• War in Syria: Why It Is a Bad Idea

    Dr. Boyce Watkins at Your Black World says it’s hypocritical for the U.S. to employ a military strike against Syria. Instead of going to war with Syria, he urges President Barack Obama to reconsider his foreign policy and shift his focus to domestic affairs. But after thinking about the situation long and hard, I’ve concluded…

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  • De Blasio Finishes 1st in NYC Mayoral Primary

    The Washington Post is reporting that with 97 percent of precincts recorded in Tuesday’s Democratic primary race for New York City mayor, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio captured about 40.2 percent of the total vote, which puts him slightly above the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid triggering a runoff on Oct. 1. The swirling, chaotic…

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  • Arkansas Cop Investigated in Death of 107-Year-Old Black Man

    Police authorities in Arkansas are investigating circumstances surrounding the death of Monroe Isadore, 107, who was shot on Saturday in Pine Bluff, Ark., the Associated Press reports. He reportedly fired at police during a confrontation and was shot and killed by an officer. Authorities have said they tried using a camera, negotiating tactics and gas before shooting…

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  • Nation's Top 1 Percent Earn Biggest Slice Since 1920s

    The gap between the wealthiest 1 percent and the rest of America is the biggest it’s been since the Roaring ’20s, the Washington Post reports. The very wealthiest Americans earned more than 19 percent of the country’s household income last year — their biggest share since 1928, the year before the stock market crash. And…

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  • Michelle Obama Weighs In on Syria

    (The Root) — On Tuesday night, President Obama delivered one of the most important policy addresses of his presidency. Citing the horrors of the Holocaust and other human rights tragedies, the president laid out the case for why he has proposed military intervention in Syria. At the moment, military action now seems unlikely. After Secretary…

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  • 'Ask a Slave': Come Down to the Plantation

    (The Root) — The Harriet Tubman role was the last straw. After recurring guest spots spanning slavery to the civil rights movement, actress Azie Dungey was over the days of old. “The future just seemed like more history,” said Dungey. When a friend forming a historical actors’ troupe asked Dungey, who’d just finished playing a…

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  • Will an HBCU Make My Kid Too Black?

    (The Root) — “My daughter is now entering her second year at a top historically black college. She has done well so far, but her father and I have realized that compared to the environment in which she grew up (we live in a mostly white area with some community members of different backgrounds and…

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  • Quote of the Day: John O. Killens on Integration

    Read the quote in its full context here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute 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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  • In NYC Mayoral Primary, Bill de Blasio Leads

    Bill de Blasio is the early front-runner, garnering nearly 40 percent of the vote in the New York Democratic primary mayoral race, reports NY1. De Blasio, who is currently the city’s public advocate, made waves in the last few weeks, not only with his liberal take on issues like ending stop and frisk but also with…

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  • Article on Street Harassment Angers Twitter

    (The Root) — A very well-meaning article was posted on xoJane.com about how women should react when a hopeful suitor gives them unwanted attention on the street. For many women the quickest, most effective way to get out an uncomfortable situation is to say that they’re already in a relationship, whether they are or not.…

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