culture
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American Racism: From the Hood to the Precinct
Depending on whom you ask, 2 a.m. is counted among the small hours of the day when the world’s respectable are tucked into the sleepy fold where night meets morning. But for others, 2 a.m. is when the air falls heaviest on the shoulders, thick with the threat of chaos. That threat is known to…
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Pokémon Go Is Not a ‘Distraction From the Real Issues’; You’re Just Stupid
Within the last couple months or so, my soon-to-be 8-month-old daughter has been transitioning from her diet of the world’s finest breast milk and the occasional formula supplement to breast milk plus formula plus real, actual food. We started her off with rice pudding (which she tolerates). Then oatmeal (which she likes). Then oatmeal with…
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Unique Views, Episode 3: Keith Sweat. ’Nuff Said
It isn’t every day that the Sanford and Son of podcasts—aka your grandma’s favorite satin bonnet; aka your favorite podcast’s most unknown favorite podcast—gets a special guest. But for this episode of Unique Views, the R&B gods blessed us with the incomparable and legendary Keith Sweat. Keith stayed around for the entire podcast, y’all. Since…
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Deeniquia Dodds: Another Black Trans Woman Was Killed. Do #BlackLivesMatter Still?
Deeniquia Dodds, known to her friends and loved ones as “Dee Dee,” died Wednesday from a Fourth of July shooting in Washington, D.C. On a day commemorating the alleged freedom and equality for all people in this country, Dee Dee, a 22-year-old black transgender woman raised in the nation’s capital, became at least the 15th trans…
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#ReesesRoadtoRio: Brittney Reese Honored at 3rd Annual Shadow League Leadership Awards
Brittney Reese means business, not only as she prepares for next month’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but also in taking her commitment to community service seriously. When she’s not perfecting her long jump, the Ole Miss alum is spending her time giving back. Each year, Reese gives a college scholarship to one male and one…
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MLK Would Never Shut Down a Freeway, and 6 Other Myths About the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter
On Saturday, as protests mounted across the country following the police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed explained the large police presence at downtown protests to reporters: “Dr. King would never take a freeway.” Reed’s claim was historically absurd. Martin Luther King Jr. took many a highway—most famously, perhaps, in…
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Hip-Hop’s Best Year Ever Just Turned 20
It should come as no surprise to most of you that I wasn’t the most popular kid in high school. During my 1995-1996 freshman year, I endured an awkward, postpubescent, pre-growth-spurt phase that had me looking like the love child of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Associate Bob from Demolition Man. Making matters worse,…
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The 10 Types of Hate Mail Every Black Writer Receives
One of the few silver linings from the last two weeks of police-involved violence is that some genuinely brilliant and fearless and incisive and resonate work from black writers has sprung from it. Making this particularly impressive is that they’ve found ways to distill, craft and articulate unique angles and relevant points while still processing…