culture
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Spirit Awards Honor Black Actors, 1st Transgender Woman
Yo, Academy Awards, this is how it’s done. At Saturday night’s Film Independent Spirit Awards, which recognize the best in indie films, three of the four acting awards went to black people, with Beasts of No Nation stars Abraham Attah (Best Male Lead) and Idris Elba (Best Supporting Male) winning alongside Tangerine breakout Mya Taylor (Best Supporting…
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As Activists Continue to Use Technology to Fight for Justice, Access Matters
Those advocating for a freer and more just America have always used the latest communications technology to further their aims. In 1841, abolitionist Frederick Douglass launched the North Star newspaper using the advanced communications technology of the 19th century, the printing press, to fight for the freedom of black people. Douglass and the suffragists of…
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Black Skiers and Snowboarders Hit the Slopes in Japan at the 2016 Japow! Powder Party
For the past three years, more than 200 black ski and snowboard enthusiasts have descended on the beautiful, powder-snow-covered mountains of Hokkaido, Japan, thanks to one snowboard-loving African-American professor who lives and works in Japan. The Japow! Powder Party is a great way to experience Japow! and a different culture. (“Japow” is a term used…
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A Lifelong Lover of Books Breaks Ground Atop the Literary World
At 36 years old, Lisa Lucas is a woman of firsts. A little less than four years ago, she was appointed the first African American and first female publisher of Guernica magazine. This month she was appointed the first African American and first woman to be executive director of the National Book Foundation. “The National…
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#OscarsSoWhite 2016: The History of Black Protest Against Hollywood
The 2016 Oscars are just around the corner, and many are still contemplating whether or not to boycott one of the year’s most watched awards shows for failing to nominate a single black actor, actress or director for the second year in a row. There is a long history of protest against racial inequity in…
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Essence Honors Black Women in Hollywood
In a word, Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood event was magical. #BlackGirlMagic was in full effect at the Beverly Wilshire to celebrate the day’s honorees: actress Tracee Ellis Ross (fierce and fearless award), entertainment lawyer Nina Shaw (power award), and actress, director, producer and choreographer Debbie Allen (legend award). On the heels of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, and…
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Donald Trump Proves You Can Do Anything You Put Your Mind to … if You’re a Rich White Man
The concept of the American dream has been an essential—perhaps the most essential—aspect of our country’s mythos since its inception. Yet the phrase itself didn’t become standard until 1931, when James Truslow Adams articulated and popularized it in the book Epic of America: But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a…
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Scandal Recap: Sleeping With the Frenemy
In this week’s episode of Scandal, everyone seems to be up to something, but what? Fitz is “wild-carding.” The episode kicks off with Fitz in the back of his limo making out with his new bae, Lillian, and he’s on his way to second base with visions of third when Abby barges into the limo and tells the…
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Why Aren’t More African Americans Opening Up About Their Mental Health?
Aliya’s turn: A few days ago, I told my mom that I had been “feeling a bit down.” She gave me some words of support and I felt better. But it took me weeks to share that with my mom. And when I did, I played it down so that she wouldn’t know that it…