You start your favorite video game, go to character select, pick a black avatar—be it a fighter or gangster—and start playing. As a white person, what effect, if any, does this have on you? According to a new study, the effect is significant: White players who adopt black characters are more likely to exhibit aggression…

A young aspiring model is using an alleged domestic violence incident to shine light on partner abuse and how serious and life threatening it can be. Mori Gabriella Montgomery, 19, has been posting pictures to her social media accounts of her gruesome injuries allegedly caused by an abusive boyfriend, New York’s Daily News reports. Montgomery claims…

“The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.” The words and the tune are familiar, but the decidedly hip-hop twist belies a completely different story: that of the orphan Annie, who, in 2014, just happens to be black. On Wednesday the world was given a sneak peek at…

Marissa Alexander could be slapped with a 60-year prison sentence, triple the length of her original 20-year sentence, when she goes up for retrial in July for aggravated assault, the Florida Times-Union reports. According to reports, State Attorney Angela Corey will now push to have the entire 60 years served if Alexander is convicted again,…

University police at the University of Mississippi are investigating who is behind the vandalism of a statue honoring integration, the Daily Mississippian reports. The student newspaper reported that officers were called early Sunday morning after a contractor discovered a rope and a “pre-2003 Georgia state flag” (containing the Confederate symbol) hung from a statue of…

Rapper Nicki Minaj is apologizing for using a popular photo of civil rights icon Malcolm X and captioning it with a racial slur for her new song’s cover art, the Associated Press reports. On Wednesday the eccentric artist posted the photo to her website and Instagram and was quickly slammed across social media for using…

While the big news coming out of the tech world this week was the appointment of Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella, what went underreported is that John Thompson, one of the few high-ranking African Americans in the technology sphere, is slated to become only the second chairman in Microsoft’s history, replacing tech genius Bill Gates,…

Looks like X gon’ give it to him. Rapper DMX has been chosen to be George Zimmerman’s opponent in a celebrity boxing match, which has gained attention nationwide. The details of the fight are yet to be determined, but will be announced at a news conference next Wednesday, according to CNN. Earlier Wednesday morning, owner…

Something is different about this year’s Vanity Fair Hollywood issue cover, and it may have a lot to do with the array of brown faces staring out from the glossy pages. This year, six black stars share the cover alongside six of their white counterparts, all stylishly attired and flawlessly done up. Up-and-coming idols Lupita…