“I’m the Rosa Parks of white people.” That statement was comedian Joan Rivers’ best idea for how to dramatize her dispute with Costco over whether the retailer would sell her book, and her decision to chain herself to a shopping cart, Ebony reports: … Rivers blurred the line between the LOLs and SMHs when she…

Last week, in an interview with the Hollywood Insider, Harry Belafonte came down pretty hard on celebrities — calling out Beyoncé and Jay-Z specifically — for failing to use their celebrity status for the greater good. On Tuesday, Beyoncé’s camp responded with “an unabbreviated list of the unselfish work Beyoncé has done and continues to…

The latest news on the condition of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has been getting treatment at the Mayo Clinic after collapsing at his home and suffering from what his wife called a “debilitating depression,” is that he has been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder, according to the Chicago Tribune. The clinic made the announcement…

Racial profiling “rampant” at Logan Airport: In an anonymous complaint, TSA officers in Boston said that their co-workers were targeting minorities, “believing the stops would lead to the discovery of drugs, outstanding arrest warrants and immigration problems, in response to pressure from managers who wanted high numbers of stops, searches and criminal referrals,” the Huffington…

In 2009, when South African runner Caster Semenya won the world title, the victory, combined with what many viewed to be masculine physical traits, led to an inquiry by her country’s governing body into whether she was actually a woman. That’s why, Slate reports, when she came in second in the 800-meter at the London…

A group of Portland-area lawmakers say they’ll sponsor the Natural Hair Act in Oregon’s next legislative session, the Associated Press reports. But don’t let the name fool you — it’s not that African-American women’s ongoing dialogue about the pros and cons of relaxers has taken a legal turn. Rather, the goal is to ease licensing…