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When the Ku Klux Klan Meets the NAACP
Last Saturday, in Casper, Wyo., members of the local chapter for the NAACP met with a representative of United Klans of America, more widely known as the Ku Klux Klan. With heavy security patrolling the Parkway Plaza Hotel, the two groups met in an attempt to broker some kind of peace and understanding, at least…
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Robin Givhan Dishes About Race and Fashion
For the past year, former Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan has been busy on her upcoming book, tentatively titled One Night at Versailles. But the Pultizer Prize winner is returning to her roots, covering the spring-summer 2014 runways at New York Fashion Week for New York magazine’s The Cut blog. In a condensed Q&A,…
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Florida Sheriff Blasts Black University President for Planned Rap Concert
Florida continues to find a way to mess up this whole race-relations thing. This week it’s Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott, who is calling out Florida Gulf Coast University President Wilson Bradshaw. Lee’s issue? Students at FGCU who have booked Kendrick Lamar and Ludacris to perform at their annual student concert, known as Eaglepalooza. In…
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Jury: N-Word Wrong Even Among Blacks
When black people use the n-word, we like to say it’s different, right? Unlike whites, who use the n-word toward blacks in a hateful way, blacks use the n-word as a term of endearment, never with malice. Of course, some disagree, claiming that it’s a double standard that blacks can use the n-word but whites…
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NYC Mayor Candidates March at West Indian Day Parade
With only one week to go before New York City’s primary day, candidates for mayor made their annual pilgrimage to one of the city’s oldest traditions, the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. According to the Associated Press, the major candidates took part in the parade’s festivities, each with his or her own way of…
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Miley Cyrus on Her VMA Performance
It’s been more than a week since Miley Cyrus’ MTV Video Music Awards performance set off a wave of controversy. Her onstage antics in a furry swimsuit with Robin Thicke sparked a nationwide discourse over twerking and cultural appropriation. All the while, Cyrus has stayed quiet — until now, in an exclusive on-camera interview with…
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French Bakers Pen Letter to Kanye West Over Croissants
On Kanye West’s new album, Yeezus, he raps on the song “I Am God” the following line: “In a French-ass restaurant/Hurry up with my damn croissants.” It’s typical Kanye fare, a boast and a complaint in one couplet, but members of the Association of French Bakers don’t seem to be familiar with West’s work, or…
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Singer-Songwriter Wants Credit for 'Money' Song
In 1959 Motown released its first hit song, “Money (That’s What I Want),” which also put Berry Gordy’s small Detroit-based R&B label on the music map. Theoretically, it should have done the same for Barrett Strong, who was 19 at the time that he wrote the song and recorded the original version. But in a…
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The Return of FAMU's Marching 100 Band
From Thursday to Sunday, college-football fans around the country celebrated the annual return of their beloved game. But as is the case with most HBCUs, it wasn’t the opening kick-off that had alumni and students filling stadiums; it was the halftime show, and nowhere was that more true than at the Florida Citrus Bowl, featuring…
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1-Year-Old Black Boy Shot and Killed
Beginning in the early hours of Sunday morning, a wave of gunfire spread throughout New York City. According to the Daily News, 17 incidents were reported, but in a separate story (also by the Daily News), one shooting in particular has outraged the Brooklyn neighborhood in which it took place. A 1-year-old Brooklyn boy was…
