Suddenly the nation is talking about black equality. It took Molotov cocktails in Ferguson, Mo., to forcefully penetrate our slumbering racial consciousness. Ferguson has become a metaphor for race relations in the 21st century; a signifier for the convergence of poverty, segregation, police brutality, and federal and civic neglect. Most importantly, the Ferguson crisis has…

For the last several days, rapper 50 Cent and boxer Floyd Mayweather have engaged in the favorite pastime of any 21st-century celebrity with a Twitter account and an ego: feuding. While in the old days you might have had to stand on a street corner and shout insults at a nemesis face-to-face, with a few…

Kametra Barbour and her young children were the subjects of a horrifying police stop. Barbour says that she was pulled over at gunpoint by a police officer in Forney, Texas, according to ABC 7 Chicago. With her four children—all under the age of 10—in tow, Barbour was told to exit the vehicle with her hands…

The family of 9-year-old Antonio Smith is searching for answers after the child was shot down last Wednesday, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Antonio became upset after he called his mother to ask for a snack and she told him no, according to the Sun-Times. Afterward, he left his house, followed closely by his 12-year-old brother.…

As the fiery protests that erupted in Ferguson, Mo., after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by a white police officer appeared to be on the wane, several St. Louis-area young people reflected on the incident and talked about lessons learned. While many were demoralized and saddened by the shooting of Michael Brown,…