culture
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Mary J. Blige Is Probably Not Going to Win That Oscar, but She Has Already Won Enough (Still Hate You, Though, Kendu)
Call it cynicism spurred by decades of watching artists, actors and other public figures squirm to make the perfect “I just lost an award, but believe me, I’m very happy for the person who beat me!” face in a matter of seconds, but I don’t always believe people when they say it’s an honor to…
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Rooting for Everybody Black: Handicapping the Black Oscar Nominees
With the Grammys behind us, it’s time to turn our collective attention to the Academy Awards. The Oscars are Sunday night, and just like Issa Rae, we’re “rooting for everybody black.” Here’s a breakdown of the black contenders for the gold in this year’s major categories. The news of Daniel Kaluuya’s nomination for his portrayal…
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Meet the Mayor of Miami Gardens, Fla., One of the Largest Black-Run Cities in the Country
“Every night in my sleep, I need you beside me.” Imagine this line sung in the style of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” off-key but with the same amount of confidence that Dion’s golden vocals boast. That’s how Miami Gardens, Fla., Mayor Oliver Gilbert started our interview. Clearly, I was in for a…
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Tracing Your Roots: When Was My ‘Freedman’ Ancestor Freed?
A message board posting listing “freedmen” kin raises questions. Dear Professor Gates: My parents are no longer around to provide answers that will help me to trace my roots, so I hope you can help me. I have traced my father all the way back to my great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother, Hilliard (Hill) and Angaline (Angeline)…
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Watch: Ava DuVernay’s Ultimate Dream Is to Make Room for Other People of Color in Hollywood
Ava DuVernay is no stranger to making history. She’s the first black woman to be nominated for a best director Golden Globe (Selma), she’s the first black woman to win a best director prize at Sundance, and the first black female director to have her film be nominated for an Oscar. And, now, DuVernay is…
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Atlanta Is Back With More of That Weird Stuff
It’s been a minute—a president ago—since Atlanta’s first season entranced us. The show quickly became a career launching pad for its core cast: Far-out buddy Lakeith Stanfield traveled to the sunken place; sometimes-girlfriend Zazie Beetz is in surefire blockbuster Deadpool 2; upstart rapper Brian Tyree Henry got some guest spots on How to Get Away…
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Facts of Life to Living Single: Kim Fields Celebrates 40-Year Career in New Memoir
Growing up on the television screen, notable moments of actress and director Kim Fields’ career are linked to several classic sitcoms, from Good Times to Diff’rent Strokes. Since stepping into the public eye in a 1976 Mrs. Butterworth’s commercial, and her sitcom debut on the short-lived Baby, I’m Back in 1978, Fields has built a…
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Pain and Policy: Why Reparative Justice Is Needed to End the War on Drugs [Retracted]
RETRACTED (6/12/18): This story has been removed because we have discovered it was in breach of our editorial standards. If you’d like to know more, you can read an editor’s note here. A cached version of the story is available here for transparency.
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If White Privilege Were a Sentient Being, It Would Make Sweet Love to This Article in The Atlantic on Gun Culture
I am a proud black man. I am an unapologetic black man. I am a liar. To be black in America is to be an apology. To be a black man is to learn how to make yourself small at an early age. It is to constantly crumple yourself up into something … anything smaller…
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I Think Donald Trump and the NRA Just Solved All That Black Lives Matter Stuff
In the ongoing search for solutions to police brutality and state violence, black America has proposed some pretty outlandish ideas, including police accountability, better law enforcement training and—most radical of all—not hiring racist cops. But the recent debate about school safety and gun control has enlightened me to the fact that the previously mentioned ideas…