culture

There are two quotes I cling to when it comes to responding to questionable commentary from members of my community. Of course, there is Zora Neale Hurston’s notorious declaration, “All my skinfolk ain’t kinfolk.” There is also my favorite auntie—and, more than likely, yours, too—who always throws out a “This n—ga here” when stupidity greets…

The issue of black participation on trial juries is one with multiple layers of complexity. As a civil rights trial attorney and former criminal prosecutor, I am always disappointed to see the myriad ways in which many in our community attempt to avoid their civic duty of participating in the criminal-justice system as jurors. Even…

I’m 34 years old and I’ve never had an orgasm. I’m a healthy woman. I enjoy intimate relations. What’s wrong with me? —Diane W. There is probably nothing wrong with you! Having an orgasm is not as easy as one might think. One in 10 women have never had an orgasm through sexual intercourse, manual…

A deposition taken this fall in a civil lawsuit filed against Bobbi Kristina Brown reveals troubling new details about her alleged drug use during her final days, according to the Washington Post. Danyela D. Bradley, who lived with the 21-year-old at her Atlanta townhouse, said in a Sept. 24, 2015, deposition that she believed Bobbi…

In the latest update about Raven-Symoné, an online petition is calling for her removal from The View after she intimated last week that a high school student in Columbia, S.C., could have avoided being violently attacked by a school resource officer if she had simply gotten off her phone.    “You are in school, get…

Filmmaker Spike Lee has long been known for his love of New York City. So it was fitting that he became the first New Yorker to serve as grand marshal of Sunday’s New York City Marathon, according to CBS New York. “He was blown away by the fact that we asked him to do it,…

From the mini pope at the White House to President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, some kids’ Halloween costumes this year were downright cute and creative, knocking the traditional Cinderella and Batman getups straight out of the box. Here are a few costumes from around the Internet that will give you a chuckle,…

Named after Rakim from Eric B. & Rakim, the Rakim cut was a box with a part going from the front of the head to the back. It was a very popular hairstyle in 1989, a fact I remember quite vividly because I had one, too. By sixth grade, I’d cut the Rakim off and just had…

A new curriculum based on Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s popular PBS documentary series, Finding Your Roots, received two grants this week: one for $355,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to create Genetics and Genealogy Summer Camps for Middle School-Aged Youth; and one for $304,000 from the National Science Foundation to establish a college program,…

The trope of the black character dying—often first and sometimes even before the opening credits of a horror movie—is so well-known that discussing (and parodying) this trope has become a trope. There is, however, a long history of horror movies featuring black characters as villains and vampires that not only live until the end (or…