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Quote of the Day: Nelson Mandela on Activism
Read more of The Root’s Nelson Mandela coverage 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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Trayvon, Race and American Democracy
(The Root) — Trayvon Martin’s senseless death and his killer George Zimmerman’s recent acquittal have roused the nation from its perpetual slumber regarding race matters, inspiring nonviolent protests that have run the gamut from old-fashioned street demonstrations to more technologically innovative dissent through social media. It has been an impressive show of unity, the marches…
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Was Zimmerman Right to Fear Trayvon Martin?
It wasn’t racism that caused George Zimmerman to be suspicious of Trayvon Martin, says Richard Cohen in the the Washington Post. It was statistics showing that young black males commit a disproportionate number of crimes. I don’t like what George Zimmerman did, and I hate that Trayvon Martin is dead. But I also can understand why Zimmerman…
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Black Violence: Is There 'Concern Fatigue'?
Adamantly rejecting a claim that blacks “shrug off” killings in our own community, at PostBourgie Gene Demby argues instead that people are simply tired from caring too much. Over at The Root, Keith Harrison resurrects a tired trope. “Where is the outrage in our community about all of those slain blacks, most of whom were male…
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John Lewis: Return the Soul to VRA
(The Root) — In his testimony at a Wednesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing dedicated to how Congress will rewrite a key part of the Voting Rights Act that was struck down in a recent Supreme Court decision, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) pleaded with members to draft new legislation that would prevent efforts to suppress or…
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Limbaugh Seizes Opportunity to Use N-Word
Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh drew strong criticism from black journalists on Wednesday after he announced on the air that it’s acceptable for him to use the n-word because some African Americans use it as slang, according to Media Matters. Gregory Lee Jr., president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said Limbaugh should know…
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Anti-Zimmerman Facebook Controversy
(The Root) — The Internet has seen its fair share of offensive Facebook pages and memes since the trial of George Zimmerman began. There have been Facebook pages featuring Photoshopped pictures of the body of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teen whom Zimmerman was tried for killing; games featuring or based on both Trayvon and Zimmerman;…
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Black Transgender Woman: I Was Feared as a Man
Having experienced both sides of the gender issue, black transgender activist Laverne Cox, in a piece at Advocate.com, describes how people would tiptoe around her and clutch their purses when she was perceived as a man, and how some of that changed when she appeared as a woman. Reactions from black and white people on…
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First Black Italian Minister Compared to an Orangutan
As Italy’s first black minister, Cecile Kyenge has had to put up with an avalanche of racist remarks from her fellow ministers since assuming the position in April. The latest came from Sen. Roberto Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League Party. During a speech to supporters, he compared Kyenge to an orangutan, reports…
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Zimmerman Juror B37 Presses for New Laws
Following a vociferous backlash in response to her interview earlier this week with Anderson Cooper on CNN, alongside news of a possible book deal, now apparently quashed, the woman known as juror B37 on Wednesday released a statement pushing for new laws that she says would have helped avoid George Zimmerman’s not-guilty verdict, CNN reports. “My…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
