VH1’s Sorority Sisters, the network’s latest reality series with an ensemble cast of African-American women, has been embattled in controversy since a trailer for the show leaked in June. That trailer inspired a petition to keep it from airing, which was signed by thousands. Despite the backlash before the show even began, Sorority Sisters debuted…

The New York City Police Department is taking a hard look at its security protocols in light of the terror attack in France on Wednesday, in which masked gunmen stormed into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, and killed 12 people, including top journalists, cartoonists and two police officers, the New York…

Adenah Bayoh immigrated to the U.S. when she was just 13, escaping a civil war in her native land, Liberia. She put herself through college by working three jobs, one of which was as a teller for a bank, where she rose up the ranks, became an executive and saved enough money to begin her…

This year, 2015—the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and the 150th anniversary of emancipation and the end of the Civil War—is the time to turn nationwide #BlackLivesMatter protests into tangible public policy. The Success-Oriented Funding proposal from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University offers activists a tangible framework for criminal-justice reform.…

The costumes worn in the critically acclaimed film Selma tell about an important yet understudied history of the race, class and generational tensions of the Deep South. Few realize how critical dress was in establishing and maintaining the social order of the South. The Jim Crow system was built upon a hierarchy that placed wealthy…

President Barack Obama has made it a priority for his last two years in office to shrink the prisoner population at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp so much that it would become an economic burden if it were kept open any longer, the New York Times reports. Closing the detention camp was an issue he…

The public may soon be able to read the grand jury proceedings that led to the decision not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the New York City police officer who fatally choked Eric Garner. On Monday a judge at the New York Supreme Court announced that he would hear arguments later this month to decide whether…

On Sunday John Cardillo, a former New York City police officer, posted a selfie on Twitter of himself pointing a gun at the camera. The caption read: “I’m really enjoying these Eggs Benedict so move along now. #BlackBrunchNYC.” The hashtag was the same one used by several dozen protesters who had stormed into brunch eateries…