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The Film Adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun Comes Full Circle
Movies rarely do books justice, and thus I was surprised that the film adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun captured the nuance that author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie achieved in her award-winning novel. The stellar ensemble cast is partially responsible. Wealthy Nigerian twin sisters Olanna (Thandie Newton) and Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) are each involved…
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Short Films Soar at the African Film Festival
The African Film Festival is under way in New York, and two of its short films explore timely topics in unusual ways. Soko Sonko Mother’s Day is this Sunday in the United States, and in just 22 minutes, the comedic film Soko Sonko (The Market King, in English) shows the mayhem that can ensue when…
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Global Citizens Are Driving the Search for Nigeria’s Abducted Girls
With the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls dominating the headlines, what has gone largely unnoticed is that some of the world’s most powerful women in fields such as media, business, fashion and politics recently convened in Nigeria for a conference intended to empower global leaders. Attendees and speakers at the third annual WIE Africa Symposium (“WIE” stands for…
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Lights, Camera, Action! Black Female Directors
Belle, a new movie about a biracial woman’s experience as a quasi-aristocrat in 18th-century Great Britain, is piquing the nation’s interest in a boatload of topics, including the real-life woman on whose story the film is loosely based, how the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom differed from the history in the United States,…
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10 Jaw-Dropping Instances of Racism in Professional Sports
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and, by association, the NBA are having one hell of a week. TMZ released an audiotape of a man who sounds an awful lot like Sterling, expressing disgust over his girlfriend’s Instagram photos with black men. But this isn’t the first time that “sports” and “race” have collided in…
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5 Things to Know About Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Time magazine released its annual list highlighting the world’s 100 most influential people. A few of those named were no-brainers—music icon Beyoncé, film mastermind Steve McQueen, Pope Francis and President Barack Obama—but why is Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, listed among these luminaries? Ai, yi, yi—where do we begin? 1. She’s eradicating Nigeria’s debt. In…
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The Diverse Ways They Each Coped With Child Abuse
What is especially sinister about child molesters is that they often take advantage of a child’s ignorance about sex to perpetuate the assault. When Oprah Winfrey spoke to admitted child abusers and their therapists about the tactics and strategies they used to groom their victims, one of the most disturbing revelations was when the predators described how…
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10 Famous Black Men Who Took Drastic Measures to Improve Their Health
Mainstream narratives about black men and their health include bloated beer bellies, postponed doctors’ appointments and high blood pressure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading causes of death for black men between the ages of 35 and 65 are heart disease and cancer (pdf). In part 2 of The Root…
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T.D. Jakes’ Daughter Talks Teen Pregnancy, Dropping Out of College and Divorce in New Book
A 13-year-old girl sits in a church pew, baby in her womb, while her father the pastor delivers a sermon about the virtues of abstinence. That’s just one of the compelling pictures that any one of Sarah Jakes’ life stories might bring to mind. That her father is T.D. Jakes—one of the nation’s most recognizable…
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Creator of For Brown Girls Blog Reportedly Commits Suicide at Age 22
Karyn Washington, the 22-year-old founder of the For Brown Girls website, which sought to empower chocolate-complexioned black women, died on April 8, reportedly committing suicide, according to MadameNoire. Her passing is a devastating loss for legions of black women who went online to seek refuge in any one of Washington’s many initiatives, including the #DarkSkinRedLip…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
