culture
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5 Things You Should Know About Trevor Noah
When Comedy Central announced Monday that South African comedian Trevor Noah would replace Jon Stewart as the next host of The Daily Show, the collective response around the country seemed to be “Trevor who?” After all, the 31-year-old comic only joined the show as a regular correspondent in December and has appeared three times since.…
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Dear Racists: We Don’t Owe You Our Forgiveness
Last week Levi Pettit, one of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon balladeers who was busted singing a rousing number about anti-black terrorism, held a press conference during which he made a public relations statement disguised as an apology. The sheer ridiculousness of the optics quickly made the spectacle go viral. Oklahoma state Sen. Anastasia Pittman, chair…
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Celebrating 75 Years of John Lewis in Atlanta
“If there were no airplanes, I would have walked across America to be here tonight to sing the praise song to John Lewis,” began Alfre Woodard, the night’s first speaker for the “Portraits of John Lewis: Celebrating the 75th Birthday” festivities at the Tabernacle in Atlanta Saturday. “I wouldn’t have even caught a ride in…
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Tamar Braxton Plays the Saddest Song on a Muppet Piano
I felt like Tamar Braxton’s sister and reality-show archnemesis, Towanda Braxton, while watching the youngest Braxton and co-host of The Real shed tears after complaining how hurtful it is to be compared to a character from The Muppets. Tamar was boo-hooing over two people—Chris Brown and K. Michelle—she opted out of naming for insulting her…
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How Booty Worship Is Killing Black Women
Like many sisters, Wykesha Reid looked in her mirror and longed for a bigger butt. Nature had carved her curves, but she thought that enhancing what she’d already been gifted with would make her even more attractive. Her family says she visited a salon in Dallas for a first, then a second and then a…
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Michelle Obama Delivers Inspiring Speech at Black Girls Rock! Event
Less than 24 hours after attending the 2015 Black Girls Rock! event at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, I’m still in awe of the tremendous inspiration and sisterhood that filled the room. The star-studded event, which occurred against the backdrop of Women’s History Month, was co-hosted by actresses Tracee Ellis Ross and…
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Watch: Destiny’s Child Reunites for Surprise Gospel Performance in Vegas
In a long-awaited move for fans of Destiny’s Child, the group reunited for a brief performance Saturday night at the 2015 Stellar Gospel Awards at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena, according to the New York Daily News. Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland teamed up with Stellar Award nominee Michelle Williams on the song “Say Yes.” The single…
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Civil Engineering: How 30-Year-Old Karen Civil Grew Herself Into a Multimedia Brand
A surname like Civil almost begs to be branded, but life wasn’t always that simple for a Haitian woman who grew up in New Jersey and once dressed in Goth gear and listened to the Backstreet Boys. What started as a way to meet people who shared a common interest sparked an idea that…
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Abuse and Mental Illness Add a Double Dose of Drama to Alfre Woodard’s New Film
Mental illness, still very much a taboo subject in the African-American community, is tackled head-on in the new movie Knucklehead, starring Alfre Woodard and Gbenga Akinnagbe. Seeing black characters dealing with mental-health issues on the big screen is still a rarity. Recently, Fox’s hit TV drama Empire has featured a character who suffers from bipolar…
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‘T-Dogging’ Through The Walking Dead Season 5 Finale
Season 5, a bounce-back season for The Walking Dead, ends this Sunday with a 90-minute finale. The Walking Dead has had its ups and downs but really hit its stride this season, finally becoming the thrilling and complex show all of us who read the comics hoped it would be. But there is still one…