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Assessing the Impact of Voter-Suppression Laws in the 2014 Midterms
On Nov. 4, 2014, in Eggleston, Va., a 93-year-old cancer patient named Virginia Whittaker arrived at her designated polling place after a doctor’s appointment. She produced her voter-registration card, some form of which she had been using in elections for the past 72 years. This time, however, she was turned away because she lacked valid…
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Mourners Bid Farewell to Akai Gurley
As the nation grapples with a backlash against police violence in the black community, family and friends on Friday mourned an unarmed African-American man who was fatally shot by a New York City Police Department officer. Akai Gurley, 28, was remembered as a loyal father and son at a wake that came hours after the…
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Black Comic Book Characters on the Big Screen
Nicole L. Cvetnic is The Root’s multimedia editor and producer. When Marvel Studios announced that Chadwick Boseman would be playing the Black Panther—the movie studio’s first solo lead of color—the actor joined Michael B. Jordan, Dwayne Johnson and Ray Fisher on a list of black actors who are set to appear in upcoming comic book…
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The 3 Worst Conservative Rationalizations for What Happened to Eric Garner
Unlike the recent shootings by police of Michael Brown, John Crawford and Tamir Rice, there’s something—the video—about the killing of Eric Garner by New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo that has folks on both sides of the political aisle criticizing the Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict, with conservative mainstays like Washington…
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If Your Bestie Wants to Be Close Friends With Your Husband, You Might Have a Problem
My best friend and I grew up with my now-husband of five years. Their relationship, as far as I know, has never been substantial. It’s the hi-and-bye type. The first two years of our marriage, she lived with us. An incident occurred during that first year when he was showering and she went in for…
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Daniel Pantaleo’s ‘Apology’ to Eric Garner’s Family Was Just Plain Sorry
We’ve heard much over the past week about how Ferguson, Mo., police Officer Darren Wilson’s description of Michael Brown as a “demon” suggests that Wilson didn’t see Brown—and by extension doesn’t see black people in general—as fully human. And while these are different cases, in the wake of the failure to indict Eric Garner’s killer, I…
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As a Black Man, I’m Outraged at the Grand Jury in Eric Garner’s Case; as a Lawyer, I’m Disgusted
By now you know. A Staten Island, N.Y., grand jury decided not to indict New York City police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the choking death of Eric Garner. As a black man, I’m outraged by this result. And as a lawyer who defends cases on the criminal side and prosecutes cases on the civil side, I’m…
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DC Political Candidate Dead at the Age of 34
A local Washington, D.C., political candidate has died at the age of 34. A.J. Cooper was running for the City Council seat previously held by Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser. According to the Facebook group for his election campaign, Cooper died after complaining of chest pains and dizziness. “He was a hell of a kid who was…
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NAACP LDF Goes Back to Court to Defend a Win for Fayette County, Ga.’s Black Voters
On Nov. 4, 2014, two things happened when voters took to the polls in Fayette County, Ga. First, voters participated in higher numbers than anywhere else in their state. Second, Georgia voters in the recently implemented majority-black district made history by electing their candidate of choice, the first-ever black woman to serve on the County Commission. African-American voters also elected a…
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Chicago’s Minimum Wage to Increase From $8.25 to $13 by 2019
By 2019, people earning minimum wage in Chicago will be making $13 an hour, up from the current $8.25 an hour, thanks to a recent vote by the Chicago City Council to approve a proposal by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Al-Jazeera reports. “We want to make sure people can afford to live here,” Emanuel said…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
