culture
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Comedian Hit by Train Denied Disability Benefits
Shortly after auditioning for Saturday Night Live, comedienne Liza Dye fainted while on a New York subway platform and was hit by an oncoming train. The accident, which happened in February, nearly cost Dye her left leg. She spent three months in the hospital and underwent nine surgeries. Now living with her mother in her…
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Man Shot Dead While Taking Christmas Gifts to His Family
Police are seeking leads on a gunman after a 31-year-old man was shot dead in New York City while delivering Christmas gifts to his family, the New York Daily News reports. Rashaun Nicholson was taking a bag of presents to his wife and four children in a housing complex on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on…
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Officer Who Called Michael Brown Memorial ‘Trash’ Faces Discipline
A Ferguson, Mo., police spokesman who called the makeshift memorial to Michael Brown “a pile of trash in the middle of the street” has been placed on unpaid leave, according to Yahoo News. According to the Washington Post, the memorial, which included cards, flowers, candles and stuffed animals, was in the middle of Canfield Drive,…
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Relatives Chases Down Stolen Hearse Carrying Man’s Body
Around 11 a.m. Saturday, a South Los Angeles family was preparing to hold a funeral service for Jonté Lee Reed, 19, at Ebenezer Baptist Church. As the family drove to the church, they received a call from the funeral director telling them that the hearse with Reed’s body had been stolen. According to television station…
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The Biggest Losers of 2014
Some of us will be welcoming the new year more than others—namely those of us for whom 2014 was a complete bust. It was a very bad year if you couldn’t stop “accidentally” saying racist stuff, if you had the misfortune of being stopped by the police or if you traveled to a country with…
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The Root Names 2014 the Year of the Protester
“America never loved us. Remember?” Phillip Agnew, executive director of the Dream Defenders, a youth-fueled civil rights organization formed in response to the 2012 slaying of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, spoke those powerful words Jan. 28 during the 2014 State of the Youth. And the Year of the Protester began. Agnew’s heart-wrenching declaration—equal parts call to…
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Idris Elba’s Modest Reaction to James Bond Rumors
Perhaps one of the best things to emerge from the Sony email hacking debacle was word that Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal suggested that Idris Elba be the first black James Bond. Pascal’s idea, which surfaced last week, has garnered widespread praise from fans of the handsome British actor and haters alike. Conservative talk…
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Key Ferguson Protester Arrested on Arson Charge
A vocal 19-year-old protester who rose to prominence this summer after the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., was arrested this weekend on an arson charge in a neighboring community, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Joshua Williams, 19, was arrested Friday and charged Saturday with setting fire to a convenience store in Berkeley,…
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How to Stop Cuffing Season From Becoming September’s Baby Bonanza
It’s miserable out. It’s cold, there’s barely a ray of sun in the sky, hibernation season is officially under way, and with it the era of hot cocoa, endless hours of Netflix and … oh yes, cuffing. Cuffing season is in full swing. But before you and bae decide to get all cozy and, er ……
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Over 20,000 Mourn Slain NYPD Officer; Cops Turn Backs on Mayor
Thousands of law-enforcement officers from across the nation gathered Saturday at a New York City funeral to mourn the death of an officer who was gunned down along with his partner Dec. 20, the Associated Press reports. A sea of blue uniforms stretched for blocks outside the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens as police helicopters…