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Writing Black History With Scissors
(Special to The Root) — William Henry Dorsey never imagined that there would be a National Scrapbooking Day (May 4), and most present-day scrapbookers have probably never heard of Dorsey. But Dorsey, the son of an escaped slave, was one of the most prolific scrapbook makers in the United States. He was born in 1837…
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The Misguided Missionary Movement to Save Black Babies
Colorlines‘ Akiba Solomon profiles a pro-life effort that she says is fueled mostly by suburban white evangelicals and conservative black men. In some ways, Care Net’s Kansas City operation is neither unique nor new. For nearly 20 years, the evangelical anti-abortion movement has used standalone crisis pregnancy centers to dissuade girls and women from ending…
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Remembering Bravery in Birmingham
In a piece for the New Yorker, Charlayne Hunter-Gault chronicles the day in 1963 when children as young as 6 marched in Birmingham, Ala., to protest segregation. One of the Children’s Crusaders was Janice Wesley Kelsey, who was in the eleventh grade when she was arrested along with hundreds of other students. She spent four…
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Learn the Name Mahershala Ali
(The Root) — When White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett spoofs your television show at the prestigious White House Correspondents’ Dinner, you know you’ve made it. For Mahershala Ali, who plays the wily Remy Danton on the Netflix series House of Cards, it’s been a long road. “I am beginning to reap the benefits of…
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Quote of the Day: Marcus Garvey
Check out another Marcus Garvey quote 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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Major Pro Sports' Actual 1st Openly Gay Man
Jason Collins’ decision to make his sexual orientation public in a Sports Illustrated editorial has been fodder for seemingly endless analysis this week. That’s all still valid, but one assumption behind all the talk about progress, bravery and the origins and remnants of bigotry may be slightly off. According to The Atlantic, Collins isn’t the…
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Not a Shocker: NRA Head Thinks Obama Is a 'Fake President'
Mediaite just dug up this June 2012 video of current National Rifle Association President Jim Porter calling Barack Obama a “fake president” whose entire administration is “anti-freedom.” That’s a lot. When did presidents we disagree with stop being just presidents we disagree with and start being “fake”? Oh, yeah — right around Inauguration Day 2009.…
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Supporters Say 'Hands Off Assata' Shakur
(The Root) — On Thursday, Assata Shakur became the first woman ever to be placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. The reward for her capture is now at $2 million. A former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, Shakur was arrested and convicted of the murder of a New…
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Segregation: Bad for Weathy People and White People
The conventional wisdom is that racial and economic segregation is bad for poor people and minorities who are stuck in “inner city” pockets. But The Atlantic is reporting today on new research finding that segregated regions are actually bad news for everyone because they have both slower rates of income growth and property-value appreciation. The…
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Young Chicago Father Inspired to Invent Pacifier with Built-In Thermometer
President Obama hosted the 3rd Annual White House Science Fair, highlighting the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country, on Monday, April 22. The science fair featured 100 students from over 40 states and represented 45 different competitions and organizations that recognize the next…

