culture
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Hey, Cam Newton, All Quarterbacks Matter, Except When They Don’t
As we were all mesmerized by the Alpha Kappa Alpha-inspired outfit Cam Newton wore Sunday, I have to admit that I missed the delicious irony of Newton talking about feeling unprotected on the football field. My fraternity brother Bryan Kelly noted that as Newton talked about his unfair treatment, and how he felt that he…
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How Chance the Rapper and D.R.A.M. Helped Me Find My #BlackBoyJoy
I attended a concert earlier this month. Let me rephrase that. I went to participate in an experience. A joyous experience. There were puppets exclaiming, “You don’t want no problems, big fella,” while also proclaiming, “How great is our God,” all within a two-hour time span. This experience is #BlackBoyJoy. When I was growing up,…
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The Best Rap Beefs of All Time
It’s interesting—and somewhat sad—that this decade’s only two meaningful rap beefs have involved attempts to sink the same floating dead body. It started in 2015, when everyone’s favorite manila-folder-complected, suburban Torontonian, Drake, traded “bars” with the somewhat less-meaningful Philly maestro of shout raps, Meek Mill. Though Meek exposed Drizzy for employing ghostwriters—a damning accusation in…
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Charged: The DA vs. Black America and the Mass-Incarceration Movement
For Emmy-nominated producer Shoshana Guy, interrogating mass incarceration and criminal-justice reform is a calling. Under the auspices of BET, her forthcoming documentary does just that. Charged: The DA vs. Black America explores the way in which the United States criminally charges black and brown people, and the societal factors that tend to drive these people disproportionately…
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Blackface on College Campuses Isn't About Freedom of Speech; It's About White Supremacy
It’s Halloween, so put on your seat belts, brothers and sisters, and get ready for an onslaught of racist Halloween costumes coming from white college students who think your humanity is fair game for chuckles. The blackface paint will flow as white students think that smearing it on, along with a sign that says, “Black…
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How an NJ High School Student Is Paving the Way for Young Feminists
Back when I attended high school, there were tons of clubs to join, but had I known then what I know now, I would definitely have started a club that would have changed the environment of the high school. Thankfully, nowadays, there are high school students out there making a difference, like Mickeala Bland. Mickeala is a…
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Black Men Are Judged for Their Hair Texture, Too, Especially in Politics
With the natural-hair movement in full swing, there have been many productive conversations about the political and social expectations placed on black women’s natural hair. These conversations seem to center on the assumptions about black women who choose to “go natural” instead of chemically straightening their hair or wearing weaves, and their involvement in “the…
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When Will We Learn?
You have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have! “Twice as good” is the standard set for generations of black and brown children across America (and beyond), a warning consistently administered in stern but loving tones from parental figures as dissimilar as the fictional Rowan Pope and first…
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Unique Views Podcast, Episode 16: A Beige Brotherhood, Featuring Christopher ‘Kid’ Reid
Danielle Young, aka Patti LaDanielle, aka The Root’s social-content producer, works effortlessly behind the scenes. Sure, she is a powerhouse smooth voice, but she is also a beast in the editing room and proof that prison-release programs work! She is the walking embodiment of class and excellence and online college courses. (From the office of…