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Ga. Parents Forgive Sons Accused of Trying to Kill Them: ‘Those Were Not Our Boys’
A Georgia couple on Friday said that they forgive their two sons accused of brutally beating and trying to suffocate them earlier this month at their home in suburban Atlanta, according to WSB-TV 2. Speaking outside Gwinnett County Courthouse in Lawrenceville, Ga., Yvonne and Zachery Ervin told the television news station that they “hold no…
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Artist Puts the Funk in NYC’s Newest Subway Station
Since picking up a crochet hook in the 1980s, Harlem-based fiber artist and cultural activist Xenobia Bailey has created sculptural marvels in the unexpected medium of yarn, moving from works of wearable art to large-scale installations celebrating the uniquely African-American aesthetic of funk. Now her first public-art commission, Funktional Vibrations, is on permanent view at…
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Growing Up as a Black Trans Man
In the last few months, we have seen substantial growth in media coverage of trans people, and especially black trans people. From Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox to brilliant writer and advocate Janet Mock, black trans women are breaking out. Black trans men have also gained exposure for their achievements, from filmmaker Kortney Ryan Ziegler to artist and athlete Kye Allums.…
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FBI Arrests Ex-Roommate of Dylann Roof on Charges of Lying and Hiding Information
The FBI arrested a 21-year-old friend of confessed Charleston, S.C., church shooter Dylann Roof on Thursday on charges that he lied to investigators and concealed information at the beginning of the probe, according to Yahoo! News. Joseph Meek, 21, with whose family Roof lived for a short time before the shootings took place June 17 at…
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Texas Man Arrested in Hoax Claiming Members of #BlackLivesMatter Vandalized His Truck
A 45-year-old Whitney, Texas, man was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor charge of filing a false police report after officials concluded that it was he who wrote “Black Lives Matter” and other graffiti on his pickup truck as part of a hoax, reports Raw Story. Scott Lattin, 45, a disabled veteran, claimed on Sept. 8…
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Will Smith Wishes Jada Happy Birthday in Gushing Facebook Post
Will Smith took to Facebook on Friday to wish happy birthday to his wife of nearly 17 years, Jada Pinkett Smith, hitting back at ongoing rumors of an impending divorce. “I have sung happy birthday to you 20 times and I have bought you 19 birthday presents (I was mad that one year),” he wrote…
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Robert Champion’s Family Settles Lawsuit With FAMU for $1,100,000 in Hazing Death
The family of Robert Champion, the Florida A&M University drum major killed in a hazing ritual, has settled a lawsuit against FAMU, accepting $1.1 million and an apology for his death, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The family will receive a $300,000 payout from the school through the Florida Department of Financial Services, which will…
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From Cookie’s Closet to Yours: It Could Be Fast, Affordable and Fabulous
After seeing the success of the first season of Empire, I knew that Cookie Lyon, the show’s stylish star character, would inspire a fashion line. Cookie (played by Taraji P. Henson) set Twitter ablaze each week as viewers commented on everything from her quick, no-nonsense wit to her animal-print dresses, three-finger rings and fur coats.…
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Denzel Washington Is Bringing All 10 of August Wilson’s Plays About Black Life to HBO
Denzel Washington is putting on his producer hat and has inked a deal with HBO to bring a set of 10 plays by playwright August Wilson—collectively known as the Pittsburgh Cycle or Century Cycle—to television. Washington said so during a live stream with Todd Boyd from the University of Southern California Thursday night, Shadow and Act…
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Aaliyah’s Mom and Brother Helped Company Create a Perfume Inspired by Scents the Late Singer Wore
An “Aaliyah” perfume is being released. This is huge because it’s one of a handful of projects that the Aaliyah estate—spearheaded by her mother, Diane Haughton, and her brother, Rashad Haughton—has participated in and OK’d. The perfume is being released by the fragrance company Xyrena. A description of the project on the company’s website says…

