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#ReclaimMLK Seeks to Combat the Sanitizing of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy
Martin Luther King Jr. had more than “a dream,” but you might not notice that on Monday during observances for his birthday. Somewhere between his assassination and today began an MLK-neutering campaign meant to turn the famed agitator’s holiday into a national Day of Service, a generic mishmash of good feelings that contorts King’s social-justice legacy…
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‘Terrible’ Empire Is Still Good TV
Have you ever had a feeling that you knew something was terrible, but you loved it anyway? Like the extra-greasy fast-food burger that you knew wouldn’t settle well on your stomach hours later, but you’d still eat again? That’s the aftertaste of Fox’s new hip-hop drama Empire, created by film producer-director Lee Daniels and Danny…
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Sure, Let’s Pardon Mark Wahlberg for His Violent, Racist Past
Remember that time actor Mark Wahlberg punched a man in the eye so hard, he partially blinded him forever? What about the time when he chased black schoolchildren, shouting racial slurs while throwing rocks? If you don’t, better read up on it now because Wahlberg is petitioning (pdf) Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to have part of…
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Did the Boycott Matter to Black Friday Retail Sales?
Getting in the black got a bit harder for some retailers this holiday season, thanks to everyone from the retailers themselves to nationwide protests related to Ferguson, Mo. In figures released Sunday by the National Retail Federation, sales were down 11 percent this past Thanksgiving weekend. That’s a nearly $7 billion drop in revenue since…
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The 5 Best States for Black People
America isn’t an easy country. If you fall down, you’ll mostly get a lot of people trying not to make eye contact with you as you panhandle on the street. The fall can be even harsher if you’re African American—when your time on the street probably came with a stint in prison. But it’s not…
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Want to Improve Voter Turnout? Abolish Voter Registration. No, Really!
It’s your right to vote. So why does our society seem not to want you to use it? Two-thirds of eligible voters did not vote in this year’s midterm elections. It was the lowest electoral turnout since World War II—a time when most black people couldn’t even vote because of Jim Crow laws and because…
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#ThxBirthControl, Because Making Love Is Awesome. Making Babies?…Maybe Later
Sex! Who doesn’t like it? Disaffected TV housewife stereotypes with diminishing libidos? The castrati? Everyone else though? Everyone else is pretty into it. Way into it. Maybe “a little too into” considering Kim Kardashian’s entire career trajectory. But would we and our raging hormones, really have it any other way? This is why birth control…
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Bill Cosby: Comedian, Philanthropist, but Rape Allegations Won’t Go Away
On Monday, Bill Cosby’s website released the Cosby meme generator (now removed), an image macro that was supposed to let people create memes of the famed comedian from his Cosby Show days. But Cosby’s meme generator turned into an unfiltered vehicle to denounce the comedian over the numerous allegations of sexual assault that have plagued him…
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The 5 Worst States for Black People
Progress, the story of black America. We started from the most bottom of bottoms (not having personhood) and worked our way up to the age of Obama, where we are leaps and bounds better than we were (hey, we have personhood now!) but are still struggling to make it to the middle, let alone to…
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It’s No Surprise—Study Shows Why Nonvoters Are the Voters Who Need to Vote the Most
When I was growing up in the Midwest, my father worked for one of the largest defense contractors in the United States. And he was exactly the type of voter sought after by politicians. Why? He worked for the largest employer in the state, he was part of the middle class, he was a married…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
