• 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 Brown’s probation was revoked in January after he reportedly violated orders…

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  • ‘I’d Have That Noose Ready’: Fort Lauderdale Cops Fired for Racist Texts 

    Three Fort Lauderdale, Fla., police officers in charge of patrolling a predominantly black neighborhood were fired Friday after a five-month investigation into racially charged text messages from their personal phones, according to the Sun-Sentinel. A fourth officer resigned in January before the investigation had been completed. Officers James Wells, 30, Jason Holding, 31, and Christopher Sousa,…

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  • NFL Player’s Ex Accused of Breaking His New Girlfriend’s Arm With Bat

    The ex-girlfriend of an NFL player has been arrested in Braselton, Ga., on charges of slashing him and breaking his new girlfriend’s arm with a bat in a bizarre series of attacks, according to Atlanta’s WSB-TV. Police allege that Erika Palmer tried to hide out at a hotel in Gwinnett County, Ga., after breaking into…

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  • Spending His Birthday With His Boys Instead of Her Proves She’s an Option, Not a Priority

    I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost a year. It’s our first time spending our birthdays with each other. I was planning something for his birthday, but he told me he might go out of town with his friends. I told him it was fine because it’s his birthday and he can spend it how…

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  • Ohio Man Receives $1 Million After Spending 39 Years in Jail for a Murder He Didn’t Commit

    Ricky Jackson, 57, spent 39 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, and on Thursday an Ohio judge ordered the state to pay Jackson $1 million for his wrongful imprisonment, Reuters reports. Jackson was freed from prison last November.  Jackson was informed by a journalist about the $1 million check coming his way.…

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  • Pregnant Colo. Woman Stabbed and Baby Removed From Her Uterus

    When a 26-year-old pregnant woman went to Dynel Lane’s house in Longmont, Colo., on Wednesday to inquire about a Craiglist post advertising baby clothes, the pregnant woman, identified by the Longmont Times-Call as Michelle Wilkins, was stabbed and cut open, allegedly by Lane, and her unborn baby was removed from her uterus. When Lane’s husband,…

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  • American Crime Recap: Regina King Finally Makes an Appearance

    Over at the Gutierrez house, Jenny is still giving her dad, Alonzo, the silent treatment for allowing her brother to get thrown into juvenile hall. As he’s leaving the house one morning, Alonzo is approached by a TV news reporter about his son’s involvement in Matt’s murder. He tells the reporter that they should be…

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  • Black Students at UC Berkeley Want a Hall Renamed After Assata Shakur

    African-American students at the University of California, Berkeley, have issued a number of demands to their school’s chancellor—chief among them that a building on campus be renamed after Assata Shakur, Fox News reports. Shakur, born Joanne Chesimard, is an icon from the 1970s black nationalist movement who escaped from prison in 1979 after she was…

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  • What I Learned From Mo’ne Davis About Girls, Sports and Success

    When I worked with Mo’ne Davis to write her new book, Mo’ne Davis: Remember My Name: My Story From First Pitch to Game Changer, I met a 13-year-old who epitomizes the benefits of girls’ involvement in sports. Of course, I already knew about Mo’ne’s women’s-history-making Little League pitching performances, when she struck out scores of…

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