brooklyn
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I Went Down a Hip-Hop Rabbit Hole and Ended Up at the Fu-Schnickens Like It Was 1992 All Over Again
As it did for so many folks I know, hip-hop changed my life. I don’t mean in the “It saved my life” way, but when I was introduced to hip-hop, I fell hook, line and sinker into the ocean and never came up for air. I was living in Germany in the late ’80s and…
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John Bunn, Convicted at 14 for a Crime He Didn’t Commit, Is Finally Exonerated. But Justice Still Hasn’t Been Served
At 14 years old, John Bunn went on trial for murder; the proceeding lasted just one day. Accused in August 1991 of murdering a corrections officer, the Brooklyn, N.Y., teenager was convicted by a jury based on tainted evidence provided by former New York City Police Detective Louis Scarcella. Bunn served 17 years behind bars,…
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#VintageShoppingWhileBlack: NYC Lawyer and Daughter Handcuffed After Being Accused of Stealing
Another day, another activity added to the list of things black people can’t do while being black. A black lawyer and her daughter were accused of shoplifting from a vintage store in New York City’s heavily gentrified Williamsburg neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn. The duo were not only accused of stealing but also handcuffed…
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Tracy Morgan and TBS Dedicate Refurbished Marcy Playground in Brooklyn, NY, in Honor of The Last O.G.
Brooklyn, N.Y.’s own Tracy Morgan returned to his stomping grounds at the Marcy Playground on Tuesday to dedicate a newly refurbished basketball court to the community. Morgan, along with TBS, dedicated the court in front of people from the community, the New York City Police Department and the New York City Parks Department. The event…
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NYPD Officers Kill Mentally Challenged Black Man They Say Aimed a Metal Pipe at Them Like a Gun
New York City police officers in the Crown Heights section of New York’s Brooklyn borough shot and killed a man Wednesday afternoon after mistaking a metal pipe he was wielding for a gun. (The “we feared for our lives” excuse is already past its prime like spoiled milk. Watch how they work this.) According to…
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Black Muslim Firefighter Endured Years of Racist and Religious Harassment; When He Spoke Up, He Was Arrested: Report
Another day, another accusation of racism against New York City’s Fire Department. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., a black Muslim firefighter says he was punished by the department for speaking out about the harassment he says he endured for 12 years over his race and his religion. As the…
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Even 21 Years Later, the Notorious B.I.G. Is Still the MC Who Impresses Me Most
“The greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th.” —Canibus, “Second Round K.O.” Every year, March 9 rolls around, and we celebrate through music and reflection the life of Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, aka Biggie, aka the only Christopher we acknowledge, who was gunned down in Los Angeles on…
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Brooklyn, NY, Man Who Doesn’t Drink Wins Nearly $1,000,000 After NYPD Falsely Charges Him With DWI: Report
The New York City Police Department picked the wrong one. In April 2015, Oliver Wiggins was driving through Brooklyn, N.Y., when a police officer in a marked SUV ran through a stop sign and crashed into his car. Still, it was Wiggins who was arrested in an attempt to cover up the cop’s first mistake.…
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PTA in NYC Catches Heat for Using Blackface Photo for Fundraiser Message in the Year of Our Lord 2018
The Facebook post seemed innocuous enough. The parent-teacher association for Public School 118, The Maurice Sendak Community School, in Brooklyn, N.Y., had settled on a theme for its fundraiser: “Speakeasy.” The announcement, posted in January, came with an image broadcasting the date of the event and some 1920s Prohibition-era photos for the themed event. The…
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NYC Woman Sues Former Boss for Forcing Her to Pick Up Dog Feces as Revenge Prank
A New York City woman is alleging that she was the target of a vile prank by her former boss—a retaliative move, she says, for spurning a co-worker’s sexual advances days earlier. The prank, Shanae Johnson said, was intended to humiliate her and involved picking up dog feces from the sidewalk outside Easy Thrift Shop,…