culture
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Alex Haley, Roots and the Enduring Power of Black Myth
Kunta Kinte now joins USS Enterprise Capt. James Tiberius Kirk and Sherlock Holmes in the growing worldwide popular-culture club of the 21st-century reboot. I was shocked to learn that Roots is being remade and will be broadcast Memorial Day on three different networks: History, Lifetime and A&E. A Roots redux astounds me, because the original…
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White Privilege Explained, With Help From Ex-News Anchor Who Lost Her Job Over a Racist Facebook Post
Who is Wendy Bell? Before Wednesday, Wendy Bell was a lead anchor for WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh’s ABC affiliate. Today, Thursday, however, she’s the white Pittsburgh female equivalent of Tommy from Martin. So she’s unemployed? Yes. What happened? A week ago, as a response to a shooting in Wilkinsburg, Pa. (a suburb of Pittsburgh), that left six…
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Empire Recap: Hakeem Takes the Throne
Empire’s midseason finale featured two juicy cliffhangers: the fallout of Hakeem’s deciding vote to oust Lucious as Empire’s CEO and the fate of pregnant Rhonda, who was pushed down a staircase by a mysterious assailant. We got answers last night along with style no-nos, iffy parenting and eye-rolling moments. Let’s go! Investor Mimi Whiteman schemed…
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A Black Environmental Group Joins Native Alaskans in Calling for Protections of the Arctic Refuge
What does a woman who grew up in Oakland, Calif.—the heart of an urban center—have in common with a woman with roots in the remote outskirts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska? More than you think. We are two determined women of color—united by our belief that human rights and social justice are…
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D’Angelo Russell Is an Idiot for Snitching on Nick Young With Secret Video
If you follow the shenanigans of the sports world, there are two stories you are probably familiar with: the WTF-is-happening world of Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and Kehlani, the R&B singer few have ever heard of, and the Instagram photo heard round the world; and, more recently, Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell’s phone…
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Empire Is Back, but Do We Still Care?
It’s been three months since the midseason finale of Empire, which returns Wednesday. The show’s sophomore season hasn’t lived up to the juicy, sudsy, must-watch fun of the first season. The storytelling was rushed, the music wasn’t as good, there was too much weak stunt casting and a focus on dull, new characters. (Sorry, Laura.)…
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The People v. O.J. Simpson Recap: Mark Fuhrman Caught on Tape
Laura Hart McKinney, an aspiring screenwriter living in North Carolina, is watching A Current Affair’s recap of the O.J. Simpson trial when her phone rings. It’s an O.J. investigator, wondering if she will give him copies of an interview she did with Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman. McKinney doesn’t want to help O.J. and…
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The Mint App Is Like That Penny-Pinching Aunt Who Doesn’t Let You Have Any Fun
New Year’s Day 2016 came around just a little under three months ago, and with it, yours truly had, yet again, created a set of seemingly attainable goals for the subsequent 365 days in a feeble attempt to become a fully actualized adult. Some of the list has been fairly simple to execute—for example, I’ve…
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After Violent Attack, India Must Address Anti-Black Racism
The Indian census has not included “race” as a category since the early 1950s. Race might be a “biological fiction” according to geneticists, but the world over, it is a social reality. Racism is a topic Indians have been discussing fervently following the reprehensible attack on a Tanzanian woman by a mob that beat and…
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200 of Silicon Valley’s Diverse Executives and Influencers Meet to Highlight Inclusion-Driven Innovation
Culture Shift Labs, founded by Andrea Hoffman, an authority on inclusion-driven innovation, collaborated with Denmark West, a partner at Connectivity Capital Partners, to bring together 200 senior executives, venture capitalists, innovators and accomplished entrepreneurs of color in California’s Silicon Valley for two days of collaborating, deal making and fostering of game-changing growth. With Google as…