culture
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Cosmo Was Right: Why the Kardashians Are America’s First Family
“Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.” Of course, this is the iconic line from Commissioner Gordon at the end of The Dark Knight, as the Batman raced away on the Bat Bike, running from the police and also probably trying to catch the Wendy’s drive-thru before it…
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Get Stopped by the Police? There’s an App for That
They were tragedies caught on video. Almost a year ago, Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers within two seconds of the officers arriving on the scene; in April of this year, Freddie Gray died from an injury suffered while in police custody in Baltimore; in the same month, Walter L.…
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9 Foods That Help Fight Breast Cancer
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an observance that is particularly significant for African-American women, who have a lower risk than white women of getting breast cancer but a higher risk of dying from it. While many causes of cancer are environmental—what we inhale voluntarily (e.g., tobacco smoke) and involuntarily (hazardous chemicals), and even excessive…
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ColorOfChange.org Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary
Notables from the worlds of entertainment, media, politics and social justice came together at New York City’s Gotham Hall to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ColorOfChange.org, the social-justice organization. Co-founders Van Jones and James Rucker greeted Selma director Ava DuVernay; Mara Brock Akil, creator of Being Mary Jane; Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards; musician Questlove;…
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Cam Newton’s Fashion Sense: Hot or Nah?
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is getting major kudos for helping lead his team to a perfect 4-0 record with its win over Tampa Bay Sunday. But what he wears to the postgame news conference has become as newsworthy as what he does on the field. His preference for bright colors, crazy patterns, capri pants…
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Interview: The Knick’s André Holland and Clive Owen Talk Season 2 and How Race Relations Play a Huge Role on the Show
Steven Soderbergh has managed to do something absolutely amazing in his Cinemax series, The Knick. Although the series, starring Clive Owen and André Holland, is set in 1900 New York City, the subject matter tackled in each episode resonates with present-day issues. During The Knick’s first season, we were introduced to the bevy of characters…
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Terrence Southern Wants to Fill the World With Black Scientists
What will it take for African Americans to close the achievement gap in science, technology, engineering and math? It’s a complex issue that experts say involves, among other factors, the public education system, poverty and teachers’ unconscious racial bias. So far, the solutions have been elusive. But there’s a consensus that mentorship is a key.…
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Watch: Woman in Labor Does the Nae Nae
A worker at Ob/Gyn & Midwife Associates in East Point, Ga., was delightfully surprised when she went to check on a first-time mom, who was told to do squats in preparation for delivery. Instead of squats, the mom was inching her way down the hall at Georgia Hospital last week doing the Nae Nae to…
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Dear Black Girl: Letters From the Souls of Black Women
How long has it been since you wrote a letter? Not an inbox message, not an email, not a mega-marathon text that breaks itself up into five installments, but a dear-you, love-me letter? The Beautiful Project, a Durham, N.C.-based collective shifting how black women and girls see themselves and how they’re portrayed in the media,…
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How a Fitness Coach Has Kids Logging In to Get Active
We’ve all heard it before. Kids aren’t active enough. Kids aren’t eating healthily enough. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Michelle Obama has fashioned her whole agenda as first lady around this issue. It’s definitely a problem. Fran Dean Bishop, an accomplished fitness coach…