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How Racism Spurred My Commitment to Activism
In a piece at xoJane, Danielle Moodie-Mills recalls how a painful encounter with racism as a teen taught her how the issue was not relegated to a chapter in history books. Her experience also triggered her lifelong commitment to civil rights activism. “Get out of my seat, nigger.” I was 14 years old when I realized…
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Will Dancer Daughters End Up Like Miley?
(The Root) — “My girls, ages 8 and 10, have been in dance class since they were little. They do a variety of classes but both recently joined a diverse dance troupe that performs hip-hop around the county at various events. They love it, and honestly I don’t think they associate it with any particular…
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Sharpton Rips GOP Furor Over Obama's Foot on Desk
The Rev. Al Sharpton mocked Republicans on his MSNBC show, Politics Nation, for complaining about an image showing President Obama with his foot on the desk in the Oval Office, apparently while discussing the crisis in Syria. Sharpton described it as eagerness on the part of Republican leaders to find fault with the president at…
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Black Pastor Under Fire for 'Only White' Greeters Request
Makeda Pennycooke, a Charlotte, N.C., pastor, has issued an apology to the congregation at Freedom House Church after asking that “only white people” serve as greeters during the 9 a.m. Sunday service, according to WBTV. A viewer contacted WBTV after getting an email from Pastor Makeda Pennycooke, an African-American woman, at Freedom House Church along…
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Cleveland Kidnapper Found Hanged in Prison Cell
Ariel Castro, the Cleveland kidnapper, was found hanging in his Ohio prison cell Tuesday night, according to CNN. He was sentenced in August to life plus 1,000 years for kidnapping and raping three women, as well as murder. Authorities found Castro, 52, hanging in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, about…
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Syria and the Irony of GOP Obstructionism
(The Root) — What is so blaringly disturbing about the recent debate over whether the United States should engage militarily in Syria’s civil war — and the call for congressional debate and action — is the complete lack of acknowledgment that America has been fighting its own intellectual civil war for five years. The Republican…
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A Black Man's Role in American Revolution
(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. This striking pair of figures presents one aspect of the role of the black man in the American Revolution.…
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Quote of the Day: Betty Shabazz on Continuing Malcolm X's Legacy
Read the quote as it was used in her New York Times obituary 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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PETA Angers Black People. Again
(The Root) — PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — is known for its radical methods, including decorating donated furs with fake blood. On Tuesday reports surfaced that the group was claiming that eating chicken could cause underdeveloped genitals in baby boys. No, seriously. PETA wrote an open letter to the founder…
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Dave Chappelle's Experience Shows Connecticut's Racism
One little-explored aspect of Dave Chappelle’s “meltdown” during a performance in Hartford last week is the significance of where the incident took place, journalist and Connecticut native Ann-Marie Adams argues in a piece at Ebony. She argues that Connecticut, rather than being a liberal oasis, is a racial hotbed. Location is a crucial unit of analysis for Chappelle’s…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
