culture

At first blush, it looks like a familiar ritual in many black homes: A little girl with abundantly gorgeous, kinky-curly coils sits down with her mother/caregiver for a little grooming. Like most little girls, she’s none too happy to be participating in said ritual. So she lets her displeasure show. And that’s when a harmless…

To read an E. Lynn Harris novel was to eavesdrop on the lives of the young, black and fabulous. The, young, black, conflicted and fabulous, that is: Harris made a name for himself chronicling the lives of the beautiful and the buff, men living on the down low, having lots of hot, tormented sex while…

To quote Paul Wall, this has the internet going nuts. And we thought the Jazz and Jewel entrance was tough.

From the Arkansas Times: E. Lynn Harris, the best-selling Arkansas author known for contemporary stories about African-Americans, has suffered a serious health setback. His personal assistant confirmed an unspecified health event, but said she was awaiting word from a hotel where Harris was staying on a book tour before providing further information. UPDATE: Arkansas Sports 360…

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A multiracial group of police officers stood with the white officer who arrested a black Harvard scholar and asked President Barack Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick apologize for comments union leaders called insulting. Officers say they resent any implication that race played a role in Sgt. James Crowley’s arrest of…

From Al Jazeera: More than 40 people, including politicians, officials and prominent rabbis, have been arrested in connection with corruption, money laundering and organ trafficking in the US state of New Jersey. The sweeping investigation, which saw 44 people arrested in raids on Thursday, is believed to be one of the biggest such actions in…

From E!: We’re in the wrong business. Gold-plated pacifiers should be our trade. A day after the all-natural birth of her son, Kelis Rogers has successfully secured roughly $40,000 in monthly spousal and child support from her estranged hubby, Nas. So much for the original $20,000 a month she was asking for—or for the one-time…

Video found on Jack and Jill Politics The following was featured in CNN’s ‘Crime and Punishment’ segment of ‘Black in America 2’ last night.

From Al Jazeera: Five men have been jailed in Burundi for murdering African albinos and selling their body parts to witch doctors. The leader of the gang was jailed for life at a court in Burundi’s eastern Ruyigi province on Thursday after being found guilty of planning and carrying out the killings. Four others were sentenced to…