culture
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It Isn’t Wrong to Take Your Sister’s Child to Get an STD Test
My sister is mad at me for taking her 18-year-old kid for STD testing at the kid’s request. She said I took her “parenting choice” from her. I apologized. Was I wrong? —Anonymous No, you weren’t wrong. But I do get why the mother is mad, although her anger seems misplaced. I’m also glad that…
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Cosby’s Defenders Say There’s a Conspiracy. But Can Someone Explain It to Me?
Let me start by saying two things: First, I love conspiracy theories and am willing to speak for hours as to why, based on sound reasoning and valid arguments, Tupac could, in fact, have faked his own death and is living in Cuba. Second, I am a profound protector of black legacy. I believe that…
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The Price a Cop Paid for Crossing the Blue Line
If you are a “good cop” in the United States who has knowledge of what you perceive to be police misconduct or brutality, yet do nothing, then you are not only perpetuating cycles of mistrust and cynicism in communities of color toward law enforcement, but also aiding and abetting the extrajudicial killing of people around…
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Rain Pryor Embraces Life in Her Father’s Shadow
It’s the early ’70s, and a figure stands, bathed in light, telling jokes, forever changing the landscape of comedy to come. Behind him rests his shadow, this faceless, murky image, left behind, tracing his steps. Shadows are funny like that—these dark images that aren’t quite the original but mimic their owner in shape and stature.…
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Washington State Teen Pleads Guilty to Murder of WWII Vet
A Washington-state teen is pleading guilty to the murder of a World War II veteran whom he attacked in 2013 during what he claims was a drug deal, the New York Post reports. Kenan Adams-Kinard, 17, changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court on his charge of first-degree murder in the…
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Pa. Man Tries to Run Over Police Officers in NYC and Yells, ‘I Want to Kill Cops’
Matthew Christian Cash, a 24-year-old Pennsylvania man with a lengthy rap sheet, attempted to run over as many of New York City’s Port Authority police officers as possible Wednesday night near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, the New York Post reports. Fortunately, Cash’s car missed the officers who were patrolling the tunnel and instead…
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Black Guerrilla Family Group Suspected of Planning Attack: Police
The Black Guerrilla Family, a black revolutionary group founded in prison and believed to be inspired by Marxist principles to eradicate racism, has the Baltimore and New York City police departments on edge after one of its members walked into a Baltimore police precinct “reeking of marijuana,” the New York Daily News explains. The man…
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Watch: Cleveland Releases Footage of Police Tackling Tamir Rice’s Sister, 14
Cleveland authorities have released longer video footage showing the aftermath of 12-year-old Tamir Rice’s shooting death, during which his 14-year-old sister can be seen running to his side, only to be tackled by one of the Cleveland officers, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. “This has to be the cruelest thing I’ve ever seen,” attorney…
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‘Terrible’ Empire Is Still Good TV
Have you ever had a feeling that you knew something was terrible, but you loved it anyway? Like the extra-greasy fast-food burger that you knew wouldn’t settle well on your stomach hours later, but you’d still eat again? That’s the aftertaste of Fox’s new hip-hop drama Empire, created by film producer-director Lee Daniels and Danny…
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Federal Judge Strikes Down Texas Laws on Hair Braiders
A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a set of state laws dictating how hair-braiding stylists could gain certification to teach students how to braid hair was unconstitutional, the Associated Press reports. Isis Brantley, a Dallas hair-braiding salon owner, with the help of the Institute for Justice, filed the federal lawsuit against Texas in…