culture
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Baby? Yes. Ring? No. Has Parenthood Become More Appealing Than Marriage?
While a lot of co-parenting situations are the result of unprotected nights of passion that turn into unexpected lifelong bonds, a growing number of women and men are making the informed and strategic decision to have children without the benefit of marriage. Back in 2014, Chris Brown, whose want for a child ruined his already…
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Drake Violates NCAA Rules, Again, by Posing With Kentucky Wildcat Player
Rapper Drake—who clearly is a major sports fan—might want to back up off the young pups, since his presence has apparently violated NCAA rules, not once, but twice, according to the Bleacher Report. The No. 9-ranked Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team had to self-report a minor rules violation involving the rapper for the second time…
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A Story of Perseverance: Hadiyah-Nicole Green Shares Her Path to a Million-Dollar Research Grant
Hadiyah-Nicole Green likens her story to that of The Little Engine That Could. The 34-year-old assistant professor is the first in her family to go to college, let alone earn a doctorate. She’s also broken ground at her alma mater as the second African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Alabama at…
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Whether or Not You Support Bill Cosby, You Have to Admit, His Attorney Monique Pressley Is Pretty Dope
No matter where you fall on the Bill Cosby “Did he or didn’t he?” divide, everybody can agree: His lawyer Monique Pressley is a badass. And choosing her to represent him may have been the smartest thing he’s done since A Different World. But who is Monique Pressley? Besides being the principal of the Pressley…
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Thanks, Obama
While perusing Facebook a few days ago, I came across this ad for President Barack Hussein Obama’s last State of the Union address this coming Tuesday: This is it—President Obama's final #SOTU. Say you'll be watching: https://t.co/W8niWpEVnX pic.twitter.com/NmLWydsePO — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 4, 2016 Typically, I couldn’t care less about these speeches; it’s an…
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Christine Beatty Hopes Reality-TV Show Will Help Her Escape Shadow of Scandalous Affair With Detroit Mayor
Before 2008, Christine Beatty, as the chief of staff to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, was a celebrated strategist with a promising future in politics. That changed the morning the Detroit Free Press published the private, intimate text messages that Beatty and Kilpatrick exchanged on their government-issued phones during their six-year extramarital affair. The fallout was…
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This Dad Has Seen How Brutal the Internet Battles Over Motherhood Can Get
As of this writing, I have two children and a third baking in the proverbial oven. My children are the most beautiful, brilliant, exciting and excitable people on the planet. I love to hug and kiss them, and they seem to love it as well. My son? Making him laugh is often a reason I’m…
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I Can Live Without All This ‘Hashtag Activism’
I’ve enjoyed stand-up comedy since well before I was old enough to be listening to anyone who wasn’t Sinbad. But only recently did a routine actually give me goose bumps for the first time. It was from the coda of Anthony Jeselnik’s Thoughts and Prayers, currently on Netflix: This is who I make fun of…
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Dr. Frances Cress Welsing Saved My Life
I feel like I’ve lost my best friend of 10 years. A friend who knew everything about me, didn’t judge or indict me, just assisted me and helped me absolve my guilt. Dr. Frances Cress Welsing was a statuesque, beautiful, striking woman, always so composed. Dignified. And ready to listen to whatever problems I presented…
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Literary Women Pay Homage to Zora Neale Hurston on Her 125th Birthday
She was born in Notasulga, Ala., but she didn’t like the way her story started, so she rewrote it and claimed Eatonville, Fla., as her birthplace instead. She wasn’t too partial to 1891, the year her mother delivered her, so she remixed it, and for the rest of her life, she took liberties with the…