• The Daily Show Offers Tips for ‘Shopping While Black’

    Just days before the arrival of Black Friday, The Daily Show added a touch of humor to the harsh reality of racial-profiling allegations that have dominated headlines in recent weeks. In the segment, correspondent Jessica Williams doles out tips for black people trying to, ahem, shop on Black Friday because it’s hard to take advantage…

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  • Baltimore Jail Officers Accused of Taking Bribes, Peddling Drugs

    A cadre of Baltimore corrections officers reportedly worked with members of a notorious prison gang to peddle drugs, phones and sex inside the city’s jail and have been indicted, CNN reports. Saying the indictment reads like a script from the canceled HBO crime drama The Wire, CNN reports that prosecutors announced charges against 14 additional…

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  • Appeals Court Refuses to Boot NYC Stop-and-Frisk Rulings

    A federal appeals court has denied a request to dismiss rulings that determined that New York City police conducted its police stop-and-frisk policy in a discriminatory manner, the Associated Press reports.  On Friday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the five-page order during a scheduled appeal of U.S. Judge…

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  • President Obama: Iran Deal a ‘1st Step’ 

    After weeks of delivering somber news about the Affordable Care Act at home, President Barack Obama was able to welcome good news from abroad late Saturday about Iran’s historic agreement to temporarily freeze its nuclear program. He said the interim nuclear agreement with Iran is an “important first step” that cuts off the Islamic republic’s…

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  • Quote of the Day: James Baldwin on Parenting

    Read how the quote is referenced 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 of The Root. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

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  • Family: Sex Not Consensual in FSU’s Heisman Candidate Case 

    The family of the alleged victim in a sexual assault case involving Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston released a statement to the media late Friday, saying that she did not consent and “the player committed rape,” the Associated Press reports. “To be clear, the victim did not consent,” the statement reads, according to the AP.…

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  • An African Princess Who Stood Unafraid Among Nazis

    Between 1939 and 1946, Fatima Massaquoi penned one of the earliest known autobiographies by an African woman. But few outside of Liberian circles were aware of it until this week, when Palgrave McMillian published The Autobiography of an African Princess, edited by two historians and the author’s daughter. The book follows Massaquoi, born the daughter…

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  • Chris Brown Does Not Have to Appear in DC Court

    Chris Brown got a small reprieve from his legal challenges. Washington D.C., Superior Judge Robert Tignor decided Friday to allow the beleaguered R&B singer to waive his scheduled court appearance on Monday, the Associated Press reports. He was scheduled to appear on a misdemeanor assault charge, but his lawyers told the judge that it didn’t make…

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  • Duke Lacrosse Accuser Convicted of Murder

    A woman who made headlines several years ago after falsely accusing three Duke University lacrosse players of rape was convicted of second-degree murder Friday in the stabbing death of her boyfriend, the Associated Press reports. The jury reached its verdict after about six hours of deliberation over two days in the trial of 34-year-old Crystal…

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  • Kwame Kilpatrick Tells Court to Send Him a Bill 

    Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick apparently has had enough of courtrooms. He prefers to sit out on a Dec. 10 court hearing that will determine just how much he owes Detroit and tax collectors after convictions for corruption and other crimes, the Detroit Free Press reports. He says it can be hashed out by the judge…

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