culture
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Nonwhite South Africans Want Land Back Taken During Apartheid
The nonwhite families that were kicked off their land during apartheid say the process to reclaim their land has been too slow, the BBC reports. The policy was called the Group Areas Act, and it reinforced the regional separation of the races. “Among other things, it led to the removal of nonwhites from real estate…
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Parents Claim No Choice, No Voice, in Children’s Education
The key to success in any industry is innovation. That is at the heart of the reform movement that has overtaken public education over the last few years and shuttered public schools that were labeled failing or underresourced. Many of the reformers likely had the children’s best interests in mind, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg,…
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Lawyer for Eric Garner’s Family Accused of Rape
Eric Garner’s family will still get their day in court, but it won’t be with the same lawyer. That’s because the Associated Press is reporting that attorney Sanford Rubenstein has been accused of raping a woman he met at a 60th-birthday party for the Rev. Al Sharpton last week. According to reports, the alleged incident took…
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Watch: NYPD Officer Allegedly Knocks Out Cigarette-Smoking Teen
A Brooklyn teenager was allegedly knocked out by a New York City police officer for smoking a cigarette, the Brooklyn Paper reports. Video footage captured on a cellphone shows the plainclothes officer punching Marcel Hammer, even as he lay on the ground in a gutter trying to protect his face, saying, “It’s just a…
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Watch: NYPD Officer Allegedly Takes $1,000-Plus From Construction Worker
A New York City Police Department officer is being accused of snatching more than $1,000 from a construction worker’s pocket during a stop-and-frisk search in the borough of Brooklyn, the New York Daily News reports. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident, which was captured in cellphone video footage and turned over to…
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Ala. Pastor Tells Congregation That He Has AIDS and Slept With Church Members
A few Sundays ago, a now-former Montgomery, Ala., pastor, Juan Demetrius McFarland, who had led his church for 23 years, walked up to the pulpit and told his congregation that he has full-blown AIDS and that he had slept with church members who never knew his health status. “He confessed to the entire membership and…
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5 US Airports Will Screen Passengers Coming From West Africa for Ebola
Passengers landing at five U.S. airports who come from any of the three West African nations most affected by the Ebola outbreak—Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea—will have their temperatures taken as a way to screen for the virus, the New York Times reports. The screenings, which will begin as early as this weekend, will take place…
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Aunt Jemima’s Relatives Are Suing the Brand’s Owner for Royalties
The images of the African-American women seen on Aunt Jemima pancake boxes through the years go hand in hand with the brand in more ways than one, and that’s why the brand’s current owner is being sued for royalties in a lawsuit filed on behalf of descendants of two Aunt Jemima models, USA Today reports. Descendants…
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Protests Erupt in St. Louis After Off-Duty Officer Fatally Shoots Teen
Protests erupted and Twitter was ablaze after early reports from St. Louis had an off-duty police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a teenager in south St. Louis Wednesday night. Conflicting reports have emerged since the shooting, but police claim that the teen was armed and fired at least three shots at the officer…
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800-Pound Man Fights for Life and Inspires Social Media
Everyone’s fitness journey has a different starting point. Some people want to lose weight to look good in clothes, some are getting ready for an upcoming event, and others may want to look and feel stronger. Larry Evans, 38, decided to lose weight because he wanted to keep living. As the father of a 16-year-old…