culture
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Selma’s Oscar Snub a Complete Injustice
Academy Award nominations were announced Thursday morning, and noticeably absent from almost every major category was the civil rights biopic Selma, which tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., for equal voting rights. It has been adored by movie critics and moviegoers alike—not to mention the grassroots movement…
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NYC Pilot Program Will Allow Petty Crimes to Stay Off Teens’ Criminal Records
New York City teens ages 16 and 17 who get arrested for nonviolent, petty crimes will be given the opportunity to forgo appearing before a judge and having the citation appear on their record, and instead opt into a “diversion program” that will require them to do community-service hours, counseling or a rehabilitating session with…
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Trial Begins for Former Vanderbilt Football Players Charged With Sexual Assault
Two former Vanderbilt University football players are currently on trial on charges they sexually assaulted a female student in June 2013, the New York Daily News reports. In total, four former football players were indicted, but the remaining two will be tried separately. The victim was reportedly unconscious at the time of the attack. On Tuesday, the first…
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NJ Man Accused of Killing Wife; Search Continues for Body
Kyle Crosby, a New Jersey man accused of killing his wife, had his bail set at $1.2 million by a Burlington County, N.J., judge Tuesday because he is considered a flight risk, Fox News reports. According to the report, prosecutors noted that Crosby—a drug addict, according to prosecutors—fled to Baltimore last week when police were…
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ATL’s Fired Fire Chief Has the Right to Free Speech, but Not on the City’s Time or Dime
In recent weeks, free speech has been a topic at the forefront of fierce debate, both domestically and abroad. From Black Lives Matter protests being called anti-police “propaganda” to French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s Islamophobic and racist images being called irreverent “satire,” who is allowed to say what, and where and when they are allowed to…
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The Hypocrisy of Sorority Sisters Haters
On Tuesday, VH1 decided to bring an abrupt end to the first season of Sorority Sisters, the reality-TV show that has been surrounded by drama since before it even aired. While the show hasn’t been officially canceled, VH1 will air the remaining three episodes of the show back-to-back Friday night. Coincidentally, the move came on…
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Muslim Human Rights Attorney Thanks Don Lemon for His ‘Dumb-Ass Question’
CNN anchor Don Lemon has been widely criticized for asking Arsalan Iftikhar, a Muslim and a human rights attorney, whether or not Iftikhar supported the jihadist group ISIS—also known as the Islamic State—during a live interview on CNN earlier this month. On Monday Iftikhar joined the chorus of people ridiculing Lemon by writing an open letter in which he…
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Decomposed Body Found in Suitcase in Brooklyn Identified as Kansas Native Erica McDaniel
After almost two years, police have finally identified the skeletal remains of a woman that were found in a burned suitcase in an equally burned-out building in the New York City borough of Brooklyn in 2013, the New York Daily News reports. Erica McDaniel, 30, was identified through DNA testing, and her death was ultimately…
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Raven-Symoné Tanned Multiple Times a Week to Be Darker for That’s So Raven
The new documentary Light Girls has revealed another side to Hollywood—that not only darker-skinned women of color have suffered from discrimination when it comes to getting roles, the Huffington Post reports. In the film, light-skinned black women talk about the colorism they’ve seen, noting the advantages and disadvantages that they can face. “I see a lot of…
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It’s On, Floyd: Manny Pacquiao Agrees to Terms to Fight Mayweather
The mega-fight that the world has been waiting for inches closer to becoming a reality now that Manny “Pacquiao and his promoter Top Rank have agreed to terms for a May 2 bout” with Floyd Mayweather Jr., according to ESPN.com. The deal is still being hammered out, ESPN notes, and Mayweather has not yet agreed…