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A White Mother Shapes a Black Man
“White mothers of black boys are confronted by the same realities as black mothers,” Albert L. Butler writes at MSNBC in a poignant piece about his white mother. He says it’s an important yet often overlooked fact. I am an avid watcher of Melissa Harris-Perry, so I was not at all surprised–and was quite pleased–when host…
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Watch This: Spike Lee Meets Kickstarter Goal, Thanks Fans and Jesus
Calling it a “historic moment,” Spike Lee took to YouTube to thank fans and Jesus after reaching his goal of $1.25 million on Kickstarter, which was met Friday with five days remaining in the month-long campaign. Mashable reports. The distinguished filmmaker even dropped a few f-bombs out of excitement while thanking fans and Jesus. He…
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Alice Walker Uninvited to Speak at University of Michigan
The Huffington Post is reporting that the Center for the Education of Women at the University of Michigan has rescinded an invitation to Alice Walker to attend its 50th anniversary next year. Officials may have been prompted by her past criticism of Israel, says the Pulitizer Prize-winning author. On her blog, Walker posted a letter she said…
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Watch This: Russell Simmons Says Black Women 'Educated Me'
In his first sit-down interview about the “Harriet Tubman Sex Tape” debacle, Russell Simmons tells BRKDWN host Cynthia LuCiette that he pulled the video after black women schooled him on how much pain it caused. “This is about black women — and they can push me around a little quicker than the rest of the…
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March on Washington: What Critics Will Say
(The Root) — “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” That, of course, was Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who’d run on a platform opposing black voter registration, in a speech delivered in 1963 — the very same year as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This month, events commemorating the landmark civil…
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For Black Moms, Opting Out Is Not an Option
(The Root) — On the long list of rhetorical questions that remain perpetually unanswerable, the problem of whether or not women can “have it all” is right there at the top. Adding to this never-ending debate is a recent New York Times Magazine article that checked in with a group of women who a decade…
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Quote of the Day: Martin Luther King Jr. on Capitalism vs. Marxism
Read more of The Root’s coverage of Martin Luther King Jr. 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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Mayor Bloomberg Slams Stop-and-Frisk Judge
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the airwaves on Friday to blast a Manhattan federal judge who ruled that the city’s controversial stop-and-frisk practices were unconstitutional, according to the New York Post. Public safety “is now in the hands of some woman who does not have the expertise to do it,” he told listeners during…
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Daycare Workers Fired Over Instagram Posts
(The Root) — Some people in Newport News, Va., seem to have forgotten how easy it is to get fired for things put on the Internet, and now find themselves out of a job. Two daycare workers were fired after posting pictures to their Instagram accounts mocking the children left in their charge. One posted…
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The Seamstress for the Ku Klux Klan
Mother Jones reports that 58-year-old “Ms. Ruth,” who comes from five generations of Ku Klux Klan members, sews hoods and robes for the group seven days a week, and blesses each one when it’s done. She lives in the Deep South. A red satin outfit for an Exalted Cyclops, the head of a local chapter,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
