culture
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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…
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Scandal Recap: Throwback Thursday
This week’s flashback-heavy Scandal episode, directed by the multitalented Regina King, took us on a journey deeper into Cyrus Beene’s past, starting at his first marriage … to a woman, through his second marriage to James Novak (may he rest in peace), all the way to his latest trip to the altar with Michael the sex worker. We also uncover…
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Your Bestie Slept With Your ‘Friend With Benefits’? Girl, Please
My best friend of seven years slept with my “friend with benefits.” Yes, I have no claim to the man, but I let them both know prior to this incident—after they made out in front of me while drunk—that it made me uncomfortable. They both agreed to respect how I felt. Fast-forward two weeks: We…
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18 Mariah Carey Songs You’ve Probably Never Heard
Editor’s note: This week we’re celebrating the birthdays of phenomenal performers who not only share late-March birthdays but who also have voices that have defined their generations. On Monday we honored the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan. On Wednesday it was the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and on Thursday we celebrated the boss, Diana Ross. Today…