culture
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Was I Wrong to Ask My Husband to Move His Late Wife’s Urn?
My husband’s first wife died. They had two kids. We live in his house. He keeps his wife’s urn in the living room. I requested that “she” be moved, and he and the kids are upset. Am I wrong? —Anonymous So when it comes to relationships, it’s not always about right or wrong. Sometimes it’s…
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How Obama Is Addressing the Crisis Among Boys and Young Men of Color
It was easy to mistake Thursday’s gathering at a New York City hotel for a religious meeting. One panelist, who proudly proclaimed his Baptist-preacher lineage, issued the rallying cry in his opening remarks: “God is good all the time.” But the roughly 200 people in attendance had gathered at the National Action Committee’s panel discussion…
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Poverty Was the Crime in Walter Scott’s Slaying
When 50-year-old Walter Scott was pulled over by a police officer in North Charleston, S.C., Saturday, it was under the guise of a broken taillight. When he fled from that stop, his family said he possibly ran for fear of a warrant out for his arrest over child support. And when video revealed that Officer…
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An Artistic Feast: Jacob Lawrence’s 60-Piece Migration Series on Display in NYC
“If at times my artworks do not express the conventionally beautiful, there is always an effort to express the universal beauty of man’s continuous struggle to lift his social position and to add dimension to his spiritual being.” —Jacob Lawrence, 1970 The opening of the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit “One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration…
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10 Times Scandal Played the Right Song at the Right Moment
In addition to monologues, mistresses and murder, Scandal’s stellar ability to pair a scene with the perfect song is also one of the show’s trademarks. Scandal’s DJs know that, much like the concept behind pairing certain foods with particular wines, pairing an excellent scene with just the right song will significantly enhance your viewing experience. As we…
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How Do We Fix a System That Thrives on Racial Oppression?
The killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed 50-year-old black man fleeing the police after a traffic stop, is the latest example of what appears to be a national assault on black bodies. We are living a national nightmare. The names and faces may change, but the bad dream remains the same. An unarmed black man,…
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Walter Scott’s Death and the Cycle of Contempt for Black Lives
By now, many in America have watched the obscene video showing the death of Walter Scott, shot in the back as he flees for his life from North Charleston, S.C., Police Officer Michael Slager. Seemingly in an instant, eight shots from Slager’s gun turned Scott from a man to a memory. Then the officer added insult to…
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Being Mary Jane Recap: ‘You’re Crazy; That’s Probably Why the Sex Was So Good’
Mary Jane Paul does not want to win. I’m all for women dating multiple men so as not to put all the proverbial eggs in one basket, but M.J. has Sheldon, who is damn near perfect. Why she’s watching movies and sipping wine with Mr. Cutty Buddy baffles the hell out of me. A woman…
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Traveling in Kenya, Where Signs of Security Battle the Realities of Terrorism
I knew maybe three things about Kenya when my plane landed in Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in late February: The traffic was awful in Nairobi; it was a “party city,” with the good times rolling as late—or, er, as early—as 9 a.m.; and in 2013, the city’s most upscale mall, Westgate, suffered a four-day…
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Gary Dourdan: The Man Behind Being Mary Jane’s Sexy Sheldon
On this season’s Being Mary Jane, the hope for a mature, adult relationship came in the form of Sheldon, a sexy and smart lawyer played by the tall and handsomely sun-kissed Gary Dourdan. Through Sheldon, professional women like Mary Jane rediscovered, albeit very briefly, the art of courtship: late-night phone conversations neither one of you…