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Father of Black Liberation Theology, the Rev. Dr. James Cone, Dies at 79
It seems appropriate that the Rev. Dr. James Hal Cone—radical Christian, father of black liberation theology, soldier against white supremacy, renowned author and longtime academic around the American phenomenon of lynching—would die the same week that the national lynching memorial opened in Montgomery, Ala. It is a divine nod to a job well done. Cone,…
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Kanye West Calls Emma González His ‘Hero’; She Responds by Calling This Man Hers
It looks like Kanye West is still on his dissociated, rambling run on Twitter, and in addition to dropping new music, he recently called Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Emma González, a survivor of the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., his “hero.” He also bigged her up again minutes later, saying that he was inspired by…
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Suckabee Goes Down in Flames as a Proxy for Donald Trump at White House Correspondents’ Dinner; Snowflakes Liquefy
I didn’t know who comedian Michelle Wolf was before, but I know her now. And I think I love her. At Saturday night’s annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Wolf flamed the Trump administration and its flunkies (since Donald Trump is too much of a punk to take the jabs himself), and conservatives the world…
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No Hack: Joy Reid Issues Mea Culpa for Unearthed Homophobic Comments
On Saturday morning’s AM Joy, the brilliant host of the MSNBC weekend staple, Joy-Ann Reid, began her segment apologizing for words that may have hurt those in the LGBTQ community, calling the commentary “despicable.” Over the last week, the MSNBC host had come under fire, especially from conservative outlets, after an Intercept article by founder…
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Wisconsin Police Who Tased Mentally Ill Black Man 18 Times Face No Charges in His Death
In what has become a subplague in the epidemic of police violence, two police in West Milwaukee, Wis., will not be charged in the death of a 22-year-old man diagnosed with schizophrenia, whom they tased more than a dozen times. On Friday, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm opted not to bring any charges against…
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How Bill Cosby Divided Black America
Editor’s note: In the wake of the Cosby verdict, former Ebony Editor-in-Chief Kierna Mayo reflects on her “shattered glass” Cosby Show cover and how it highlighted a great divide. Wednesday, when the news broke, my stomach reacted first. I was home writing when the CNN ticker flashed: COSBY FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS. The rush…
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Seattle Vacates Hundreds of Marijuana Charges Going Back 30 Years
On Friday the city of Seattle filed a motion asking the Seattle Municipal Court to vacate hundreds of marijuana-possession convictions going back three decades and adversely impacting people of color. City Attorney Pete Holmes acknowledged the racial disparity in marijuana convictions, citing an ACLU report showing that African Americans are more than three times more…
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Virginia Newspaper Runs KKK Flyer on Its Front Page. Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?
This has been said before, but it is worth repeating: To those allies who want to expose racism in 2018, think first about your tactics before you pat yourself on the back. To not even consider how the “big reveal” might affect those who experience racism the most (like the time the New York Daily…
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A Conspiracy Theory as to Why HUD Wants to Raise Rent on Low-Income Housing
The more conspiracy sober-minded among us saw this coming a mile away—even if we had on Ben Carson’s thick glasses. This is only a theory, mind you, but let’s take a walk down the rabbit hole, shall we? Let’s suppose that when Carson, a black man who spent his career as a neurosurgeon, was named…
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The New Lynching Memorial and Legacy Museum Force Us to Bear Witness to Our Whole American Truth
It’s time to take this story to the masses.It’s time to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.May the other side of his-story now be entered into the record, the narrative, the myth of these United States of America. Forever and ever. Amen. “We love talking about 19th-century history and not…