culture
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Watch: What Does Freedom Mean to the Cast of Underground?
The cast of Underground has to come to work every day knowing they’re about to portray slaves whose main goal in life is freedom for themselves and their families. That is no simple task, even for the best of actors. “We’re not only looking for freedom in Underground; we are still looking for freedom,” said…
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Hampton University President Pens Letter to BET Slamming The Quad for Its Depiction of HBCUs
Since its debut, BET’s The Quad has been the topic of debate for both fans and critics alike. The show, which focuses on life at the fictional Georgia A&M University, seemingly offers a glimpse into life on the campus of an HBCU, but many have said that its portrayals grossly exaggerate what HBCU life is…
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Watch: Black Power and Creative Expression
The video below was published in partnership with Peabody Spotlight, a digital series produced by the Peabody Media Center at the University of Georgia in commemoration of Black History Month. Each part of the series draws from the vast Peabody Awards archives, the third-largest repository of audiovisual materials in the United States. Peabody Spotlight will…
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Dear Oscars: Don’t Do to Moonlight What You Did to These 5 Black Films
Oscar season is upon us. On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will honor what it deems to be the best films of 2016 during the 89th Academy Awards. After two years of #OscarsSoWhite, this year we have a record six black acting nominees, three films with predominantly black…
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White Folks Can’t Just Come to the Cookout Because They Perform Blackness
Whenever a white person does something remotely decent related to black people or black culture—be it displaying basic decency or performing some act with competence—a chorus of Negroes will declare, “They can come to the cookout!” For our new white readers, “the cookout” is essentially what most of us across these United States refer to…
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Whatever Happened to Black Lives Matter?
Have you seen it? According to the laws of physics and the principles of nature, nothing disappears into thin air, so it must be around here somewhere. It was too big and loud to fall between the couch cushions or hide in the closet, so someone must have stolen it. Someone must have found a…
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Unsung: How After 7 Made Grown Folks’ Music in the New Jack Swing Era
It was the summer of 1989 when the R&B trio After 7 dropped their infectious eponymous debut album with the lead single, “In the Heat of the Moment,” a mischievous dance tune about the wonders of lust. Even though that album went platinum and the following two went gold, After 7 disappeared from the scene.…
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Being Mary Jane Recap: Niecy, It’s Time to Grow Up
Mary Jane still isn’t settled into New York City, and we’re still not settled with the splitting between Mary Jane’s and her Atlanta family’s storylines, which added some of the best moments in the past season. It is great to see the family back in this episode of Being Mary Jane, even if Niecy hasn’t…
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Yale University and the Curious Craze of ‘White-Peopleing’
When I was a little kid, my mother forbade me and my sisters to hit each other. Sometimes, however, when we were really mad, we would push each other into a corner, start swinging our arms wildly and scream, “I was doing this first.” We’d inform the person in the corner that they were free…