culture
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Unique Views, Episode 29: Tony Rock Throws Stones at Everyone
There are certain guests who we don’t want to overshadow with our foolishness. Tony Rock is one of those guests. He’s brutally honest and his commentary is dead on. For one, well before President Trump ushered out “his” blacks and shouted out Fredrick Douglass like he was still alive, Rock urged Patti LaDanielle aka Danielle…
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Birthing My Half-Black, Half-Pakistani, Full-Muslim Son in the Era of Trump
I went into labor 30 minutes after Donald Trump’s election night speech. I have the worries that any new mother would have about raising a child in the era of Trump, where ugliness is out in the open and civility no longer exists. My son was born pink. Not mocha, like his daddy. I really…
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Scandal Recap: Mellie Gets Rocked by That Good-Good and Olivia Is Having None of It
This week’s Scandal episode flashed back and forth enough times to make your head spin, but here’s what we learned: If Mellie and Marcus had a super-couple nickname, it would sound like “malarkey,” which means “nonsense,” which is exactly what Olivia deemed their relationship when she found out about it. It looks like that light…
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Everything You Wanted to Know About the Beyoncé Babies but Were Afraid to Ask
The entire world got a case of the vapors yesterday when word spread that Beyoncé is pregnant with twins. However, there are still some people who are clueless about this situation. If we are to come together as a nation—as the Declaration of Independence states—there are some truths we must find to be self-evident. And…
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Underground Reveals Key Art for Season 2; Get a 1st Look at Harriet Tubman
With John Legend as its executive producer, WGN’s Underground series had an enormous first season, and next month’s season 2 premiere is sure to have fans talking. Especially when gun-toting Harriet Tubman, played by Aisha Hinds, makes her debut. The series released key art for the second season Wednesday, and as you can see, Hinds’…
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#PenceBlackHistory Was Inevitable
After Vice President Mike Pence praised Abraham Lincoln for his contributions to Black History Month, it was inevitable that black Twitter would take Pence’s version of history and run with it. And voilà, #PenceBlackHistory was born. And at this morning’s prayer breakfast, I’m quite sure Pence thanked Aunt Jemima for passing down her bomb-ass pancake…
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Beyoncé Enlisted Poet Warsan Shire to Write Her Pregnancy-Announcement Poem and Dropped a Photo Album
Beyoncé is going all out when it comes to announcing the upcoming birth of her twin babies. On the first day of Black History Month, the Houston singer broke the internet when she announced that she was pregnant with twins by posting a photo on Instagram; but this morning the Beyhive woke up not only…
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For Wypipo Who Have Considered Interrupting When Listening Is Enuf
There are invaluable life lessons passed down through generations of black people like invisible family heirlooms. Some are instilled by parents, experience or society, but the most critical ones are learned through a mysterious black osmosis. The first time I heard “soul clapping,” I knew exactly what it meant and how to do it. When…
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Watch: In Focus With Director Steven Caple Jr., Who’s Set to Write HBO’s Emmett Till Miniseries
Editor’s note: In Focus is a video series showcasing the new wave of black filmmakers. Steven Caple Jr. is the writer and director of The Land, a coming-of-age tale set in Cleveland that tells the stories of four teens who aspire to be professional skateboarders. It is Caple’s first feature and stars The Wire’s Michael…
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A Prayer, Because I’m Just [Censored] Tired
Dear 175-pound, carpenter god-God, Afro-pick-utilizing, banned-from-the-USA Jesus, I’m tired. My feet are weary even though you’ve allegedly been carrying me whenever I go to the beach. Though, I’m saying, they don’t look like Birkenstocks in the sand, is all I’m saying. Royal heathen Kevin Gates is not tired despite having six jobs, but I’ll bet…