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The Root Recognizes: Volunteer De’Von Cross Helps Uninsured Get to the Finish Line
When De’Von Cross is volunteering on a college campus in his home state of Alabama, he sets up a booth in the student union center and lures students over with boxes of hot pizza. In exchange for a slice, students must answer one simple question: “Do you have health insurance?” A pivotal deadline is approaching for…
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‘Black Twitter’ Changed My Life
When it comes to the question of whether “black Twitter” should be called black Twitter and whether there are too many (or any) articles written about it, I really couldn’t care less. Whatever it’s called, however it’s covered (even if it does sometimes feel as if reporters are observing exotic animals and describing their findings), this…
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Promoting Diversity During Playtime
As the nation becomes more diverse, so should learning and playtime. Here is a list of toys, games and books that encourage children to express themselves, learn about other cultures and explore African-American history. Every doll is inspired by girls from around the world, and each comes with her own story and ideas about how…
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GOP Congressional Candidate Apologizes for Slavery Comments
Arizona Republican congressional candidate Jim Brown, who was roundly criticized last week for comparing modern-day “entitlements” to slavery, has issued an apology, the Huffington Post reports. Brown, who is running in for a seat in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, said in the apology on Thursday that he cares “about every human being on this planet.”…
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Lupita Nyong’o: Her Father Says Family Suffered Torture and Brutality in Kenya
The family of Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o reportedly experienced similar abuse as that depicted in 12 Years a Slave, her father told the Independent. The actress has garnered widespread praise for her performance in the film as Patsey, who was subjugated and dehumanized by her owners, earning her an Oscar for best supporting actress.…
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Watch: Chicago Youth Poetry Team Knocks Mayor ‘Wreck-It-Rahm’
“Hide your schools. Hide your homes. Hide your children ’cause he’s wrecking it all,” TEAM Englewood, a Chicago youth-poetry group, warns in a poem directed at Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his policies. The youth-poetry group recited the poem earlier this month during the semifinals of the youth-poetry competition Louder Than a Bomb, the largest youth poetry…
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Chris Brown to Spend More Than 30 Days in Jail
Chris Brown is likely singing the jailhouse blues instead of his usual hip-hop and R&B tunes. The embattled 24-year-old singer will spend more than one month behind bars, TMZ reported Saturday. He was arrested Friday on a warrant after he was kicked out of a rehabilitation center in Malibu, Calif., where he was being treated…
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Fla. Worker Allegedly Kills Boss for Posting His Photo Online
A Florida man reportedly fatally stabbed his boss because the man took a picture of him and posted it online, according to NBC 6 Miami. Tilus Lebrun, 36, was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree premeditated murder and murder while engaged in a certain felony offense. He was ordered held without bail until his arraignment.…
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Quote of the Day: Fred Shuttlesworth on Living Freely
You can read this quote from Fred Shuttlesworth, as quoted in Martin Luther King Jr.’s Why We Can’t Wait (1964), in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read more about Shuttlesworth here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the…
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3 Reasons Ralph Ellison Still Matters
“ … literature is an affirmative act, but, being specifically concerned with moral values and reality, it has to deal with the possibility of defeat. Underlying it most profoundly is the sense that man dies but his values continue. The mediating role of literature is to leave the successors with the sense of what is…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
