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  • Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly Is a Sonic Tribute to Black Lives

    If the phrase “Black lives matter” conjured a sound, it might be something like that of the music heard on Kendrick Lamar’s new album, To Pimp a Butterfly. Not to try to connect Lamar to a movement of which he’s not necessarily a part, or to artificially box him in, but if we could take…

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  • Why White Guests Clamored to Check In to Edwin Berry's Hotel

    Who was the first American businessman to furnish hotel guest rooms with amenities and toiletries? As a young man, when the circus came to town, he set up a refreshment stand outside the big top. He had one at the train station, too. The cook’s apprentice-turned-hotel owner was praised upon his death as “the leading…

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  • Ain’t Nobody Like Chaka Khan: 10 Songs That Will School a New Generation

    Editor’s note: This week we’re celebrating the birthdays of phenomenal performers who not only share late-March birthdays but who also have voices that have defined their generations. First up is the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan. On Wednesday we’ll celebrate the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and on Thursday we’ll celebrate the boss, Diana Ross.…

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  • Mayoral Candidate Apologizes for Blackface Performance That Mocks Black Women

    A white Oklahoma mayoral candidate has apologized to voters after videos surfaced of him wearing blackface and performing in drag as a black woman named Pollyester Kotton, according to Think Progress. Bill Helton, who is currently serving as Elk City’s commissioner and works as a hairstylist, claims that the character was inspired by one of his African-American…

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  • US Army Investigates Alleged ‘Racial Thursdays’ at Alaska Base

    The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that soldiers on a base in Alaska were given a pass to hurl racial slurs at one another during so-called Racial Thursdays, according to Army Times. The soldiers are members of 2nd Platoon, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, a member of the unit told the Times. The…

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  • Chicago Cop Charged in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Rekia Boyd Heads to Trial

    Friends and family at a rally remembered Rekia Boyd Saturday as a trial date looms for the Chicago police detective accused in her fatal shooting, reports the Chicago Tribune. The officer, Dante Servin, was charged with involuntary manslaughter after, prosecutors say, he recklessly opened fire, over his shoulder, at a group of people on March…

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  • Martese Johnson: Pub Owner Disputes Claims He Was ‘Belligerent’

    The owner of a bar where University of Virginia student Martese Johnson was brutally arrested released a statement Saturday denying claims that the 20-year-old man was belligerent, according to NBC 29. Kevin Badke, owner of Trinity Irish Pub, issued the statement through his attorney. His description of his interaction with Johnson early Wednesday morning runs counter…

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  • Watch: Serena Williams Withdraws From Indian Wells 

    On Friday Serena Williams withdrew before the semifinals at Indian Wells with a sprained right knee nearly 14 years after her sister Venus pulled out of the tournament, also with a knee injury, CNN reports. The move by Venus elicited jeers and racist taunts from the crowd, prompting Serena to embark on a yearslong boycott…

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  • You’re Gonna Love What Taraji P. Henson Did After Her Son Was Racially Profiled on Campus

    Taraji P. Henson apparently protects her son in real life just as Cookie, her engaging character on Fox’s Empire series, fiercely protects her sons. In the February/March issue of  Uptown magazine, Henson recalls how her 20-year-old son was once profiled by police at the University of Southern California. After that, she says, she found a…

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  • Chris Brown’s Probation for Attack on Rihanna Ends

    R&B singer Chris Brown celebrated Friday after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge released him from probation for a 2009 assault on his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, reports the Los Angeles Times. “IM (sic) OFF PROBATION!!!!!!!!” he tweeted to his 14 million followers. “Thank the Lord!!!!!!” Brown’s probation was revoked in January after he reportedly violated orders…

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