culture

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that murders of black teenagers have risen by 39% since 2000-01. The article cites a study realeased by professors at Northeastern University that compares data from 2000-01 with data from 2006-07 in order to reduce irregularities with the statistics. The study defines teenagers as people ages 14 to 17.…

Two major world figures were attacked recently: President Bush and Pope Benedict XVI. The U.S. President and the Pope are famous for the security that surrounds each person 24/7. While neither were injured in the recent attempts, W’s detail was breached more successfully. There’s no way that someone should have been able to throw a shoe at the president…

The Root is saddened to report that Eartha Kitt, legendary songstress, actress and dancer died on Christmas Day. Kitt, 81, died of colon cancer in Connecticut. Her career as a performer stretched across six decades during which Kitt won two Emmies and took on various roles on Broadway and in films. Born on Jan. 17, 1927 in South…

No matter what happens on Sunday, the Detroit Lions have made history by losing their first 15 games this season.  Things don’t look good for week 17 either.  They play at the Green Bay Packers; they haven’t won there in 17 years.  0-16 would be a truly historic level of awfulness—it’s a wonder they didn’t…

In 1969, James Brown graced the cover of LOOK magazine, with the headline “Is This The Most Powerful Black Man in America?” James Sullivan’s new biography, The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul of America, (Gotham Books)makes a compelling case that on one night, in the midst of unspeakable tragedy, he was.…

After 40 years, I still vividly recall the first time the music of James Brown stopped me in my tracks. I was 8 years old and wandering up the long hallway in our apartment on Chicago’s South Side. I heard the funky sounds of “Say it Loud, (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” coming from my…

Is it right to celebrate a holiday for a religion you don’t believe in? I’m not a Muslim, so I’ve never fasted for Ramadan. And because I’m not a Jew, Rosh Hashanah has been little more to me than the annoying nickname my 1st-grade classmates derived from a song in our music class. I’ve also…

Santa shouldn’t have come to my house. At least, in theory. To my mother and father, both immigrants from Ethiopia, St. Nick was always somewhat of an anomaly, an outlandish icon of someone else’s Christmas. As children, they observed the holiday on Jan. 7, like other Orthodox Christians, in accordance with the Coptic calendar. There…

Each year, Newsweek pays homage to those who we have lost in the past year. Buzz would like to echo our partners at Newsweek and take some time out to remember some of our memorable friends lost this past year. As we enter the New Year, we would like to remember Bo Diddley (Dec. 30,…

To most Americans (i.e. not Bernie Madoff, AIG execs., etc) the dwindling value of the dollar has been nerve-racking, to say the least. It has also had an impact internationally. The BBC reported one country, in which, the dollar might actually be helpful. Zimbabwe is undergoing a “dollarisation,” which seems to be offering some temporary…