alabama
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Alabama Sheriff Pocketed Extra Money From Jailhouse Food Funds, Bought $740,000 Beach House
One Alabama sheriff is freely acknowledging that he has been pocketing excess jailhouse food funds—you know, the money meant to feed inmates—in order to buy himself a snazzy, six-figure beach home. According to AL.com, Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin and his wife, Karen, purchased the four-bedroom home with an in-ground pool and canal access in…
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I Got My AncestryDNA Results Back, and I’m About 40 Percent African. I’m Going to Wakanda!
I got my results back from AncestryDNA. About damn time, too. I was like a crackhead, checking my email every single day HOPING I’d get an email letting me know that my results were ready and available, and every day there’d be nothing. At some point, I almost called them like they were holding up…
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Am I Actually a Southerner? An Examination
I was recently profiled for AL.com, the digital outlet for three of Alabama’s largest newspapers: the Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times and Mobile’s Press-Register. During the course of the interview, Roy Johnson, the story’s author, noted that it was interesting that I identified as a Southerner, considering my transient background: It’s intriguing that Jackson so…
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Perfect Music Moments in Black History: Nina Simone’s ‘4 Women’
For a certain segment out there, I imagine that Jay-Z’s song “The Story of O.J.” introduced them to Nina Simone (born Eunice Waymon). The song samples her famous 1966 song “Four Women,” released on the Wild Is the Wind album. For those who were introduced to her through Jay-Z, I’m both happy and sad: happy…
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Court Rules Alabama Town’s School Segregation Too Racist … Even for Alabama
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a lower-court ruling that allowed an Alabama town to essentially segregate its schools, finding that the new school district’s intentions to split from Jefferson County schools were racially motivated and typical of how white people will do whatever it takes when black people get too close. OK…
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This Mom Just Walked Out of Her Son’s Televised College Announcement and I Have Questions
On Wednesday, aka National Signing Day, aka one of the biggest days in college football, aka the day that Midwesterners and Southerners wait for all year, the day top high school players stop dating and make it official with the college of their choice. There are usually cheers and tears and smiles and bitter beer…
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I Have a Problem: I Keep Ending Up at Target
Hi, my name is Panama Jackson, and I’m addicted to Target. I don’t know how it happened. Look—walking into Target to buy some Mucinex and walking out with a blender, some new bedsheets, a hammer and a new backpack isn’t unique. Nearly everybody who walks into Target leaves $100 lighter than expected. At this point,…
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Supreme Court Grants Stay of Execution of Alabama Inmate Who Suffers From Dementia
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for an Alabama death row inmate whose dementia, his lawyers argue, renders him unable to remember the murder of which he was convicted. According to CNN, Vernon Madison, 67, was scheduled to be executed Thursday night. However, less than half an hour before the execution was…
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Alabama High School Teacher Admits to Using Racial Slur Because Students Were Playing Tupac in Class
A teacher at a high school in Alabama was put on administrative leave with pay after fully admitting to using a racial slur during class last week. According to AL.com, Hoover High School Superintendent Kathy Murphy confirmed that the teacher, identified as Teddie Butcher, admitted to using the word “nigger” while asking students to turn…