-
Quote of the Day: Zora Neale Hurston on Fleeting Moments
Read the full quote in 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.
-
Who Remembers The Hustle?
(The Root) — There was a time long, long ago (OK, decades ago) when the dance everyone was doing at every party actually required a partner. The Hustle craze took off following the release of Van McCoy’s song of the same name, which hit No. 1 on the charts 39 years ago, on July 26,…
-
Caribbean Nations Seek Reparations for Slavery
More than a dozen Caribbean countries are organizing an effort to seek compensation from Britain, France and the Netherlands to pay for what they call the lasting legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, the Associated Press reports. The Caribbean Community, a regional organization that typically focuses on rather dry issues such as economic integration, has…
-
Voting Rights: Feds Set to Mess With Texas
(The Root) — When Texas’ Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott gloated on Twitter just hours after the Supreme Court hobbled the Voting Rights Act (pdf) — that “Eric Holder can no longer deny Voter ID in Texas” — he had to know that the Obama administration would respond. Attorney General Holder delivered the counterpunch on…
-
President Obama: What Drives His Black Critics?
When President Barack Obama failed to kiss the rings of scholar Cornel West and talk-show host Tavis Smiley in 2008 before entering the White House, he unwittingly touched off a series of invectives from the duo, L.Z. Granderson writes at CNN. … When Obama didn’t accept the invitation to speak at [Tavis] Smiley’s forum in…
-
Juror B29: Zimmerman 'Got Away With Murder'
(The Root) — Another juror from the George Zimmerman murder trial has decided to speak out, and what she had to say really rubbed Twitter the wrong way. Juror B29, identified only as “Maddy,” spoke with Robin Roberts on ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday. The only minority member of the jury — ABC News…
-
Pastor to Parents: Trade in Toy Guns, Stop the Violence
The Rev. Rodney Francis of St. Louis is urging parents to stop buying toy guns for their children in an effort to stanch the number of shooting deaths in the community and change the culture of violence. Michael H. Cottman, at BlackAmericaWeb.com, says that’s not such a bad idea, but parents need to help, especially…
-
Why North Carolina's Voter-ID Bill Is the Nation's Worst
Mother Jones‘ Lauren Williams examines the North Carolina GOP Legislature’s recent revisions to a photo-ID bill. She explains why it just may be the nation’s most onerous and restrictive voter-ID law in recent history. For decades, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 required cities, counties and states with histories of discriminatory voting laws to seek…
-
Rapper The Game Sued Over Instagram
A woman is suing rapper The Game, claiming that he damaged her reputation with a post he made about her on Instagram, Facebook’s social picture- and video-sharing app, the Hollywood Reporter is reporting. He reportedly posted a picture of Karen Monroe, who once worked for The Game as a babysitter, with a caption reading, “Beware…
-
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
