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After the Charlie Hebdo Attack, Can a Divided France Achieve Egalité, Fraternité and Diversité?
Paris: French President François Hollande gave a stirring speech about diversity this week. The topic would hardly raise an eyebrow in the U.S., but it’s a rare occurrence in France, which has struggled to integrate immigrants from North and West Africa into its ideal of the colorblind republic. He spoke at the solemn funeral service for three…
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Martin Luther King Jr. on Police Brutality
Editor’s note: We’ll be featuring a quote from the iconic civil rights leader every day until Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Read more of The Root’s coverage of police brutality here.
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Living Under Mom’s Roof Gives Her the Right to Control Your Life, Even if You Are Grown
I’m 29 and live at home. I’m trying to move this year. I spend each weekend at my boyfriend’s apartment. Recently he asked me to stay an extra night because he was sick. I told my mother, and she said ‘Come home,’ adding that if he was sick, he could call 911 if needed. My…
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Eric Holder Wants Concrete Data on How Often Police Officers Have Had to Use Force
In a speech to honor Martin Luther King Jr., Attorney General Eric Holder said that more data should be collected to quantify how often police officers use force, as well as how many times they themselves are attacked or killed, Al-Jazeera reports. “This would represent a commonsense step that would begin to address serious concerns…
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US Touts $25,000,000 Grant to Groom HBCU Students for Cybersecurity Careers
Cybersecurity is a burgeoning industry, and the Department of Energy is seizing the opportunity to cultivate a diverse job-applicant pool that tech employers will be able to sift through in the years to come. On Thursday senior officials from the Obama administration announced that they are doling out a $25 million grant over the next…
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Martin Luther King Jr. on Black People in America
Editor’s note: We’ll be featuring a quote from the iconic civil rights leader every day until Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Read the entire “I Have a Dream” speech here.
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As Sorors, We Were Right to Protest the Way Our Sisterhood Was Portrayed on Sorority Sisters
What is sisterhood, anyway? That’s really the question we should be asking behind all of the hoopla over the likely cancellation of VH1’s ratchet reality show Sorority Sisters. And for me, the question was present all day Thursday, the 107th anniversary of the founding of my sorority of choice: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Sisterhood is,…
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I Found My Ancestor in a Slave Schedule. What Now?
In building my family tree, I have found a direct ancestor from Africa named Judah Reese. I would like to find out which plantation she was on. The 1880 census for Jefferson, Marengo County, Ala., says that she was born in Africa circa 1780 and lists her as living with her daughter (possibly she is…
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If You Think Selma’s Snubbing Is a Fluke, Think Again. The Oscars Have Stiffed Lots of Black Films
Social media is abuzz with news that Ava DuVernay’s towering film Selma received only two Academy Award nominations, for best picture and best song. The best film ever made about the civil rights movement, Selma was shut out of nominations for best director and actor that seemed inevitable just weeks ago. And the popular Twitter hashtag #OscarSoWhite,…
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FBI Stop Ohio Man Who Was Plotting Attack on US Capitol
The FBI arrested an Ohio man Wednesday who was planning to storm the U.S. Capitol and shoot as many government officials as he encountered, the Associated Press reports. Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, communicated his supported for ISIS, also known as the Islamic State, the jihadist group responsible for the insurgencies in Syria and Iraq. Cornell…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
