culture
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Wynton Marsalis Takes Concertgoers Through a Symphony of Blues
Taking their seats, the symphony orchestra begins with a wave of the conductor’s baton, led by the cheerful sound of the piccolo and the rhythm of the drums—which the program notes is supposed to signify the American Revolution and the birth of the possibility of the blues. On Wednesday night, the Music Center at Strathmore in…
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Selma, Black-Ish, Taraji P. Henson Win Big at NAACP Image Awards
Selma, the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, scored four trophies to command the movie field at the 46th annual NAACP Image Awards on Friday, Deadline Hollywood reports. Selma, a best picture Oscar nominee, won for Outstanding Motion Picture, and David Oyelowo picked up a trophy for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture at the event…
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Serena Williams Returns to the Indian Wells Tournament Unbought, Unbossed and Unbound
Tennis supernova Serena Williams’ refusal to be subdued and modified within the confines of a traditionally white sport has consistently made her a target of bigotry. It was on display in 2001 at the Indian Wells tennis tournament in California. Racist slurs and taunts were allegedly hurled at her father, Richard Williams, amid accusations that…
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Scandal Recap: ‘Where’s the Black Lady?’
How many people does it take to save Olivia Pope? So far it looks like it takes at least one president, one first lady, one former head of B613, one Secret Service agent, one attorney general, two gladiators and a Republican National Committee chairwoman … First things first, though: This Thursday’s episode of Scandal—a show…
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What to Do When Your Fiance’s Baby Mama Wants to Attend Your Wedding
I’m getting married later this year. My fiance’s son is in the wedding and reception, and his mother wants to come to the reception. I said yes to the wedding, but she and I aren’t friends. No hard feelings toward her, I just don’t want her at my reception. My fiance said it’s not a big…
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Black in Amsterdam: Should I Return to the US to Expose My Son to ‘the Struggle,’ or Nah?
Marly Pierre-Louis spotted them out of the corner of her eye. She was sitting on the train in Amsterdam one winter day and did an about-face the second she stepped on the platform so that she wouldn’t have to get a full view of the ridiculousness. “White Dutch people in blackface, curly hair and red lipstick,” Pierre-Louis, a 31-year-old…
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Empire Recap: A Kiss From a Rose Gets a Rise Out of Cookie
In a nutshell: Boo Boo Kitty may find that all that glitters is not gold. On the other hand, she gets a massive diamond from Lucious, so she probably doesn’t care about that rose that turns Cookie into a bootleg gladiator. Tiana has a girlfriend. Hakeem has a stupid attitude. Andre and Rhonda continue to…
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Bobby Brown Told Nothing More Doctors Can Do to Save Bobbi Kristina: Report
Eight days ago it was reported that Bobbi Kristina, the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, was found unresponsive in a bathtub. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was placed in a medically induced coma and placed on life support. On Thursday TMZ reported that Bobby Brown has been told that there is…
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How Reality TV Has Changed Our Daughters
Black girl magic is a magnetic power. It’s the phenomenal-woman effect that draws attention and makes the world watch for us. What we wear. How we wear it. What we say. How we say it. What we listen to, what we watch, what we read, what we buy. Our brilliance shapes trends. Media industrialists who…
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Match Made in Heaven: Black Bachelor Explains Why He’s Looking for Love on TV
Maybe you remember this: A couple of years ago, The Bachelor—ABC’s megahit reality show featuring (nonblack) men, with access to an inordinate number of roses, who were looking for love while the cameras rolled on—was accused of being racist. In 19 seasons of the show, there had never been a black bachelor. There was even…