culture
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Ky. to Close Juvenile Detention Center Where 16-Year-Old Gynnya McMillen Was Found Dead
The Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice announced on Wednesday that the Lincoln Village Juvenile Detention Center—where 16-year-old Gynnya McMillen was found dead in her cell on Jan. 11, 2016, after four staff members pinned her down with an Aikido martial arts restraint hold—will close in mid-June. CBS News reports that the department attributes the closure…
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Unique Views, Episode 44: White Slavery and America’s White Lies
White slavery. The phrase and even the idea of it sounds funny, but this episode of The Root’s podcast, Unique Views—soon to be called The Haters—is serious. A Handmaid’s Tale, on Hulu, looks at what would happen if, in a futuristic world, women, mostly white women, became indentured servants. Of course, my co-host, The Root’s…
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The Killing of Richard Collins III Is Not a Hate Crime—It’s Terrorism
The death of a young student just reaching his prime is always tragic. The death of a young black man, especially one only days away from college graduation, is an enormous heartbreak. But the death of a young black man allegedly at the hands of a suspected white supremacist, brutally stabbed merely for being black,…
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Sean Hannity Is a Lying, Sick Sack of Stupid
Of all the reasons to loathe that noxious loudmouth Sean Hannity, my top choice is that the Fox News host consistently has the nerve to serve his lavish amount of stupidity with sides of hubris and sanctimony. Shortly before going on vacation, Hannity did an interview with the Huffington Post and pretended that his peddling…
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Tracing Your Roots: My Black Ancestors Were Indian Scouts
Research reveals a Black Seminole family’s continent-crossing migration in search of freedom and battlefield glory. Dear Professor Gates: I’ve discovered that my paternal great-grandmother, Leona July Blanks, was a descendant of the Black Seminoles who migrated with the Native American Seminoles from Florida all the way through Mexico. She was born in April 1900 in…
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Sometimes, Staying Woke Means Staying Away
Waking up to tragedies of some measure has become the norm over the years. Lately it feels as if every day there’s another hashtag created to expose our worst fears or break what’s left of our hearts. I wasn’t clear on what had happened; all I saw were the hashtags floating down the page. My…
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Gina Prince-Bythewood Becomes 1st Black Woman to Direct Superhero Movie
Sony is already creating a buzz for its upcoming film Silver & Black, the studio’s film starring classic Spider-Man characters Silver Sable and Black Cat, by announcing that writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct the film. This announcement makes Prince-Bythewood the first black woman to direct a superhero movie. Prince-Bythewood is known for films such as…
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Nicholas Dean, New Orleans Charter School Principal Caught Wearing Nazi Rings and Appearing on ‘White Genocide’ Podcast, Removed From Campus
Updated Thursday, May 25, 2017, 2:45 p.m. EDT: Nicholas Dean has been fired from his position at Crescent Leadership Academy. “He will not return as the Principal or be associated with Crescent Leadership Academy,” the charter school’s parent group and board said in a statement Thursday. Crescent Leadership Academy Superintendent Tracy Bennett-Joseph confirmed Monday that…
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We Need More Than Self-Care; We Need Healing, Too
Black folks have always faced an existential dilemma in the U.S. The constant drum of violence on our bodies and our dignity leaves an impression on our collective psyche that we too seldom acknowledge. These unsparing conditions leave many black people with a sense of brokenness—about who they are, the direction of their lives or…
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Everything We Need to Know About the 53 Percent, We Can Learn From Watching The Handmaid’s Tale
Why would they vote against their own self-interests? This was the question many of us asked—in anger, horror and complete confusion—after the election of the least competent president in recorded history (thus far). How could they do it? The Rust Belt, “alt-right” and Republican die-hards were expected, but masses of college-educated, presumably politically aware women?…