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Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, ‘Mammy’ and the Best Times to Shut Up About Race
Miley Cyrus is a marvelous example of moments when white people need to know that it’s perfectly acceptable to shut up and listen when it comes to the subject of race. Or, you know, not comment at all, especially if they’re not even marginally informed about a matter with a potentially racial subtext. In an…
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Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre Grew Up, so How Come Ice Cube Won’t?
None of us escapes life free of error. However, with age comes not only the opportunity to rectify our past blunders but also a chance to be bold enough to acknowledge them. When rapper Snoop Dogg was called on his past misogyny in his rap lyrics, he didn’t speak of regret but shared, “Once I…
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T.D. Jakes Isn’t Homophobic; You Just Weren’t Listening Clearly
Before his interview on HuffPost Live with Marc Lamont Hill, the longest time I can recall listening to T.D. Jakes speak was during a recent episode of Braxton Family Values. And yet I found myself somewhat impressed by how he toed the line with respect to reconciling his place as a member of the clergy…
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The Softer Side of Wig Snatching: How Evelyn Lozada Is Making Me a Fan
If you had asked me three years ago if I were interested in watching a reality show starring Evelyn Lozada, I might’ve cursed you out for disrespecting my eye sockets. Lozada played an integral role in the success of VH1’s Basketball Wives and was arguably the star of the show. But she was as mean…
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Snoop Dogg’s All Grown Up, and His New Music Is the Audio Version of Linen Pants and Fish Fries … and That’s a Good Thing
When it comes to the maturation of rappers, I have more faith that Rick Santorum and the pope will go half on my gay-wedding gift than that most emcees will age gracefully. There are a few rappers who have done so—Queen Latifah and Ice Cube come to mind—but they don’t actively release rap albums anymore.…
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Don Lemon, Stacey Dash and Now Raven-Symoné, on The View? Can We Stop Rewarding Simple Black Celebrities?
There are some public figures who make you wonder why you ever bothered learning how to read. I let out an audible sigh when I read the New York Post’s Page Six report that ABC executives were “desperate” to sign actress-turned-foot-in-mouth-disease-victim Raven-Symoné as a co-host for The View before their up-front presentation. A described “ABC…
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Is Michael Sam More Gay-Rights Celebrity Than Pro Football Player?
As soon as it was reported that Jesus’ purported favorite fallen quarterback, Tim Tebow, had signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, I knew someone would bring up Michael Sam and the notion of unfairness. Enter the Outsports headline: “Tim Tebow signs with the Eagles and America asks, ‘How in the $%@& is Michael Sam not with a team?’”…
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Tamar Braxton Plays the Saddest Song on a Muppet Piano
I felt like Tamar Braxton’s sister and reality-show archnemesis, Towanda Braxton, while watching the youngest Braxton and co-host of The Real shed tears after complaining how hurtful it is to be compared to a character from The Muppets. Tamar was boo-hooing over two people—Chris Brown and K. Michelle—she opted out of naming for insulting her…
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A New Plane? Fight Tickets? Have Some Pride and Stop Online Panhandling
Unless he was offering direct flights to and from heaven, there was no way in hell Creflo Dollar was going to successfully raise $65 million for a new Gulfstream G650 jet via his own website. Despite that harsh reality, the Rev. Dollar Dollar Bills, Y’all pulled his campaign only because the online commotion that his outrageous request…
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If You’d Only Done Some Homework, Mary Cheney, You’d Have Known How Iffy It Was Comparing Blackface to Drag
Whether imagined by a semibored press or very real for those the post pissed off nonetheless, the controversy surrounding Mary Cheney’s Facebook inquiry about drag and blackface speaks to many truths. For starters, it proves for the umpteenth time that no matter what the privacy settings on your social media tell you, if you’re a…
