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Quote of the Day: Duke Ellington on Quirks
Read about the Duke Ellington song 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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Why Dez Bryant's Anger Problem Is Not Race-Related
At ESPN, Jason Whitlock tackles the notorious angry outbursts of Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys. His “inability to control his emotions is not a racial issue,” he writes. “It’s a family dysfunction issue.” The largely well-intentioned defenders of Dez Bryant are primarily driven by concerns related to race and racism. They’re misguided, and perhaps so are…
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Will Obamacare Net the Same Results as Romneycare?
While President Barack Obama touted the success of Mitt Romney’s health care model in Boston this week, it remains unclear whether its results can be replicated in Obamacare, Gabrielle Gurley writes at the Guardian. President Obama parachuted into Boston this week to wax nostalgic about Massachusetts healthcare reform. Flanked by his good friend Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and…
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Walmart Is One of the Biggest Recipients of Food Stamps
American shoppers spend about 18 percent of all food stamp dollars at Walmart, one of the nation’s most profitable companies, the Huffington Post reports. That adds up to an estimated $14 billion of the $80 billion Congress set aside for food stamps last year, the site says. The company’s total profits for 2013 were $17 billion. The…
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Kevin Hart Donates $250K to Philadelphia Schools
Actor Kevin Hart has found his raison d’être. The Philadelphia native recently donated $250,000 to the city’s struggling school system, according to Hello Beautiful. “I found my lane, helping my city,” the site quotes Hart as saying. “That’s my lane, trying to put my city on my back, uplift it and showing these kids that…
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Black Women on 'SNL': Lorne Michaels Is 'Sure It Will Happen'
On the eve of Kerry Washington’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, founding producer Lorne Michaels responded to rising complaints about the dearth of black female comedians on the show, the Associated Press reports. Currently no black women are among the 16 repertory or featured players on the show. The most recent, and most prominent, woman…
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Florida City Extends Sagging-Pants Ban to Women
Ladies in Opa-locka, Fla., are going to have to pull their pants up after lawmakers voted recently to extend a six-year-old sagging pants ban to women, the Miami Herald reports. City commissioners, the Herald reports, tentatively approved the ordinance authorizing police to issue citations to women for wearing pants that expose any underwear or undergarments.…
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Quote of the Day: David Dinkins on Politics
Read an interview with David Dinkins 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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Food Off the Table for 47 Million Americans
Just in time for the holidays, federal cuts to the food stamp program will kick in. And Bob Aiken, chief executive of the nonprofit Feeding America, writes at CNN that the changes “are significant and will put a strain on millions of families struggling with food insecurity.” The upcoming cuts will result in an increased…
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The GOP and Disrespecting President Obama
The Washington Post‘s Jonathan Capehart takes the Republican Party to task for its continual disrespect of President Barack Obama. “I’m old enough to remember the days when an invitation to the White House to meet with the president was a clear-your-calendar occasion. Not anymore.” President Obama can’t win. On the one hand, he is a…

