culture
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The Day After Cosby Goes Radio Silent, a New Rape Allegation Surfaces
Sexual assault accusations against beloved actor and comedian Bill Cosby aren’t new. However, until recently the star had largely escaped public scrutiny. But in recent weeks, Cosby has been dealing with fallout from a series of allegations as, on Sunday, a new alleged victim came forward with a story of abuse, sharing her story at Hollywood…
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Nominate a Star of Tomorrow for the Young Futurists of 2015
Who are the young black trailblazers in your community? The Root is putting the spotlight on the African-American leaders and innovators of the future, and we want you to help. We are now accepting nominations for The Root 2015 Young Futurists list, to be unveiled in February. Young Futurists are between the ages of 16 and 22 and committed…
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Photos Capture Caribbean Rituals for Memorializing the Dead
Without wishing to sound unduly morbid, death is irrefutably part of life; or, as the poet T.S. Eliot famously remarked in Sweeney Agonistes (pdf), “Life is death.” From classical writers who expounded the notion of dying to African-American novelists James Baldwin and Walter Mosley, much of whose work is permeated by the fear of it, the…
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SNL Parodies Upcoming White House Bourbon Summit
After Democrats were delivered a resounding defeat this midterm election season, President Barack Obama asked the next Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to the White House to hash out their differences over bourbon—a meeting that is still in the planning stages. The offer sparked speculation across the Internet about the potential outcome of the…
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Lawyer: Bill ‘Cosby Does Not Intend to Dignify’ Sex Assault ‘Allegations With Any Comment’
A lawyer for Bill Cosby released a statement Sunday, saying the veteran comedian would not dignify “decade-old, discredited” claims of sexual abuse with a response. The lawyer, John P. Schmitt, released the statement to the Associated Press and it was also posted at the comedian’s website. The statement represents the first comment from the 77-year-old…
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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…