culture
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Remembering the Gifts of Geoffrey Holder
With his death at the age of 84, Geoffrey Holder leaves a legacy of creative genius, from the all-black Broadway production of The Wiz, which he costumed and directed, to his unforgettable “uncola man” of 7Up fame. A towering talent at 6 feet 6, he graced the Metropolitan Opera Ballet stage in New York City…
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Texas Ebola Patient Gets Experimental Treatment
Thomas Eric Duncan will begin taking the experimental drug brincidofovir as his condition grows worse in his fight with the deadly Ebola virus, CBS News reports. The man, who became the first person to be diagnosed on U.S. soil with Ebola, had traveled from Liberia to Dallas to visit family when he began exhibiting symptoms.…
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Jacksonville Jaguars Apologize for Mascot’s Ebola ‘Joke’
Note: It might not ever be funny to joke about a lethal virus responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Florida’s Jacksonville Jaguars are learning this lesson after their mascot, Jaxson de Ville, came under fire for carrying around a Pittsburgh Steelers Terrible Towel along with a sign declaring, “Towels Carry Ebola,” during a Sunday…
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Flash Mob of Michael Brown Protesters Interrupts St. Louis Symphony Concert
The focus of a Saturday-night St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert took a dramatic shift away from classical music when a group of Michael Brown protesters crashed in the form of a flash mob, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. According to the report, after the intermission the orchestra and chorus were gearing up to perform Johannes…
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Patriots Honor Bengals Player’s Daughter Who Is Battling Cancer
In a heartwarming display of sportsmanship both on and off the field, the New England Patriots came out in full-fledged support of the daughter of Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still, 4-year-old Leah Still, who is battling cancer, the New York Daily News reports. According to the report, during the Sunday-night game between the two teams,…
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Watch: Ohio Police Change Story and Arrest Couple During Traffic Stop
A video has gone viral of a couple being arrested for obstruction during a traffic stop in which an Ohio police officer appears to give a series of conflicting stories as to the reason for the stop. On Wednesday, Kathryn Said, 30, of Taylor, Mich., and Andre Stockett, 34, of Huron, Ohio, were driving with…
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I Refuse to Let ‘Daddy Issues’ Hold Me Back
I sat at open-mic night with my martini and my legs crossed, wondering exactly how many poems could be written about daddy issues. It seemed as though at every event I had been to, this one and others, there was some girl onstage spilling her heart out into the mic about the emotions and challenges…
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Study: Raising Expectations Actually Raises Students’ Grades
How do expectations, particularly teacher expectations, affect students in the U.S.? Are standards high enough? Does Common Core, which has been adapted by some states, set the bar too high? These are all questions that Center for American Progress senior fellow Ulrich Boser has tried to unpack in an issue brief (pdf), and there is a…
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The White Church Should Not Be Silent on the Killing of Black Men by Police
I am a Christian and a black man. My wife and I wife attend a majority-white church in central New Jersey. We are not an anomaly. The few majority-white churches I’ve visited over the past several years had significant sprinkles of black folks in their pews. Our faith has served an important personal, communal and…
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Where Ebola Meets Concerns Over Race, Class and the Uninsured
It’s a question that’s left people scratching their heads: How does a fully equipped hospital send an Ebola-infected man home—right after he arrived from West Africa and complained about being sick? Some observers and public health experts are beginning to wonder if there’s an elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about:…