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GOP Lawmaker Rips NAACP for Obama Clown Probe
U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman (R.-Texas) said it’s “silly” for the Missouri chapter of the NAACP to call for a federal probe into an incident involving a man who wore a mask of President Barack Obama during a controversial performance last weekend at the state fair, Fox News reports. “A rodeo clown is really a nominal…
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The Lasting Scars of Poverty
The strain of poverty is traumatizing enough, but the scars can be lasting and even deadly when it occurs early in life, the Huffington Post reports. Whites in the U.S. live about five years longer than blacks because of socioeconomic factors, not genetics, the report shows. And the stress elevates levels of stress hormones and…
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Kanye West Booed During Post-Baby Outing
In a rare post-baby outing Wednesday night in Los Angeles, rapper Kanye West watched the Los Angeles Dodgers play the New York Mets, Yahoo reports. But he didn’t get the warm welcome he’s used to receiving during performances. When West was shown on the jumbotron at Dodgers Stadium, the “Black Skinhead” rapper was booed by…
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'The Butler': Good but Falls Short of Great
(The Root) — Going out to the latest Big Black Movie has been political for a long time. We don’t like how we are portrayed in film, so black people show up en masse at worthy opening nights. We want to reward film investors who show us doing more than just twerkin’ and jerkin’. We…
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A New Showcase for Art From the Diaspora
(The Root) — Cork Street in Mayfair, nestling just behind Savile Row and the sartorial panache of its world-famous bespoke tailors, is without a doubt one of London’s most salubrious streets, internationally renowned for its plethora of opulent, high-end art galleries. Thankfully it now has a most welcome recent addition — one that goes a…
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How Data Took Down NYC's Stop and Frisk
(The Root) — On Monday, federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that the New York City Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices were unconstitutional, but to thousands of the city’s black and Latino men, that wasn’t news. The real headline for many in New York’s black and brown communities was how attorneys convinced a federal judge that…
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Quote of the Day: Katherine Dunham on Purpose
Read more about Katherine Dunham 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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What 'The Butler' Gets Right
(The Root) — This has been a long, hot summer, dominated in part by the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. The trial, which became a media spectacle, was at its heart the story of the unfulfilled search for justice. The verdict in that case broke millions of Americans’ hearts and…
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Black Actresses in Hollywood: Still in the Shadows
“It’s not just that black actresses are auditioning and not getting cast in larger roles — it seems that they are frequently absent from the casting process entirely,” Aisha Harris writes in a piece at Slate that challenges a claim that this has been a great year in film and television for black women. ……
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Fact-Checking All Def Digital on Harriet Tubman
Colorlines‘ Jamilah King was spurred to round up actual facts about the abolitionist in response to the “Harriet Tubman Sex Tape.” Russell Simmons’ All Def Digital YouTube channel has now removed the video, on which comedians joked about how Tubman used sex to blackmail “her master into letting her run the Underground Railroad.” 1. Harriet…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
