bet
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Charged: The DA vs. Black America and the Mass-Incarceration Movement
For Emmy-nominated producer Shoshana Guy, interrogating mass incarceration and criminal-justice reform is a calling. Under the auspices of BET, her forthcoming documentary does just that. Charged: The DA vs. Black America explores the way in which the United States criminally charges black and brown people, and the societal factors that tend to drive these people disproportionately…
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Urbanworld Celebrates 20 Years of Showcasing Black Films While Hollywood Plays Catch-Up
Long before Hollywood entertained modern-day diversity or inclusion conversations, Urbanworld, founded by onetime Motown Records and Miramax Films executive Stacy Spikes in 1997, was already expanding the “urban” landscape in film, pushing beyond racial, geographic and other limits, and freely mixing music and other aspects of urban culture. It’s a mission the festival, in its…
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If Bow Wow Isn’t Black, What Is He?
So, Lil’ Bow Wow … I mean Bow Wow … I’m sorry … Shad Moss says he’s not black. Let it sink into your brain. Just let it sit there. #NotBlack. I expected Bow Wow to say that he was not an actor or a rapper or a TV host. All of those claims would…
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Jesse Williams is Brilliant
Apparently, God woke up one fine mornting and she said you know what it’s a Friday and I ain’t got shit to do. Except it was actually Wednesday, August 5, 1981. On this day I shall give y’all Earth heathens a man. He will be smart. He’s gon’ be famous. And y’all don’t say “woke”…
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Madonna Claps Back at BET for Its Dig After Her Prince Tribute
With bated breath we all waited for Madonna to do a befitting tribute to Prince Rogers Nelson, her “contemporary,” at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. But even before the Material Girl hit the stage, there were (legitimate) gripes that black women, whom the recently departed pop icon championed his entire life, were excluded from the…
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Things I’d Like To See (And Not See) From BET’s Prince Tribute
(Some suggestions for next month’s tribute from a concerned fan who really wants to see BET pull this off) No yodeling from Trey Songz How dare you disrespect the legend by letting Trey Songz vocally tap dance on “Purple Rain.” Please exclude him and other fellow yodelers Jussie Smollet, The Dream, and Chris Brown. Put…
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BET's #NeverForget "N*gga Wake Up" Call To Stacey Dash Is The Blackest Thing That Ever Happened Last Week
It’s been a particularly strong last few days for Blackest Thing of the week contenders. Perhaps the East Coast white-out made us all subconsciously double down on our Blackness, like seeing all that snow outside made us channel our inner Sojourner Truths. I don’t know. I do, however, know that today there are three contenders who…
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Dear Stacey Dash, You Are Fine. I Hate You.
Dear Stacey Dash, You are fine. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I just might hate you. Here’s why: the things that you say make my ass itch. I do not like it when my ass itches. Alas, as I scroll my decidedly Black-as-fuck Facebook feed, you and your recent comments about…
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A Summary Of VSB's Very Good But Not Quite As Good As We Want It To Be Yet Year
Happy New Year and shit, everyone! If you’re reading this, you’ve made it to 2016 (congrats!) and you’ve decided, for whatever reason, to spend at least one second of this year reading VSB. So thanks for that. Since you’re here, I might as well let you know that 2015 was, by every measure, the best…
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On Being Mary Jane And Making The Leap Towards Greatness
I remember when Being Mary Jane first hit the BET lineup. I didn’t love the show, but I also didn’t dislike it. I largely watched the show because of Black Twitter and the tremendous shade tossed the way of Pauletta Patterson aka Mary Jane Paul. Mary Jane was one of those women who never saw a bad…