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Stephon Clark’s Younger Brother Admits Mental Distress After Brother’s Death by Police
Stevante Clark, younger brother of Stephon Clark, the young man killed by Sacramento, Calif., police, recently revealed that he has sought mental health help in the wake of his brother’s untimely and unjust death. Not long after Stephon Clark, 22, was shot eight times in his grandmother’s backyard when police mistook his cellphone for a…
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California Police Balk as Calls Grow Louder for LAPD to Change Its Use-of-Force Policy
As more people look to the Los Angeles Police Department to change its use-of-force policy, a throng of police chiefs in Northern California came together on Monday to denounce proposed legislation that would raise the standard for legal review of such action—after the fact. The Mercury News reports that police chiefs gathered in Fairfield, Calif.,…
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Kamilah Forbes’ Beautiful Struggle: Bringing Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me to the Stage
We are not crazy. We know all is not well. Despite what they say. We know that the “greatest country in the world” has never been. That our skin bears the mark that easily presages death. That our kin are in danger. We know that our bodies can be snatched at will, that our children…
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Presidential Twitter Rant Doesn’t Include Mention of Man Who Died in Trump Tower Fire
In the last 24 hours, the president must have absconded to the bathroom with his phone again, sharing his “thoughts” on everything from the impending trade war with China, Scott Pruitt and the EPA, Mexico, the nation’s top law enforcement agencies, Syria—with a few Barack Obama digs thrown in for good measure. But in this…
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Like Everything Else, Trump Wrecks Travel to Cuba, Too
If you’re like me, practically all of your friends, associates and even one rogue co-worker took a trip to Cuba in the last year (only one, however, brought this writer back a cigar, ahem). Without exception, all loved the island nation filled with black people, salsa and respite from life in the United States, rolled…
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#SaheedVassell Mentally Spiraled After NYPD Gunned Down His Best Friend 10 Years Ago
In a most stinging irony, Saheed Vassell slid into a worsening depression after his best friend, Ortanzso “Marlon” Bovell, was shot and killed by police in 2008. The mental stress of experiencing such personal heartbreak most likely played a role in Vassell’s meeting the same fate—death by cop—on those same Brooklyn, N.Y., streets almost a…
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T’Challa Gets the Hang of ‘Black Jeopardy’ via Becky’s Potato Salad
The undisputed Black Panther, actor Chadwick Boseman, more than held his own as host of Saturday Night Live this weekend, although his shine was slightly dimmed by Cardi B’s pregnancy announcement. The funniest skit of the night was Boseman as the Black Panther (T’Challa) in the show’s ongoing sketch, “Black Jeopardy”—“the only game show where…
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Cardi Got a Baby With Offset! Rapper Reveals Baby Bump on SNL
Bartier Cardi Belcalis “Cardi B” Almanzar just pulled a Beyoncé, whose name she dropped all over her bound-to-be-platinum debut, Invasion of Privacy. In studied Queen Bee fashion, Cardi saved her long-rumored pregnancy announcement for a most auspicious moment: while performing live on Saturday Night Live with Chadwick “T’Challa” Boseman the day after her album dropped.…
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Robert Johnson Capes for Trump Over Black Unemployment Numbers (or Something)
America’s very first black billionaire out here caping for Donald Trump, ostensibly to finagle some deal that will make a very rich man richer. Or maybe he just likes being in proximity to power. On Friday the BET founder appeared on CNBC, saying that black folks should be dancing a little jig for the “growing…
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Lakeith Smith Gets 65 Years for Death of 16-Year-Old Killed by Police
Much has been made of the fact that a black teenager laughed openly in court before being sentenced to 65 years in prison. But the brutal truth of it is that this kid embodies the tragedy of criminal justice in America today, certainly no laughing matter to those destroyed by it. In early March, Lakeith…
