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Al Sharpton: The Teflon Preacher With 99 Lives—at Least
The Rev. Al Sharpton’s party got crashed this week when the Smoking Gun published—in a story conveniently timed to coincide with this week’s gathering of Sharpton’s National Action Network—official documents showing that going back to the ’80s, he went to work for the FBI as an informant against organized crime in New York. It’s an…
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Don’t Let Friend’s Unhappy Relationship Ruin Your Friendship
My friend of many years has been in a relationship for 15 years with a guy she is not married to. She tells me all the time that she wants this next step, but he always says, “When this happens” or “Not before that happens.” I am annoyed because she keeps complaining but does nothing.…
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At Sharpton Convention, Obama Slams Republicans for Restricting Voting
Just a day after his speech reflecting on the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—which he credited with paving the way for his historic presidency—President Obama told modern-day civil rights activists that the gains of the last 50 years are at risk of being dismantled by Republican efforts to limit access to the…
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Creator of For Brown Girls Blog Reportedly Commits Suicide at Age 22
Karyn Washington, the 22-year-old founder of the For Brown Girls website, which sought to empower chocolate-complexioned black women, died on April 8, reportedly committing suicide, according to MadameNoire. Her passing is a devastating loss for legions of black women who went online to seek refuge in any one of Washington’s many initiatives, including the #DarkSkinRedLip…
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Scandal Recap: Let’s Look at the Bright Side
Last night’s “Flesh and Blood”—the last episode before next week’s season finale—sent us reeling even deeper into despair. Yes, everything is awful, and every moment is dripping with overwhelming emotion, and it’s like everyone’s living in the twilight zone, but it’s not all bad. Things could always be worse, right? So instead of focusing on…
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Top Black Ad Men and Women You Won’t See on Mad Men
As much as we love the show Mad Men, the popular TV series has never really given pioneering black advertising executives their proper respect. As The Root’s article “The Other Mad Men” pointed out in 2010, Madison Avenue was not as lily white as the popular cable-TV show implies. With Mad Men heading into its…
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Should I Post Controversial Family Tree Info Online?
I am writing you to ask your advice on how to handle a problem that has recently occurred in my ancestral search. I have been on Ancestry.com since 2006 and recently received my ethnicity results from my DNA. The company helps people find relatives by matching DNA results. As it turns out, one of my highest matches came from…
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How Nikki Giovanni Linked Aretha Franklin to the Black Arts Movement
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal sits down with Emily Lordi to discuss her new book, Black Resonance: Iconic Women Singers and African American Literature. Lordi is an assistant professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In this excerpt, they focus on the connection between poet Nikki Giovanni and singer Aretha Franklin. Watch:…
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Actually, Obama’s Record Compares Just Fine With LBJ’s
The tenuousness of making comparisons between President Lyndon B. Johnson’s vaunted vote-wrangling prowess and the allegedly ineffectual legislative skills of President Barack Obama was nicely summed up on Wednesday with this tweet: Although it’s meant to get a laugh—and it’s hard to imagine a future where Obama’s remembered as a Tea Partier—the upshot—that perceptions change…
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Obama Could Stand to Be a Little More Like LBJ
On Thursday, President Barack Obama joined other dignitaries at a civil rights summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s signature accomplishment as president—passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. And in a nod to the shoulders that he stands on, Obama said, “I have lived out the promise of LBJ’s efforts.”…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
