culture

As the New York City Police Department continues its standoff with Mayor Bill de Blasio over his perceived lack of support, the conversation caused by the police slowdown is providing strong ammunition for critics of overly aggressive law-enforcement tactics within urban communities. At this point, there has been no significant impact to public safety because…

The girlfriend of John Crawford III, who was fatally shot by police in a Beavercreek, Ohio, Wal-Mart store, was killed in a car crash Thursday, according to ABC 22 Now. The news station reports that Tasha Thomas, 26, of Fairborn, Ohio, and 30-year-old Frederick Bailey of Dayton, Ohio, both died in the crash around 3…

In November, New York City-based fashion photographer Andre Perry was in the subway on his way to his SoHo office from his Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, home when a plainclothes officer stopped him at the Union Square station because of his fashion accessory. “Do you know you can hurt someone with this?” the officer, Jonathan Correa, asked…

Revlon isn’t having the best start to the new year, with an explosive lawsuit launched against the company claiming that CEO Lorenzo Delpani made several derogatory comments and believes that he can “smell” black people when they enter a room. But the allegations don’t stop there: Delpani, who is Italian, also reportedly hates “small-minded” and…

Cleveland police would like to give the investigation into Tamir Rice’s fatal shooting by a police officer, as well as investigations into all subsequent deadly police encounters, to an outside agency, according to an Associated Press report. AP notes that Michael McGrath, the city’s current safety director and former police chief, has been in talks with…

My friend asked to spend one night at my place when she came to town for someone else’s birthday. I said yes. She said they would pick her up from the airport and bring her to my house. She asked for my address right before she left. I didn’t text her back because I didn’t…

Lose weight, stop drinking (so much) and recycle! That’s right. It’s time for New Year’s resolutions, and if anyone needs to make a commitment to self-improvement in 2015, it’s everyone in Olivia Pope’s crew. Pledging not to kill, kidnap and/or torture people are obvious choices, but here are a few additional New Year’s resolutions for…

When 2015 arrives with its usual Times Square revelry, you might find one group celebrating harder than the rest: black men. With a relentless string of tragedies and disappointments befalling brothers, 2014 will stand out as a particularly morbid year. Black male deaths at the hands of men in blue hit headlines with dizzying frequency:…