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Jeff Bezos: An Open Letter on Diversity at the Washington Post
Arguing that diversity is “critical for good journalism,” Farai Chideya, at her blog, Farai.com, writes an open letter congratulating new Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on his acquisition and stressing the importance of a heterogeneous staff. As I outlined in a recent article for The Nation magazine, staffing and editorial diversity is critical for good journalism, and…
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Politics Gets Its Own Cheerios Ad
(The Root) — Earlier this year, Cheerios generated extensive media attention — and countless racist comments online — for becoming the first major American brand to feature a mixed-race family in a television advertisement. Now an ad for a political campaign is poised to be just as groundbreaking, and potentially controversial. This weekend television advertisements…
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Black Political Trailblazer Dies
(The Root) — Bill Lynch, one of the most prominent African-American political consultants in the nation, died Friday at age 72. Though Lynch was known to be battling diabetes, the cause of death was complications from kidney disease. Lynch was credited with masterminding the election of New York City’s first and, to date, only black…
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Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop!
(The Root) — On this date in 1973, DJ Kool Herc threw his first party in the Bronx, N.Y. For the low, low price of $0.50 ($0.25 for the ladies), partygoers could listen and dance to a new sound that would soon take the world by storm: hip-hop. DJ Kool Herc is recognized as the…
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Budding Romance Between Adrian Fenty and Steve Jobs' Widow?
The Washington Post is reporting that former Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty and Laurene Powell Jobs are dating after meeting two years ago at a Houston education conference. The two reportedly connected over a shared interest in school reform, the report says. Last year, the former D.C. mayor scored a plum job with Andreessen Horowitz, one…
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Chris Brown's Seizure Caused by 'Negativity' and 'Stress'
Sounds like Chris Brown needs a break. His rep says “intense fatigue and extreme emotional stress” caused the embattled 24-year-old singer’s seizure August 9, according to Hello Beautiful. “While in the studio working early this morning, Chris suffered a nonepileptic seizure (NES),” his rep confirmed to Us Weekly in a statement. Although the singer was…
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Don Lemon Responds to Critics: 'Attack the Problem'
CNN’s Don Lemon on Saturday addressed critics of his five suggestions for the African-American community, which created a firestorm of controversy when he presented them two weeks ago. The points, which align closely with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s assessment of the black community, prompted hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons to write several blistering tweets and…
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Addressing the 'Negro Problem' in the 1820s
(The Root) — After 30 years of teaching African history, I am still fascinated by the idealism and innocence expressed by those who supported plans to settle African Americans on the African coast in the 1820s. They knew so little about the continent and the people who lived in it. Nearly everyone who supported colonization…
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Quote of the Day: Frederick Douglass on the GOP
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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Why We Need to March on Washington 50 Years Later
Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, writes at the Huffington Post that recent acts of voter suppression in Texas and South Carolina, the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act and George Zimmerman’s acquittal are just a few pressing reasons for a sequel to the historic March on Washington. The events…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
