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Why Your Mate's Character is More Important Than Money
Let me offer this quick tip to you as a public service announcement: If you desire a truly healthy relationship with someone, focus more on their character than the amount of currency they make or have. It seems that in today’s society, there is a lot more focus placed on income and not enough attention…
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Teacher Made Student Lick Desk Clean?
Note to educators: This is not how to get on your students’ good side during Teacher Appreciation Week. On a serious note, the claims of George and Latonia Spencer, who say that their 10-year-old son was caught doodling on his desk and directed to lick the marks until he gagged, raise real concerns about how…
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Why Black People Don't Care About Royalty
(The Root) — It’s rarely a good idea to make a sweeping racial generalization — ever. But I’m taking a risk and making one now: Most black Americans don’t care about royalty. To be more specific, most don’t care about the British royal family — from Queen Elizabeth to Kate Middleton, and certainly not the…
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Kimani Gray's Parents to Sue NYC
The parents of 16-year-old Kimani Gray, whose March shooting death by two plainclothes New York City Police Department officers set off multiple protests and demonstrations, are planning to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city, the Daily News reports. They claim that officers used excessive force in the fatal shooting and that their son didn’t…
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Malcolm Shabazz on 'Formula for a Public Assassination'
Malcolm Shabazz, the 28-year-old grandson of Malcolm X, was reported dead in Mexico by U.S. authorities on Thursday. As news of his death and reports about its circumstances circulate (some reports state that he was shot, and others claim that he died from injuries caused by being thrown off a building during a robbery attempt),…
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How Twitter Is a New Medium for Storytelling
(The Root) — From dating to finding work to expanding businesses, social media are revolutionizing the way we do things. They’re also changing the face of storytelling. Since Twitter is intended for short bursts of thought that can be encapsulated in 140 characters or less, it may be surprising that it is a great place…
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Quote of the Day: J.W.E. Bowen
Read more about J.W.E. Bowen 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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We Shall Not Be Moved on Economic Justice
(Special to The Root) — “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.” Those were the words of W.E.B. Du Bois in 1903, six years before he co-founded the NAACP to ensure the “political, educational, social and economic equality…
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Kemba Smith's Fight for Felon Voting Rights
(The Root) — In 1994 Kemba Smith was sentenced to 24 1/2 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a cocaine ring. The story of the harsh punishment dealt to a minor player — who admitted to lying and breaking the law for her abusive boyfriend but never used or sold drugs…
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Syria: A 'Red Line' Obama Shouldn't Cross
(The Root) — If Barack Obama is truly concerned with how history will judge his presidency, he will resist the intensifying pressure to intervene militarily in Syria’s horrendous civil war. Instead, he should complete the planned withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Afghanistan and refocus our national energy on reinvigorating the still-shaky domestic economy during…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
