culture
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Al Jarreau, a Unique Musical Stylist, Dead at 76
Renowned for his unique vocal style and musical expressiveness, Al Jarreau died Sunday, Feb. 12, at the age of 76, just a week after being admitted to the hospital for exhaustion. The seven-time Grammy Award winner was the second vocalist in music history to receive the coveted award in three categories: jazz, pop and R&B.…
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The Black Viewer’s Guide to the Grammys
Stuck between the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, the Grammys have always seemed like the red-headed stepchild of the awards season. But I always look forward to the Grammys because the show always seems less uptight than awards shows that focus on movies and TV, and it’s also a chance to see some of…
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The Greatest Love of All: Remembering Whitney
I can’t exactly remember what I was doing at 8:22 p.m. on Feb. 11, 2012, but according to Facebook, that’s the exact time I found out Whitney Houston died. As a girl growing up in New Jersey, not too far from where Houston grew up, we took pride in her being one of Jersey’s own.…
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Stop Pretending to Be Shocked at Homophobia in the Black Community
Do you remember how shocked white people acted a couple of years ago when a video surfaced of a group of Sigma Alpha Epsilon members at the University of Oklahoma chanting about how they’d never let a “nigger” into their fraternity? Can you recollect how Caucasians publicly caught the vapors when they heard the audio…
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Did Vogue Use a Brown-Paper-Bag Test for Its New Group Cover?
For those unfamiliar, the “paper-bag test” was a tactic used by certain African-American social organizations, fraternities and even churches to keep dark-skinned people out. The saying is that if you were darker than a brown paper bag, then you had no place in said organization. As has been the case for some time, lighter skin…
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Sean Duffy Has Been Trash Since The Real World: Boston, so Why Does CNN Keep Booking Him?
Long before there was a racist, practically brainless U.S. president whose previous greatest claim to fame was being the host of a reality show, there was Sean Duffy. For those of us who remember MTV’s The Real World before season 97 or whatever number they’re on now, Duffy was on season 5 of the legendary…
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Baduizm Turns 20: What Made It So Great?
Exactly 20 years ago, on Feb. 11, 1997, singer Erykah Badu released Baduizm, an album the world didn’t know it needed. The R&B landscape at the time, full of pixie cuts and power ballads, emphasized polish, with divas like Whitney and Mariah, and R&B princesses like Brandy and Monica. In floats the ethereal Miss Erykah…
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Got a Sunny D Zedong Supporter or Someone Almost as Stupid in Your Life? Dump ’Em
After 22 years of marriage, Gayle McCormick was suddenly no longer caught up in the rapture of love with her husband. McCormick is 73, a retired prison guard and a self-described “Democrat leaning toward socialist.” In other words, she is Bernie Sanders with a vagina. So when the ultraliberal Dorothy Zbornak found out that her…
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Unique Views, Episode 30: Home Alone
When I was growing up and my mom didn’t feel like cooking, she would tell us to go in there and fix something, which was really code for: “I don’t want to cook and/or we don’t have any food.” Well, Danielle Young, aka Patti LaDanielle, and I lovingly say to our loyal listeners, “Go in…
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Watch: What Would the Characters From Underground Say to President Trump?
The 45th president of the Unites States of America, Donald Trump, is a lot of things. So many venomous words come to mind. But I’m not here to Trump-bash (today). I’m here to shine some light on what we already know: America is changing under his rule, and while many of us protest and speak…