culture
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Report: KKK Threatens ‘Lethal Force’ Against Ferguson Protesters
As a nation awaits a grand jury decision in the Ferguson, Mo., police shooting case that has divided some Americans along racial lines, members of a Missouri-based Ku Klux Klan chapter have been distributing fliers that promise to use “lethal force” against “terrorists masquerading as ‘peaceful protesters,’’’ Vice News reports. The fliers, reportedly distributed by…
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Judge Orders Father of 26 to Pay Child Support
A 50-year-old man who has fathered 26 children with 20 different women has been ordered to pay child support to the mother of a 2-year-old boy in Arkansas, the Smoking Gun reports, citing court documents. The man, Terry Turnage of Memphis, Tenn., was ordered this month to pay $60 per week to the mother of…
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Def Puppetry Jam: A Black Puppeteer’s Thoughts on the Art
It was a full on rock ’n’ roll concert, the guitarist tearing up a riff enthusiastically, tossing off his bandana to reveal spiky tufts of hair as he wailed into the microphone. The audience cheered, “Yeah,” and whistled and hooted—except the concert grounds were a small section of Busboys and Poets, in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown,…
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Too Poor to Pay for Peace of Mind
Anacostia is a neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., where life spills unassumingly onto the sidewalks in front of barber shops and cafes, churches and liquor stores, schools and small businesses. It’s a working-class community alive with the synergy of folks just getting by, grabbing at pieces of joy along the way. Authenticity is its culture,…
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Watch: Michael Brown and Darren Wilson Encounter Lasted Less Than 2 Minutes
The deadly encounter between Ferguson, Mo., police Officer Darren Wilson and unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9 lasted less than two minutes, according to records obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The dispatch records, obtained under Missouri’s Sunshine Law, provide the best timeline yet for the events surrounding the shooting of Brown, the report…
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Cosby Cancels TV Appearance After Meme Fail
Update: In a prerecorded appearance on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Bill Cosby was joined by his wife, Camille, to discuss a loan of his extensive collection of African-American art to the Smithsonian Museum. According to NPR, host Scott Simon, during the interview, offered Cosby the opportunity to address the allegations that have been swirling in the…
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Judge to Allow Prior Abuse Allegations in Marissa Alexander’s Retrial
In a move that could bolster 34-year-old Marissa Alexander’s case, a judge ruled this week that evidence of prior alleged acts of domestic violence against other women by her estranged husband would be allowed at her December retrial, First Coast News reports. Circuit Judge James Daniel on Wednesday stipulated certain conditions in the ruling, including…
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Student With 4.0 GPA Charged in Grisly Slaying of Newborn
By all accounts the family of 17-year-old Jessica Lynn Brewster, a high school senior with a 4.0 grade-point average, had high expectations for her, and a pregnancy would be viewed as hampering her future. That is why, police allege, the Muskegon, Mich., teen hid her pregnancy from her mother. And when she gave birth last…
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There’s Nothing ‘Real’—or Right—About the Violence on RHOA and Other ‘Reality’ Shows
On Sunday night, Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta returned with a new season, its first since cast member Porsha Williams physically attacked cast mate Kenya Moore during the show’s reunion special earlier this year. With cast and crew looking on, Williams found herself in tears on the floor of the set, restrained by security,…
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From ‘Beef Plantation’ to ‘The Nod,’ Black-ish Keeps Us Laughing About Parenting in the Burbs
The seventh episode of ABC’s Black-ish aired this week, and as the show establishes itself thematically, one of the motifs that it consistently explores is parental trial and error. No matter how many books one reads or advice one stockpiles, parenting requires on-the-job training, and the perils of poor parenting decisions have served as prime comedic fodder for family-sitcom…