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Quote of the Day: Martin Luther King Jr. on Love
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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The Death Penalty: How Long Will It Survive?
(The Root) — On May 7, officials at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, better known as “ol’ Parchman,” planned to strap Willie Jerome Manning to a gurney and pump a lethal cocktail of drugs into his veins at precisely 7 p.m. But just five hours before he was set to die, the state’s Supreme Court halted…
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Celebrating Civil Rights, Boehner-Style
(The Root) — It’s fair to say Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) is not the first (or 10th, or 100th) person one might expect to hear from at an event celebrating a major civil rights event. After all, during the 111th Congress, when he was last ranked by the NAACP before he became Speaker of the…
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Riley Cooper's N-Word Controversy
(The Root) — The n-word just can’t stay out of the news lately. Earlier last month, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper was caught fighting outside a Kenny Chesney concert. On Wednesday, video surfaced of Cooper inside the same event, huffing and puffing inside, threatening to “fight every n—ger” there. For many, this raised the…
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Louisiana Bans Use of Social Media While Driving
Starting Thursday, living in Louisiana will mean no more making hilarious Vines of yourself singing “Back That Thang Up” as you drive to work. A new law bans the use of social media behind the wheel. Put directly, the law includes “any web-based service that allows individuals to construct a profile within a bounded system,…
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FDNY Makes Strides on Diversity
(The Root) — Although the New York City Police Department has battled allegations of racial bias for the manner in which it executes its stop-and-frisk program, the New York City Fire Department has faced criticism of its own from civil rights proponents. In 2012 the city of New York was forced to pay $128 million…
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Twitter Promises to Crack Down on Threats
(The Root) — When celebrities mess up, they often take to Twitter to send out their mass apologies. This time, it’s Twitter that’s doing the apologizing. The popular microblogging site is facing a wave of criticism from people who say that threats of rape and bodily harm against women transmitted through the site are not…
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OJ Simpson Paroled, Still Faces Up to 4 Years
The Associated Press is reporting that O.J. Simpson has been granted parole on some of his 2008 convictions for the kidnapping and armed robbery of two sports-memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room. But the former football great won’t be released anytime soon. He still has to serve at least four more years on…
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Zimmerman Caught Speeding in Texas, Had Firearm
George Zimmerman was stopped for speeding at an undisclosed rate on Sunday in Forney, Texas, TMZ reports. During the five-minute stop, he informed officers that he had a firearm in his glove compartment, according to the report. A description of the weapon was not disclosed. Zimmerman was speeding in Forney, Texas on Sunday, just after…
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Trayvon's Hoodie to Be Displayed in Museum?
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, currently under construction in Washington, D.C., has expressed interest in ultimately acquiring one of the most iconic symbols of the Trayvon Martin movement: the hoodie Trayvon wore the night he was gunned down by George Zimmerman. It’s a move that the Rev. Al Sharpton would support,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
