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After Years Facing Deportation, Rapper Slick Rick Becomes US Citizen
Old-school rapper—and longtime Bronx, N.Y., resident—Slick Rick became an American citizen Friday after many years fighting deportation, reports the New York Daily News. Born Ricky Walters in the United Kingdom, Rick came into fame in the 1980s with the iconic hip-hop classic, “La-Di-Da-Di” (later redone by Snoop Dogg) as part of Doug E. Fresh’s…
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DC Mayor Calls for Statehood
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser told lawmakers and city residents Friday that the District deserves representation in Congress, and she called for a citywide vote in November on the issue, reports the Washington Post. “I propose we take another bold step toward democracy in the District of Columbia,” Bowser said at a breakfast meeting in the…
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Prince Hospitalized for Flu, Reportedly on the Mend
Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson) was hospitalized on Friday after his private jet made an emergency landing in Illinois. TMZ was the first to report that Prince’s private jet made an unscheduled landing at Quad City Airport in Moline, Ill., a little after 1 a.m. Initial reports had fans and admirers scared that something serious…
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Watch:The Birth of a Nation Trailer Will Make Your Hair Stand on End
First of all, how much do we love the fact that Nate Parker’s film on Nat Turner’s slave uprising is called The Birth of a Nation, reclaiming the moniker of one of the most virulently racist movies in the entire American film canon? Second, can we hardly wait for the October release, which finally and, if…
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Rock ’n’ Roll Isn’t a ‘Nonblack’ Thing: How Racial Stereotypes Almost Ruined My Good Time
I love rock music, especially heavy metal. I blast it as I drive down the road and I mosh in concert pits. Rock ‘n’ roll is not a “nonblack” thing. Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Lenny Kravitz, Little Richard … hellooooo. So when my friend Ish asked if I liked Ozzy Osbourne, I replied, “Hellz yeah.”…
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Modern Renaissance Man: Hyundai’s Newest Executive, Erwin Raphael
Erwin Raphael, the new U.S. general manager for Hyundai’s luxury brand, Genesis, specializes in challenges, whether in manufacturing, sales, math—or handling lions. “It’s a lot easier to train a lion than give life to a lamb,” Raphael says, quoting one of his many mentors. He’s talking about dealing with an employee he describes as being “on…
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Why Underground’s Rosalee and Noah Have the Best Black Relationship on TV
After Wednesday night’s episode of WGN’s new hit show Underground, I am obsessed with TV’s hottest new pairing, Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and Noah (Aldis Hodge), two enslaved Americans from the fictional Macon Plantation in Georgia who have escaped bondage and are currently on a North-bound run. They have the best relationship on TV, even if,…
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Emancipation Day: The End of Slavery in the Capital of a Free Nation
Emancipation Day, a holiday marking the anniversary of an act of Congress that provided for the emancipation of people held as slaves in the District of Columbia, will be observed Friday, April 15, this year (since April 16, the actual anniversary date, falls on a Saturday). It was on April 16 in 1862 that President…
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How Did My Incarcerated Ancestor Die?
My paternal great-grandfather, Sylvester Collins, lived in Baker County, Ga., for most of his life. He was sent to prison in the late 1920s. He is said to have died in prison five years later. I have been unable to locate a death certificate for him. I wrote a letter to the Georgia Department of…
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Dispatches From NAN: Ripping Off ‘the Mask’ of Mental Illness
There was a packed house in the Empire Ballroom of the Sheraton New York Times Square for the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network’s silver-anniversary convention Wednesday. The panel, “I Don’t Need to See A Doctor: Mental Health in the African-American Community,” reportedly came about because Sharpton would repeatedly hear those words when he would try…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
