• Too Fat to Wear a Bikini? No Way

    Whitney Teal, writing in Clutch magazine, urges women of all sizes to rock a bikini this summer. In a list of five reasons, she addresses issues such as body image and ignoring haters.  2) Because Even If You Don’t Believe #1, You Don’t Owe Us Beauty. Let’s say, theoretically, that I’m wrong: Your body is not beautiful.…

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  • EW Jackson's 'Slavery' Comments and Conservative Voters

    E.W. Jackson’s recent controversial comments against his own race and government programs are a ploy to gain white voters, writes Jamelle Bouie in the Daily Beast. His most recent statement concerns his disdain for the anti-poverty programs passed by President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. During a rally in Newport News, Virginia—just a few miles…

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  • Yes, Black Music Matters

    In the Huffington Post, Grammy winner P.J. Morton takes a look at the depth and importance of black music, with its “untold stories.” It’s the kind of depth found in the music of legends like Stevie Wonder, who happens to be my greatest musical influences. Stevie is the one musician who made me want to…

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  • The Most Influential Black Designer?

    (The Root) — First lady Michelle Obama is credited with turning relatively unknown designers into superstars, the most famous being Jason Wu, who became a household name after she selected his dress to wear to her husband’s first inaugural ball. But she has also helped America rediscover superstars. In 2010 she wore a pantsuit by Stephen Burrows,…

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  • Zimmerman's Jury: What Will They See?

    (The Root) — Meet the jury of George Zimmerman’s peers: no men and just one person who shares his Latino ethnicity. After nine days of painstaking screenings from a jury pool of 500, six women have been seated to hear the second-degree murder trial against Zimmerman, the neighborhood-watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon…

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  • Beyoncé Congratulates LeBron

    (The Root) — On Thursday night, LeBron James led the Miami Heat to its second consecutive NBA title. Today Beyoncé acknowledged LeBron’s royalty with just two words: “Bow Down.” The picture, which she posted to her Facebook page with the caption “Yes Lebron!!” is a nod to the art for her single “Bow Down.” The…

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  • Food Network: Paula Deen Is Out

    One day you’re innocently fantasizing out loud about re-creating slavery, and the next you’re just longing for the days before you had to make awkward, forced-looking, clenched-fist apology videos — and before you lost your job. That seems to be Paula Deen’s story this week. Apparently the racist remarks she admitted making — unique not…

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  • My Slave Ancestors: From Angola?

    (The Root) — “My father’s family just got our African-Ancestry test back, and on our matrilineal side, we were traced to Angola. I was shocked, because I was under the impression that most slaves from Angola ended up elsewhere in the Americas, not in the United States. I’d like to know the percentage of Angolans that…

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  • 15-Year-Old Among 7 Shot in Chicago

    Since yesterday afternoon, at least seven people have been wounded by gun violence in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reports. They included a 15-year-old boy who was hit in the arm and ankle by shots fired from a car, and a 17-year-old girl shot in the chest and back. Another teen was wounded in the Park…

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  • Paula Deen's Apology: What Twitter Expected?

    (The Root) — The water that Paula Deen has found herself in just keeps getting hotter. The popular butter enthusiast released two videotapes on Friday apologizing for using the n-word and telling racially insensitive jokes. Deen admitted these misdoings in a taped deposition as part of an ongoing lawsuit aimed at her by a former…

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