayana Mathis' 8 Favorite Books
“From language to content to the way time is manipulated to the sheer breadth and genius of it, it’s kind of impossible not to return to it. It changed dialogue about how black people were writing, black women specifically. One of things that amazes me [about Beloved] is that it’s a highly literary novel but…
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'12 Tribes of Hattie' Scribe Talks Oprah
(The Root) — To say that Brooklyn, N.Y., author Ayana Mathis has made an auspicious debut with her critically lauded novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, is a gross understatement. In addition to stellar reviews, Mathis’ book, which traces the struggles of a mother (Hattie Shepherd) and her children from the Great Migration era through…
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US Rep John Lewis' Wife, Lillian, Dies at 73
Lillian Miles Lewis, wife of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), died Monday at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was 73. Close friend Xernona Clayton said Lillian Lewis had been ill for an extended period of time but encouraged her husband to continue with his career. “She’d kind of get…
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12 Films That Dared to Tackle Slavery
Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Django Unchained, may feature several signifiers of an ultramodern slave narrative mixed with spaghetti Western bravado — bloody gunfights; n-word-spouting plantation owners; and a soundtrack featuring Rick Ross, Ennio Morricone and the RZA — but if you want to see how slavery was handled on the big screen before it got…
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Funk Singer Marva Whitney Dies at 68
(The Root) — Marva Whitney, a funk singer with a powerful, passionate voice who toured and collaborated with James Brown, died on Saturday at age 68 from complications stemming from pneumonia, her manager told The Root. Brown had nicknamed her Soul Sister No. 1. A message on a Facebook page dedicated to Whitney reads, “She…
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Jamie Foxx: 'Django' Is Fly and Educational
(The Root) — Given his Texas roots, it’s not a surprise that Jamie Foxx is comfortable around horses. In fact, the Oscar-winning actor rode his own horse, Cheetah, in several scenes as the titular character in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film, Django Unchained. During a recent press conference, Foxx admitted to being scared when asked to…
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Amy Winehouse Death Inquiry to Be Reheard
More than a year after the death of singer Amy Winehouse, an inquest has to be heard again next month because the original coroner lacked the proper qualifications, according to the Associated Press. Assistant deputy coroner Suzanne Greenaway, who handled the inquest, resigned in November 2011 after her qualifications were questioned. Camden Council said a…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
