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Did My Granddad Play in the Negro Leagues?
“I’m curious to know more about my paternal grandfather, Claude Barclay, from Cleveland. ‘Beatrice Penn’ was the name of his wife. He died many years before I was born, and for many reasons my father never talks about him. “During the most recent Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to ask my father and his siblings about…
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How Obama Plans to ‘Keep’ His ‘Brothers’
The official launch of My Brother’s Keeper—the initiative President Barack Obama previewed in his State of the Union address, telling Americans, “I’m reaching out to some of America’s leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young men of color facing especially tough odds to stay on track and reach their full…
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Lil Jon’s Debut on Reddit Was Amazing
Lil Jon surprised the Internet late Tuesday night when he hosted an epic Reddit Ask Me Anything. Redditors asked the King of Crunk to dish on everything—from foreign affairs to the durability of his crunk-juice cup. Who is Lil Jon’s ideal woman? His wife. What’s his favorite kind of dinosaur? Barney. What makes him turn…
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Yes, You Should Give the White Guy a Chance
“When guys from other races approach me or seem to express interest, I feel like I am their cultural project and quickly shut it down. They don’t say anything offensive, but I wonder why they want a ‘sistah’ when they have not ventured over to this side before—or seem to have not to. Is this…
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Update: Black Tea Partier Katrina Pierson Collected Unemployment Benefits
If you read my profile in The Root of African-American Tea Partier Katrina Pierson on Tuesday, you know that in her bid to unseat incumbent House Rules Committee Chair Pete Sessions in next week’s Texas congressional primary, she described herself as someone who “just wants the federal government to leave us alone.” Her platform is mostly…
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Spike Lee Gets Real About Gentrification
Director Spike Lee let them know how he really felt on Tuesday night. According to New York magazine, Lee was speaking at Pratt Institute for a Black History Month lecture when an audience member asked him about “the other side” of the gentrification debate. “Let me just kill you right now, because there was some…
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Quote of the Day: Ernest Crichlow on Art
You can read this quote by Ernest Crichlow, from a 1981 interview with the Stamford Advocate, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations.Hear more about Crichlow’s work 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 editor-in-chief…
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Black Hairstyles: This Is How We ’Do It
Black hair seems to always make the news. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual to hear about children being banned from school or adults losing jobs over their hair. It’s also not unusual for black hairstyles to define political and cultural movements in American history. All politics aside, black hairstyles have gone through many transformations throughout the…
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Where ColorOfChange Stands on ‘Stand Your Ground’
Like so many of you, I was outraged—but not surprised—by the Michael Dunn verdict. Just two years after Trayvon Martin was killed, another Florida jury has told us what we already know: Our nation’s gun laws do not protect the innocent, the justice system is deeply unfair and our media culture continues to create an…
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Joe Biden May Be a ‘White Boy,’ but He’s Got His Black Card
Vice President Joe Biden made headlines twice yesterday. He told ABC’s Barbara Walters that he won’t be standing down in the 2016 White House race, even if Hillary Clinton jumps in, saying that “Whether she runs or not will not affect my decision.” And that’s—as Biden might say—a pretty “gutsy” call. On a lighter note,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
