Jay-Z is only has a one-fifteenth ownership interest in the new Brooklyn Nets, but his influence on the team, as well as his profits from his involvement, have been huge, according to a New York Times profile of the rapper’s latest business venture. He not only designed the logo, chose the uniform color scheme and…

(The Root) — The old race card is being used in a whole new way in Nevada politics. Or perhaps it’s not the race card but the black card. Last week, opponents of one African-American candidate for office seemed to be aiming to rescind his by accusing him of faking his race. The Las Vegas…

What a difference four years makes — especially if you’re former Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama. He’s gone from being a key supporter of President Barack Obama to losing the Democratic primary for Alabama’s governorship to a more liberal candidate to becoming the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against the Affordable…

Sure, baby girls get their ears pierced and nails painted. But is straightened hair (not to mention its accompanying physical and psychological implications) taking things a little too far? According to one mother’s Facebook post that’s getting a lot of attention, many people say yes. From BlackAmericaWeb: This week a mother posted a photo of…

Ebony spoke to Ludacris about his latest (and probably most wholesome) project — a team effort with his 10-year-old daughter, Karma, to create karmasworld.com, an interactive, educational website complete with games and music. The site was introduced in December, but, Ebony reports, the two are relaunching it this month with 11 new songs — perfectly…

Here’s what we know: Chavis Carter, a 21-year-old black man, was shot in the head while handcuffed in the back of a Jonesboro, Ark., police car, and later pronounced dead at the hospital. It didn’t take a whole lot of creativity for his family as well as many Americans familiar with the historically troubled relationship…

(The Root) — On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden told a racially mixed audience in Virginia that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s economic plans would “put y’all back in chains.” From NPR: Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney called it an “outrageous charge” and said called on President Obama to “take your campaign of division and…

In the third in a series about the efforts of American networks to appeal to a broader Latino audience, NPR profiles ABC News and Univision’s joint efforts to reach Hispanic viewers who prefer to get their news in English. It’s a move that’s taking place in “uncharted territory” in what Univision President Cesar Conde says…