culture
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Shanice Isn’t Done Singing Just Yet
In the fall of 1991, the feel-good single “I Love Your Smile” set five-octave singer Shanice afloat with a music video in which her wholesome, girl-next-door charm and wide smile fit perfectly with what she was singing about. Although the single peaked at No. 2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.K. Singles…
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Drug Policy Alliance Calls Out NYC Mayor de Blasio for Attempting to Spin Marijuana-Arrests Record [Retracted]
RETRACTED (6/12/18): This story has been removed because we have discovered it was in breach of our editorial standards. If you’d like to know more, you can read an editor’s note here. A cached version of the story is available here for transparency.
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How Shame, Secrets and Sugar Get Between Us and Better Health
The late-night spoons of ready-made frosting were the best. The preteen thrill of sneaking downstairs to the fridge and plunging a spoon into an open can of sweet and creamy vanilla sludge made the treat all the sweeter as it melted over my tongue and then slid down my throat. My parents caught onto my…
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I’m a Grown-Ass Man and I’m Scared to Death of NYC Subways, and I Don’t Give a Shit How You Feel About That
It wasn’t until my fifth or sixth time in New York City as an adult that I realized why it always felt 10 degrees hotter than the actual temperature in the summer and 10 degrees colder than the actual temperature in the winter. (A New York City 80 degrees feels like 90, and 20 degrees…
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Why White People Feel Oppressed, Explained
As our y’all’s Commander colluder-in-chief prepares for his first official vacation (even though he has taken more days off than any recent president, but you know how lazy those people can be), only days after announcing his new Clorox Immigration Plan, the Justice Department’s Jim Crow Affirmative Action Policy and the Muslim Friends and Family…
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Tracing Your Roots: Who Were My Granddad’s Enslaved Parents?
A reader encounters the proverbial brick wall that African Americans encounter in antebellum genealogy research. Dear Professor Gates: Please help me find the parents of my grandfather Frank Lockhart (born July 28, 1878; died March 15, 1968). At some point he married Amanda Standback, but I have not been able to confirm any records for…
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Do You Know Someone Who Died or Nearly Died in Childbirth? Help Us Investigate Maternal Health
By many measures, the United States has become the most dangerous industrialized nation in which to give birth. For black women, the risks are particularly high. Black mothers are three to four times more likely than white mothers to die from pregnancy and childbirth. They’re twice as likely to nearly die from complications such as…
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Color of Climate: Is Climate Change Gentrifying Miami’s Black Neighborhoods?
Paulette Richards has lived in Liberty City for almost 40 years. In that time, the 57-year-old community organizer has seen some things in the close-knit and vibrant historically black community, located in northwest Miami-Dade County. She’s seen young mothers struggle to feed their babies despite working multiple jobs. She’s seen kids suffering because of a…
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The Dark Tower: Mediocre Marksmanship and Magical Negroes
The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and The Shining are a trio of renowned Stephen King titles turned to film. And they are also leading exhibits for the Stephen King “Magical Negro theory,” the idea that a lone black character is at the behest of white characters and protagonists by whom he’s surrounded. This black…
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An Ode to the Blackest Fruit of All Time
I am not afraid of stereotypes. I know that many of them are rooted in racism and false perception, but I do not concern myself with that. I embrace them. They are funny to me. When a white man says, “Black people are lazy,” all I hear in my head is, “Watch me outwork this…