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The Problem With Black History Month
The Root DC‘s Clinton Yates says that the annual acknowledgment of African-American contributions hasn’t lost its purpose, but it has lost its way. … And now that we’ve seen the United States’s first president of color sworn in for the second time and our first black gymnast win the women’s all-around competition at the Olympics,…
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Obama Presses Case for Gun Measures
Obama presses case for gun measures: “The only way we can reduce gun violence in this country is if the American people decide it’s important,” the president said to a group of police officers and sheriff’s deputies at the Minneapolis Police Department Special Operations Center on Monday. He was there to press his case for…
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Michelle Williams on 'Fela!' and Depression
Michelle Williams was one-third of the Destiny’s Child reunion that helped steal Sunday night’s Super Bowl halftime show, but that was just a diversion for the singer, who’s now recording solo material as well as performing up to eight shows a week in Broadway’s Fela! Rolling Out spoke to her about the project that she…
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Google a 'Black' Name, Get an Arrest Ad?
Pop a name into Google and you’re likely to end up with corresponding advertisements alongside your results. Wild guess which types of names are more likely to yield arrest-related ads suggesting that the person searched for has a record. You got it — according to a Harvard University paper reported in MIT Technology Review on…
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Obama: Boy Scouts Should Allow Gay Members
In his first public comment since the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would consider a proposal to allow gay members, President Obama — who, like every president, is the honorary president of the group — weighed in on Sunday, encouraging the group to be inclusive, the Huffington Post reports. “My attitude is that…
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Is Dating Younger Men the New Trend for Women?
Feminista Jones writes at Ebony that there seems to be a trend developing of women dating younger men. Just look at Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. The AARP conducted a study that showed 34% of women over age 40 have dated younger men, and 35% preferred it to dating older men. In the last…
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Why Was Cotton 'King'?
(The Root) — 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro No. 17: How much did the cotton industry shape American history and the lives of enslaved Africans? “C” stands for Cotton. Its beautiful bolls, And bales of rich value, the Master controls. Of “mud-stills” he prates, and would haughtily bring The world to acknowledge that “Cotton is King.”…
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Why Steroid Use Probably Won't Ever Stop
In the shadow of Sunday’s Super Bowl, Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis has received a lot of press surrounding a questionable spray he may have used to heal an injury faster than usual. Times-Picayune columnist Jarvis DeBerry writes that whether or not Lewis used an illegal substance, the conversation does illuminate a larger issue. If you’re…
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In the War on Guns, Let's Not Repeat History
President Obama’s gun-control legislation could have unintended negative effects, writes Inimai M. Chettiar in the Nation. Lawmakers have to be aware of the power they wield and learn from past missteps. The career of Vice President Biden, who was charged to lead the president’s gun control initiative—is a useful example of the pitfalls of liberal…
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Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
