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14 Films That Matter at Sundance
The Sundance Film Festival kicks off Thursday in Park City, Utah, with a respectable slate of movies that either deal with black subject matters or star some of Hollywood’s top black actors. While at first look the lineup does not seem as abundant as in years past, it’s quality, not quantity, that the festival prides…
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College Sexual Assaults Happen to Women and Men
These horrific crimes affect both sexes, Dr. Elwood Watson, a professor of history and African-American studies at East Tennessee State University, writes in a piece for Diverse Issues in Higher Education. In June 2012, Trey Malone, a junior at Amherst College and a distinguished student both academically and athletically, took his own life after he…
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Does BET Get a Fair Shake These Days?
Very Smart Brothas‘ Panama Jackson asks whether the network is finally giving us what we’re looking for — and whether we even know what that is. A few weeks ago, I got into an argument with a friend of mine who happens to work for what I once dubbed “The Evil Empire”. That company is…
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Will Obama Go for Greatness This Time?
(The Root) — On the day we officially observe Martin Luther King Day, we will also publicly inaugurate Barack Obama as president of the United States for the second time. (He will actually take the oath of office the day before in order to meet constitutional requirements.) Many people, issues and agendas will be clamoring…
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Dating Isn't Dead
(The Root) — “Did you see the New York Times article ‘The End of Courtship?’ over the weekend? Do you think dating is dead, too?” —Y.M. Yes, I did see the article, and no, I don’t think dating is dead, but based on that article, I do think common sense, basic standards and self-esteem might…
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Africa's Albino Models: Fighting Stigma With Beauty
Kris Kross plans a reunion: The duo will be onstage together for only one night, though. Miss out on the So So Def Anniversary Stars concert and risk missing jumping up and down with the backward-clothes-wearing duo for another decade or more. Albino models making their mark in Africa: In the U.S. we have the…
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Crazy Talk: Is Woman Who Fell Through Sidewalk Fat Because of Food Stamps?
Last week a 32-year-old, 400-pound, 6-foot-5 African-American social worker fell through a New York City sidewalk, breaking her arm but avoiding serious injury. There were plenty of mean jokes made on Twitter, but Rupert Murdoch chose a unique angle, Gawker reports, using the occasion to make social commentary about health care costs — and giving…
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Is Recent Attack Ad a New Low for NRA?
(The Root) — I used to think that the National Rifle Association was not only superpowerful but also fairly smart. But since the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., I’ve changed my mind. Hard. After the debacle of a press conference during which NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre babbled on blaming everything besides guns for gun…
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New Sci-Fi With a Twist: An All-Black Cast
Channing Kennedy of Colorlines spoke to Keith Josef Adkins about his Web series, The Abandon, a tale of five black men who leave the city on a weekend camping trip, only to find out via Twitter that aliens have landed back home. Its pilot episode launched around Christmas, fueled by an $8,000 Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign.…
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'The Jackson 5ive' Has Arrived on DVD
(The Root) — Children of the ’70s and in the decades that followed certainly remember the music of the immensely popular family singing group known as the Jackson Five: Tito, Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and, of course, Michael. The brothers are perhaps lesser known for having their own cartoon series, Jackson 5ive. On Jan. 15, DreamWorks…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
