culture

President Barack Obama took full responsibility on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday morning for the public beating Democrats took in the midterm elections last week. He noted that government gridlock has added to public perception that the nation’s highest elected official isn’t doing his job. “We got beat. … Whenever, as head of the party, it doesn’t…

Last week an 18-year-old student walked into a classroom to talk with a friend. The substitute teacher overseeing the class at Bartram High School in Southwest Philadelphia told the teen to leave. The student refused. The teacher and the student had a verbal altercation that escalated, and the substitute was pushed by the student, authorities…

As relieved as many are that a kidnapped Philadelphia woman was found alive, the reality is that missing black women are often deemed unworthy of coverage by the media and criminalized by police, their humanity all but ignored. Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, 22, was violently abducted off West Coulter Street in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. We don’t…

It was easy for people to witness former NBA star Dennis Rodman’s handiwork on the basketball court, but some of his latest’s achievements have not been so apparent. That could be one reason the former Chicago Bulls player decided to claim that he helped secure the sudden release of imprisoned American citizen Kenneth Bae from…

In an effort to help build stronger bonds between incarcerated fathers and their daughters, a Miami detention center last week hosted its first daddy-daughter dance, which brought tears, laughter and reconciliation. The Miami Herald reports that the Federal Detention Center Miami hosted the event on Nov. 4 as part of a re-entry program to help…

Lodging complaints over equipment and training standards for the Ebola virus, an estimated 18,000 nurses in Northern California are planning a two-day strike against a major health care organization starting Nov. 11, Bloomberg News reports. The walkout would affect 21 hospitals and 65 clinics owned by Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, said Charles Idelson, a spokesman…

Updated Saturday, Nov. 8, 12:15 p.m. EST: President Barack Obama Saturday nominated U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to replace outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. He described her as a “tough, fair and independent” lawyer. “Lynch has prosecuted ‘mobsters and lawyers and terrorists, and still has the reputation for being a charming people person,’” Obama said…

Tyler Perry took to Facebook Friday to describe a stalking-type incident involving a former employee at his studio in Atlanta, according to the New York Daily News. In the post, called “Scary Situation,” which has since been removed, Perry said a man barricaded himself in an office because he wanted to meet the filmmaker.  …

Members of Jackie Robinson West, the beloved Chicago Little League team that made national news this summer, have visited the White House, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Jackie Robinson West team became a national sensation by reaching the Little League World Series championship game. The team lost to Seoul Little League of South Korea, but…

Across Ferguson, Mo., people are bracing for a grand jury not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, the New York Times reports. And few are expecting peace, the Times writes, if Wilson escapes charges in the Aug. 9 shooting that sparked months of protests, putting Ferguson at…