culture
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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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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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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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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?…
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#TakeItDown: Lawyers File Federal Lawsuit Against Miss. Legislators Who Advocated Lynching People Who Support Confederate-Monument Removal
Attorneys Charles E. Lawrence III and Michael T. Scott have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of their client, attorney Carlos E. Moore, against Mississippi state lawmakers who advocated the lynching of people who support the removal of Confederate monuments. As previously reported by The Root, Mississippi state Rep. Karl Oliver wrote a Facebook post…
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Vanilla ISIS: The Quiet Radicalization of America’s New al-Qaida
terrorism (n): the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. In an effort to battle terrorism, Twitter maintains a team dedicated to fighting groups that advocate extremism. Since 2015, Twitter has banned more than 125,000 accounts linked to ISIS, or the Islamic State group, The Guardian reports. Both…