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Watch: Slack Was Voted Fastest-Rising Startup at Tech Award Show—and 4 of Its Black Female Engineers Accepted the Award
When presenters at the Crunchies, an annual technology award show, announced Monday night in San Francisco that the software company Slack—an internal-messaging program used by companies—had won the Fastest Rising Startup Award, most people expected two, maybe three white dudes to walk onstage to accept the award. But when Slack’s name was called, four black women walked…
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Beyoncé on ‘Formation’: ‘I Wanted People to Feel Proud and Have Love for Themselves’
Beyoncé is a woman of few words, so the three sentences she said to the press after her haltime performance at Super Bowl 50 mean everything to the Beyhive. Without further ado, here they are: “It makes me proud. It’s what I wanted,” she said to an Entertainment Tonight reporter when she was told how…
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Watch: Will Smith Says Janet Hubert Is Brilliant and He Loves What She Brought to Aunt Viv
Will Smith has finally spoken about Janet Hubert, the actress who says Smith ruined her career and reputation when he got her fired from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Hubert rehashed the issue recently when she argued that the Smiths were being disingenous and self-serving for boycotting the Academy Awards and encouraging other black entertainers…
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When States Run Welfare, Black Children Are the Ones Who Get Hurt
Twenty years ago, Bill Clinton signed legislation dismantling the federal Aid to Families With Dependent Children welfare program. The law transformed welfare into Temporary Assistance to Needy Families—essentially block grants to states to use for job training and child care subsidies to enable recipients to attain financial independence and take “personal responsibility,” as its advocates…
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The Knicks Give Derek Fisher His Walking Papers
Derek Fisher is no longer the coach of the New York Knicks, ESPN reports. He got fired Monday. The team’s record thus far this season is 23-21; it went 17-65 last season under Fisher’s coaching, which was his first time. Fisher’s nemesis, Matt Barnes, wasted no time responding, albeit indirectly, to the news. Remember, Barnes…
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5 Videos Pre-‘Formation’ That Big Up the Black Social-Justice Movement
When an A-list black celebrity—I’m talking upper-echelon A-list—does or says something pertaining to race specifically advocating for the black social-justice movement, it dominates news headlines, because there’s the idea that once you’ve “transcended race”—that is, crossed over—and are wholeheartedly embraced and accepted by the mainstream, it is in your best interest not to remind folk…
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Watch: Celebs Make Fun of the #OscarsSoWhite Diversity Issue at the NAACP Image Awards
Everyone is waiting to see how Chris Rock will address the #OscarsSoWhite controversy at the Academy Awards, since he’s hosting. But Anthony Anderson did a pretty good job addressing it head-on as host of the NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 5. “Look at all these beautiful shades of people in the audience. Hollywood needs to…
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Ralph Bunche: A Diplomat Who Would Not Negotiate on Race
In April 1949, President Harry S. Truman offered Ralph Bunche a coveted position as the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern, South Asian and African affairs. The position would make Bunche, then the United Nations’ chief mediator between Israel and the Arab states, the highest-ranking African American in the federal government and would position…
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It’s All About the Benjamins, Baby: Jealous Endorses Sanders, While Crump Backs Clinton
Two major African-American activists made their presidential endorsements known Friday as former NAACP head Benjamin Jealous released a statement sanctioning Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. On the same day, civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump threw his support behind Sanders’ rival in the race, Hillary Clinton. Jealous, who went to New Hampshire on Friday to stump…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
