culture
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#BlackMenLove: We Should Cheer Academic Success the Same Way We Do Sports and Entertainment
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles that were shared in partnership with BMe Community’s #BlackMenLove to remind readers of who, what and how deeply black men love during this final weekend of Black Family Month. BMe is a growing network of all races and genders committed to building better communities…
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Should I Buy My Own Engagement Ring?
My fiance proposed in April with no engagement ring. He wanted to just go down to the courthouse and marry me plenty of times. I’m not a materialistic person at all. Even when we do get married, I probably wouldn’t wear my wedding ring every day, but I want my engagement ring now. My fiance…
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5 Ways Running Can Change Your Life
Most people assume, since I’m a former soccer girl-turned-personal trainer, that I’ve also always been a runner. Not true. Yes, I know, there’s a lot of running in soccer, but running cross-country or track? I wasn’t into that at all growing up. In fact, I found it strange, always thinking, “Where are they running to?”…
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A Father’s Open Letter to His Son About the Power of Love
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles that were shared in partnership with BMe Community’s #BlackMenLove to remind readers of who, what and how deeply black men love during this final weekend of Black Family Month. BMe is a growing network of all races and genders, committed to building better communities…
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Why It’s Dangerous to Say Sandra Bland Didn’t Look Like Someone Who Would Commit Suicide
Can you look at someone and tell that she or he wants to die? In the wake of Sandra Bland’s death, the most vocal reason given for why she didn’t hang herself in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell after being brutalized and arrested by state Trooper Brian Encinia is this: Sandra, who was passionate…
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Top 5 Cities in Africa for Playing or Staying
Though he never got props from the black bourgeoisie for his ambitious “Back to Africa” plan, it’s hard to deny that black nationalist and Pan-Africanist visionary Marcus Garvey was on to something. The Jamaican immigrant who launched the largest mass movement in African-American history just over a century ago—attracting thousands of people throughout the Diaspora…
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Bobbi Kristina Brown: 1993-2015
She lived her life, and now has died, in the spotlight, regardless of whether she wanted to be in it. Bobbi Kristina Brown, 22, the only child from the marriage of music legend Whitney Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown, has died. According to Entertainment Tonight, Bobbi Kristina passed away surrounded by family at the…
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5 Songs You Need to Hear by Rising Reggae Star Kabaka Pyramid
Bob Marley proved that music could move your body and your soul. But it’s been a while since a Jamaican artist truly captivated the masses with conscious music. Kabaka Pyramid is trying to change that. He got a little closer recently with an impressive Reggae Sumfest debut in his native Jamaica. The young lion from…
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Building Community Through Music, 1 Note at a Time
It’s a sweltering Washington, D.C., summer day, but inside Deal Middle School’s auditorium, it is just starting to warm up. Samantha Rios is belting out, in her strong and beautiful voice, the lead of “Indescribable (You Are Amazing, God).” The choir seated informally before Rios, some 64-children strong, chimes in at the chorus, softly at…
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Between the World and Me … and Twitter
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ writing is post-bop Miles. Not liking Ta-Nehisi Coates’ work is Ed Hardy T-shirts. If you are wearing one, you don’t need to say anything else, because I know everything I need to know about you. Thus, critiquing Coates or his work makes you prime for Twitter darts thrown mercilessly by his minions. He has…