-
Dante de Blasio's Famous Afro
Amid the multilple stories to be told about the candidates in this year’s New York City mayoral race, the one about New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and his family are some of the more interesting. De Blasio, who is of partly Italian descent (his surname comes from his mother), is married to…
-
Michelle Obama on a Black Family in the White House
Michelle Obama recently sat down with Parade magazine in a short but wide-ranging interview about the significance of having the first African American in the White House. Children born in the last eight years will only know an African-American man being president of the United States. That changes the bar for all of our children,…
-
Robin Thicke Sues Marvin Gaye's Family Over 'Blurred Lines'
Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I. (real name: Clifford Harris) are taking the Marvin Gaye family and Bridgeport Music (owner of Funkadelic compositions) to court to protect Thicke’s song “Blurred Lines,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. The lawsuit, which was filed in a California federal court on Thursday, is a complaint about comparisons between two…
-
Indiana Man Handcuffed for Waving While Black
On Tuesday afternoon, while riding his bike on South Weinbach Avenue in Evansville, Ind., George Madison Jr., 38, waved to a couple of police officers nearby. From where Madison was, the officers looked familiar to him. After all, as a firefighter with the Evansville Fire Department, Madison is friends and has worked closely with many…
-
Obama Played Spades on Night of Bin Laden Raid
Add this bit of news to the list of moments to call up when we have to remind ourselves that the president is black. In a conversation at UCLA Luskin School of Affairs, President Obama’s former “body man,” Reggie Love, was asked to describe all that was going on the night of the raid on…
-
Dartmouth Fraternity Throws 'Bloods and Crips' Party
When Tupac rapped “ain’t nuthin’ but a gangsta party” on the hook of the song with the same name, there’s a good chance he didn’t think members of Alpha Delta Fraternity would take it so literally. But members of the frat at Dartmouth College, who probably listened to too much hip-hop and watched too many…
-
Michigan Judge Upholds Ban on Life Without Parole for Juveniles
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John Corbett O’Meara ordered an end to life-without-parole sentencing for juveniles in the state of Michigan. The order comes a year after the U.S. Supreme Court found such sentences to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Now in Michigan, where the law…
-
Shonda Rhimes on Next 'Scandal' Season
So many questions and very few answers have been doled out about the upcoming season of Scandal. Shonda Rhimes, the show’s creator, has remained mum on what we should expect when the third season begins Oct. 3, but in an interview on Vulture, she indulges Gladiators with a couple of small details, specifically about the…
-
ESPN Fires Analyst Over 'Uncle Tom' Comments
ESPN fired analyst Hugh Douglas a week after it was reported that he called co-host Michael Smith an Uncle Tom, Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday. Asked Sunday by SI.com where the situation stood, ESPN spokesperson Rob Tobias said, “We are continuing to look into it and we expect a resolution this week.” That resolution has come…
-
Atlanta Teen Denied Heart Transplant
Anthony Stokes, a 15-year-old boy who has been denied a heart transplant by an Atlanta hospital, supposedly because of “noncompliance,” has gained new support from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, according to CBS Atlanta. Controversy has revolved around Anthony’s case because Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has been vague about the reasons he’s not eligible for…
