culture

A Detroit teen was brutally beaten by up to 12 students last Wednesday for his $130 Nike Air Force 1 sneakers, commonly referred to as “Uptowns.” According to the Detroit Free Press, some older students at Allen Academy tried to take 16-year-old Willie Wallace’s sneakers sometime last month. Those students and Willie were suspended over…

Philadelphia police are asking for the public’s help finding a 22-year-old woman whose abduction was caught on tape, reports New York’s Daily News. Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was abducted while walking through Pennsylvania’s Germantown neighborhood around 9:40 p.m. on Nov. 2. Security video captured the assailant driving to the street, getting out of the four-door sedan and…

They have served their country and made sacrifices that most of us can never imagine. Some come home with physical injuries, many with emotional problems, and all are looking for ways to move forward with their lives. They are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or serving on duty standing watch over the…

Sometime last year, a Memphis, Tenn., woman drove up to a Goodwill and hopped out of a car. A videotape from the store shows the woman unloading items from her trunk into a cart with the help of a man believed to be a Goodwill employee. The man then rolls the cart inside the store…

The self-appointed military government in Burkina Faso has about two weeks to hand over control of the government to a civilian leader or face severe sanctions from the African Union, the BBC is reporting. The country’s previous leader, President Blaise Compaore, was forced to resign. The military then appointed one of its ranking members as leader of…

“Why are you single?”  It’s the single’s girl most hated question. It’s usually asked as a sort of a backhanded compliment, a way to acknowledge that the person asking acknowledges her awesomeness and is stumped as to why she hasn’t paired off. But it often comes across as a sideways accusation that sounds like, “You…

Comedian Wayne Brady sat down to tell Entertainment Tonight that he has suffered from depression for years, reports Page Six of the New York Post. In an interview set to air Monday, Brady told the show that his battle with depression had long been secret. “People are like, ‘Wayne Brady’s always happy!’ No, I’m not.…

An American citizen attempted to escape a Namibian prison, the Associated Press reports. In 2011 Marcus Kevin Tomas, a Los Angeles native, and another American, Kevin Townsend, were charged with the murder of Andre Hackmair, a Namibian national. Prison authorities say that Tomas climbed a tree outside Windhoek Central Prison and attempted to climb over…

The first lady of New York City says that the New York Post is “spreading lies.” Writing for the New York Daily News, Chirlane McCray says that a Post article quoting her criticism of New York City police Commissioner Bill Bratton for the resignation of black NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks is just false:…

The mother of Eric Garner, the unarmed New York City man who died after being placed in an illegal choke hold by a police officer earlier this year, is denying allegations that she received special treatment from city police officers during an Oct. 21 traffic stop, reports the New York Daily News. Gwen Carr told…