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Prison-Rape 'Joke' About Kwame Kilpatrick's Conviction
Many Detroiters reacted positively to news that former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted in federal court of 24 charges related to corruption during his tenure at City Hall, the Huffington Post reports. He was immediately ordered to jail on Monday. A radio station may have taken things too far, however, when hosts made an apparent…
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Kimani Gray Vigil: Was There Really a Riot?
Did a vigil for Kimani Gray, who was shot and killed over the weekend by police on a Brooklyn, N.Y., street, turn riotous on Monday night? News reports are unclear. The Daily News reports that anger over Gray’s death triggered a riot during which projectiles were hurled at cops, car windows smashed and a pharmacy…
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Next Up on Capitol Hill: Another Budget Fight
In the next fight on Capitol Hill, Jamelle Bouie writes at the American Prospect, Republicans and Democrats are gearing up to release dueling budgets that reflect different views of America’s future. Senate Democrats are set to release a budget this week, the first time they’ve done so since 2009. As always, it will be a…
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How a Black Queen Conceived a White Baby
(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. The image is the first in a series of 10 large canvases by the Dutch artist Karel van Mander…
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Why Liberals Are Wrong on Teen Pregnancy
(The Root) — There’s a scene in the wildly popular TV show Downton Abbey in which a single mother working as a prostitute to support her son is torn between giving him up for adoption by his wealthy grandparents or raising him herself. A well-heeled, well-meaning social activist encourages her to keep the child, saying…
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NYC Tries to Shame Teens Into Not Having Babies
Colorlines‘ Jamilah King issues a strong rebuke to New York City’s mayor for launching an ad campaign aimed at shaming teen moms of color. The ads feature images of babies in various states of distress, accompanied by text explaining how hard their lives will be because of their parents’ age. A 27 percent drop in…
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Why Are 'Frustrated' Black Men in Brazil?
(The Root) — I blame World Star Hip Hop for this latest round of conversation so many people are having — again — about black American men going to Brazil to meet women and throwing American black women under the bus to justify it. I made it through all 47 minutes of Frustrated Black American…
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Essence Magazine Has Lost Its 'Essence'
In a blog post at Black Blue Dog, Dr. Boyce Watkins weighs in on the recent announcement by former Essence Editor-in-Chief Constance C.R. White that she was fired because of clashes over the way her bosses wanted to represent African-American women. He says that Essence lost its “essence” a long time ago. The revelations by…
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Voting Rights Act: Would Congress Reaffirm Section 5?
Congress rejected major changes to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in 2006, but not without a fight: If the Supreme Court rules Section 5 unconstitutional and sends it to Congress to fix, there may be hurdles to overcome in getting it reaffirmed, the Huffington Post reports, especially with a more divided Republican Party…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
