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10 Disgusting Things Joe Arpaio Did as Sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz.
Recently, Sheriff Joe Arpaio was crowned some kind of racist folk hero, keeper of the Barack Obama Birther theory and all-around example of an abusive cop. So of course, our president thought him a man deserving of a pardon. Whether you believe Donald Trump pardoned Arpaio because he wanted to divert attention from the umpteenth…
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#ImWithKap: Hundreds Rally at NFL Headquarters for Colin Kaepernick, Call for Boycott if Demands Not Met
Nearly 1,000 people showed up at the New York City headquarters of the National Football League Wednesday in support of Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback many see as being unfairly blackballed for “taking a knee” during the national anthem. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback knelt during the 2016 season to bring light to police brutality…
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Howard University Is Doing the Most, Has Endowed James Comey With a Chair in Public Policy
Howard University announced today that it was appointing ex-FBI Chief James Comey as this year’s opening convocation keynote speaker and the 2017-2018 Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King endowed chair in public policy. Comey, a former federal prosecutor and FBI head until he was humiliatingly fired by President Donald Trump in May, will kick off…
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Pa. Agrees to a $30,000,000 Lifeline to Save the Nation’s Oldest HBCU
The Pennsylvania state university system has agreed to forgive $30 million in loans to Cheyney University, if it can maintain a balanced budget over the next four years, saving the struggling HBCU from closure. In a special meeting of the system’s board of governors on Tuesday, the body approved the debt forgiveness so that Cheyney—the…
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What White Men Fear Most Is Coming to Pass … They’re Being Erased. Isn’t That Ironic?
Every day, since Heather Heyer lost her life at the hands of white supremacists, and our president abdicated his moral authority by not thoroughly condemning them, America and its politicians seem to have grown a conscience (or a pair). Since the carnage of Charlottesville, Va., politicians, especially those who once sought to drill down on…
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Ben Jealous, a Supreme Builder of Bridges Over Left and Right
Benjamin Todd Jealous first made a national name for himself in 2008 when, at age 35, he became the youngest leader of one of America’s oldest and most esteemed civil rights bodies, the NAACP. Before Jealous began his five-year tenure of the then-99-year-old organization, it was clear that the NAACP had calcified into a shell…
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Little Girl Scalded After ‘Hot-Water Challenge’ Bounces Back Like a Trouper
An 11-year-old New York City girl—who was cruelly pranked by her “friends” with a so-called Hot-Water Challenge—left the hospital Friday looking like a million bucks. Jamoneisha “Jamoni” Merritt, of the city’s Bronx borough, was admitted to Harlem Hospital for 11 days after being admitted with burns over 85 percent of her face. “I feel great,”…
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This Video Shows How Truly Pathetic the Boston Nazi March Was
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes a video is worth a thousand laughs. Evan McMurry shared a video on Twitter Saturday showing the disparity between the “Free Speech” protesters in Boston (the likes of whom could fit in a teaspoon—or a small gazebo) and the counterprotest where tens of thousands…
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Will ‘BlackOut’ Be the Movement to Shut Down the NFL?
This should be an interesting football season—and year, for that matter—since many American institutions are messily having their come-to-Jesus moments. For the last two days, a video has been circulating on social media (primarily Facebook) with various black men—of all shades, ages, professions, geographical locations—covering their favorite NFL jerseys with a black T-shirt. #BlackOutNFL is…
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6 States Have Tried to Enact Protections for Drivers Who Run Over Protesters … Many With the Same Language
Black people are paranoid, because being black in America can feel like having a bull’s-eye on your back. That, and Tuskegee, COINTELPRO, segregation, gentrification, piss-poor education, mass incarceration—all of the “shuns.” And so when CNN reported that no fewer than six states—North Dakota, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Rhode Island—have tried to enact protections…
