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Black America’s Stake in Obama’s State of the Union
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address offered the black community new policy measures—focused on jobs, education, health care and retirement—to close the growing economic gap between America’s rich and poor. Obama’s opening remarks focused on his administration’s accomplishments, including a 6.7 percent unemployment rate, reduced deficits and robust investment. And he acknowledged that…
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Highs and Lows of Obama’s State of the Union Speech
Tuesday night was State of the Union time again, which meant two things: President Barack Obama had to pull off the most difficult oratorical balancing act there is for any president: delivering a substantive policy speech that manages to inspire and move Americans. And it means that we do what we do after every State…
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Quote of the Day: Halle Berry on the Academy Awards
You can read this quote by Halle Berry, from her 2002 acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Watch Halle Berry’s full acceptance speech 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…
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Against the Odds, Demaryius Thomas Made His Way to Football Greatness
They say some people are born into their destiny. They step into the world that their parents create and build their reality. For Demaryius Thomas, reality consisted of being born to a 15-year-old mother and an absent father who joined the Army after high school. Thomas’ early life was the stuff rappers rhyme about and…
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How Do You Prove Your Heritage to Skeptics? You Don’t
How do you prove your Mexican heritage to skeptics? In the latest Ask Me Anything on Reddit, our Race Manners advice columnist tackles this question and weighs in on concerns surrounding the fate of black-dominated music categories and the nature of her interactions with readers. Read the highlights here: PatrickBeccarra: I am the whitest, palest…
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New, Explicit Focus for Obama: ‘Young Men of Color’
In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Obama, in a relatively rare explicit mention of the race-related goals of a policy, hinted at a planned educational initiative to benefit “young men of color.” “I’m reaching out to some of America’s leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young…
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Beyoncé Is a Grown Woman and Can Do What She Wants
When it was announced that entertainment’s “it” couple, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Jay Z, would be performing at the Grammys—the opening act, no less—I knew it wasn’t going to go well. They were undoubtedly going to perform their latest hit, “Drunk in Love,” an ode to liquor and the joys of marital sex, replete with raunchy…
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Vin Diesel’s Very Random Katy Perry and Beyoncé Dance Video
Actor Vin Diesel loves music. In this seven-minute video posted to his Facebook page, Diesel dances, stands awkwardly, sings off-key and mouths the words to Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” and Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love.” No patience for the full seven minutes? For highlights, fast-forward to 6:00 and watch Diesel do the Damon Dash. He also…
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Why Republicans Will Hate Obama’s State of the Union
Here’s a prediction about President Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union that isn’t very bold: No matter what he says in Tuesday night’s address, odds are that Republicans will openly pan it—but not actually find much to critique on the merits. Although Obama and Republicans are expected to focus on “income inequality” in the…
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Quote of the Day: David Adjaye on Architecture
You can read this quote by David Adjaye, from a 2003 interview in the Guardian newspaper, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read The Root’s coverage of Adjaye 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…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
