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A Black Woman’s Search for Her Chinese Roots
During their childhood spent in Harlem, retired NBC Universal executive Paula Madison and her two brothers knew they were different. On strolls through their predominantly black neighborhood with their mother, Nell Vera Lowe—who was half Jamaican and half Chinese—their obvious Asian heritage made them magnets for stares and questions about their ethnicity. Madison remembers her…
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Unarmed Black Man, Ezell Ford, Shot by Police in Los Angeles
While the country is still reeling from the news and aftermath of the fatal shooting by police of unarmed Ferguson, Mo., teen Michael Brown, KTLA is reporting that a 25-year-old mentally challenged man was shot and killed in Los Angeles while lying on the ground. His family says he was complying with officers. He was also…
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Miss Black USA: More Than Just a Beauty Pageant
Miss Black Colorado, Jasmine Alexander, is the owner of this year’s Miss Black USA crown and a prize package that includes a $5,000 scholarship and a trip to Africa. But hers wasn’t the only victory in this atypical beauty competition, which was held Sunday night at the Theatre for Performing Arts at the University of…
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What Exactly Can a White Man Safely Say About a Black Woman’s Hair?
So a while ago, I (a white man without much hair to speak of—I trim it to about a quarter-inch guard) was behind a black woman with a magnificent Afro in line at a coffee shop, and I said to her that I really liked her hair. She thanked me very graciously, but I wonder—was…
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The Miss Black USA 2014 Pageant: Photos
Nicole L. Cvetnic is The Root’s multimedia editor and producer. The competition, held Aug. 10, 2014, at the Theatre for Performing Arts at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., featured 25 contestants from across the nation. A distinguished panel of judges chose 26-year-old Jasmine Alexander to be the new Miss Black USA…
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If There Are Good Cops Out There, Prove It
There are no good cops. Yes, you read that right. From where I sit, right now, in this moment in time, in the wake of tragic incidents that have transpired over the last few weeks, there are no good cops in this country. Not when another innocent black man—this time, 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.—is…
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Black Kids Don’t Have to Be College-Bound for Their Deaths to Be Tragic
Another unarmed black boy has been shot down by police. Absorbing the ongoing news of the investigation Monday morning, I listened to eyewitness interviews and looked on as the media flashed pictures of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old gunned down by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer over the weekend. The repeated refrain in so many of…
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Black Female Candidates Face Different Challenges—Some of Them From Black Voters
Black women are often the backbone of political campaigns—making calls, managing offices and registering voters. And we show up at the polls. In the last two presidential elections, the turnout percentage of African-American women was greater than all other demographic groups. In Virginia, for instance, Gov. Terry McAuliffe owes black women, in particular, for his…
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Report: St. Louis Cop Shot Unarmed Teen After Alleged Gun Struggle
Updated Sunday, Aug. 10, 12:45 p.m. EDT: The unarmed teen killed Saturday by a police officer in suburban St. Louis, Mo., allegedly engaged in an initial struggle for an officer’s gun inside a patrol car, officials said Sunday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The shooting of Michael Brown, who was set to start college Monday,…
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Music Videos Slammed for Negative Portrayal of Black Women
A searing new report revisits an age-old concern about the portrayal of women, especially blacks, in music videos, which are engulfed in overtones of racism and sexism, researchers say, according to the International Business Times. The depiction of women in music videos “creates a ‘conducive context’ for violence against women and girls,” the IBT writes…