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Death of Ex-Marine in Hot Jail Cell Ruled Accidental
The death of a mentally ill inmate in a 101-degree-Fahrenheit cell at New York City’s Rikers Island jail has been ruled accidental, the New York Daily News reports. Jerome Murdough, 56, a former U.S. Marine, died Feb. 15 of hyperthermia due to “environmental exposure to heat,” a spokeswoman for the city’s chief medical examiner said,…
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George Zimmerman Accused in Fla. Road Rage Incident
Police in Lake Mary, Fla., are investigating an allegation that George Zimmerman threatened to kill a motorist during a road rage incident, CBS Miami reports. A man who identified himself only as “Matt’ called police Tuesday to report that a truck pulled up alongside him and a passenger yelled, “Why are you pointing a finger…
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Vikings’ Peterson Booked and Released in Child-Injury Case
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was booked into jail and released on $15,000 bail early Saturday morning after he was indicted on a felony charge of reckless or negligent injury to a child, ESPN reports. Peterson reportedly beat his 4-year-old son earlier this year with a small tree branch as a form of punishment,…
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Watch: What Are the 50 Greatest Black TV Shows of All Time?
On Monday The Root will give readers the chance to vote for the greatest black TV shows of all time. For the next three weeks, readers will choose from a roster of shows—from comedies to dramas, old and new—that captured the collective experiences of being black in America. The top 50 shows that readers choose will be…
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Meet Michael Che, the 1st Black Co-Host on SNL’s ‘Weekend Update’
In season 40 of Saturday Night Live, which begins Sept. 27, viewers will witness history when 30-year-old stand-up comedian Michael Che becomes the co-anchor of “Weekend Update,” the first African American to hold the position. Che may be familiar to fans of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, where he had a short run as…
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‘Straightwashed’ No More: Black LGBT Influencers Are in the Spotlight
It was only 50 years ago when the architect of the March on Washington, Bayard Rustin, a black gay man, stood next to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he recited his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. While Rustin’s sexual orientation was known within his activists’ circles, it…
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We Can’t Let Star Athletes Like Oscar Pistorius and Ray Rice Off the Hook
Celebrated South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been convicted of culpable homicide. He was found not guilty of premeditated murder on Thursday but later found guilty of the lesser charge for firing four shots into a locked bathroom door, killing his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, last year on Valentine’s Day. Now Pistorius faces five to…
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Postponed Immigration Reform Has Latinos Nonchalant About Midterm Elections
Since President Obama has decided not to move forward with any immigration-reform work until the midterm elections are over, voter-advocacy groups are finding it hard to get disappointed Latinos to the voting booths this fall. “It’s hard,” Sonia Marquez, a director for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, told Al-Jazeera. Of Obama’s postponement of his promised deportation relief for undocumented…
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Oscar Pistorius Found Guilty of Homicide
Oscar Pistorius—the double-amputee Olympic athlete on trial in South Africa for fatally shooting his model girlfriend—has been found guilty of culpable homicide and could face jail time. On Thursday Pistorius was found not guilty of two of the most serious murder charges, the New York Times reports. “Judge [Thokozile Matilda] Masipa cleared Mr. Pistorius of two…
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Missouri Mandates 72-Hour Waiting Period Before Abortion
Women in Missouri who decide to terminate their pregnancies now have to wait 72 hours after consulting with their doctors before going forward with the abortion, Al-Jazeera reports. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, initially tried to veto the piece of legislation mandating this 72-hour waiting period, but the state’s Republican-led Legislature overruled his veto Wednesday.…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
