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'Scandal,' Black Women and the Super-Black Mammy-Jezebel
Writing at the Shadow League, Megan Livingston explains why Olivia Pope is a game changer and an everywoman. I do not nor did I ever, care who the mole was, at least not much. I was even a little fuzzy on why it mattered, in part because the act of watching Shonda Rhimes’ newest creation,…
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What Black High School Grads Need to Hear
(The Root) — During a graduation speech this month at Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School in Nashville, Tenn., Michelle Obama told students, “When something doesn’t go your way, you’ve just got to adjust. You’ve got to dig deep and work like crazy, and that’s when you’ll find out what you’re really made…
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10 Pieces of Advice for Postcollege Life
(The Root) — It’s commencement season! Over the weekend, President Obama headed to Morehouse College to deliver what turned out to be a controversial address, while first lady Michelle Obama went to Maryland’s Bowie State University to deliver a widely lauded speech. Scandal actress Kerry Washington spoke at her alma mater, George Washington University, where…
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How the Obama Administration Talks to Black America
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this White House has one way of addressing the social ills of black people — and particularly black youths — and another way of addressing everyone else, writes Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic. No president has ever been better read on the intersection of racism and American history…
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Celebrating Race in the Renaissance
(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Among the panoply of images displayed by the courtly circles of Renaissance Europe, a…
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Enough of Nice-Nasty Christianity
Christians should stop wielding religion as a tool of oppression, write Evette Dionne at Clutch magazine. “The Fighting Temptations” is one of the funniest, tongue-in-cheek depictions of the Pentecostal Baptist church … Though Paulina is a caricature, my then 14-year-old brain couldn’t comprehend how any Christian could be so devious and conniving. Paulina was the…
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She's Homeless or She Got Problems?
Damon Young writes: Like a true Shakespearean fool, Ramsey’s appearance and “commoner” sensibilities belied the wit and bravery he so obviously possessed. And, also true to Shakespearean fool form, an off-hand, matter-of-fact statement made towards the end of the interview ended up being the most memorable (and insightful) thing he said. (Paraphrasing) “If you see a pretty White…
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Report Paints Grim Financial Picture for City of Detroit
A state-mandated report by the city of Detroit’s emergency manager has revealed an expected, if not predictable, set of affairs concerning the financial health of the beleaguered city, with reports saying that costs of retiree benefits take up nearly a third of the city budget, and the situation is so dire that it’s nearly impossible…
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Who Are the World's Social Media Prudes?
(The Root) — In these days of oversharing and TMI online, it may surprise you to know that Americans may not be as reckless online as we think. Private research company Ipsos OTX recently conducted a survey in 24 countries measuring how much information individuals share online, “including status updates, feelings, photos, videos and links.”…
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Wole Soyinka: Push for Nobel Prize for Achebe Is 'Obscene'
Some in the literary world are pushing for the late Chinua Achebe to be awarded a posthumous Nobel Prize for literature, and fellow Nigerian author Wole Soyinka has had enough, The Guardian reports. He says the calls have “gone beyond ‘sickening’ ” and become “obscene and irreverent.” To be clear, it’s not that Soyinka —…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
