culture
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Ferguson-Inspired Police Course Promises: You Can ‘Win With the Media’!
The St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy is promising to teach officers how to “win the media” in the event of an officer-involved shooting. The class (pdf), which was inspired by Michael Brown’s shooting death in Ferguson, Mo. in August, will be “highly entertaining” and “fast-paced,” with bonus “NO PowerPoint!” The advertisement for the course,…
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Watch This Woman Fulfill Every Unhappy Employee’s Dream
Editor’s note: The video contains language that some may find offensive. Most employees tend to give their employers two weeks’ notice, but Alaskan television reporter Charlo Greene resigned from her job a bit more abruptly … and publicly. According to Raw Story, the KTVA-TV reporter was reporting on the Alaska Cannabis Club during Sunday night’s broadcast when…
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Adrian Peterson Believes He Will Play Again With Vikings: Report
While the NFL and the state of Texas are deciding how many books to throw at Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson if he’s convicted of child-abuse charges, sources tell ESPN that Peterson has yet to fully grasp the enormity of his situation and still believes that there’s a chance he may play football again…
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Meet the 11-Year-Old Who Could Change Ferguson and Possibly the World
Last month Ferguson, Mo., was in full uproar after a police officer shot an unarmed teen. People protested. Cops wore military gear and threw tear gas. The nation was on notice. Marquis Govan, 11, dressed in khakis and a white dress shirt, appeared before the St. Louis County Council last month and told its members…
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Judge Faith Is Coming to a Television Near You
There’s a new judge set to rule, and her name is Faith Jenkins. Her show, Judge Faith, follows a long history of diversity in reality courtroom series. The popular shows have blazed trails by having black men and women at the forefront. Though blacks make up 6-8 percent of all judges in the American legal system,…
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My Sister’s Convicted Killer Was Innocent; 23 Years Later, I’m Still Waiting for Justice
When Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, two brothers, walked out of prison after being wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl 30 years ago, everyone applauded. Everyone, it seems, except for me: My thoughts were with the family of that little girl, Sabrina Buie. I know how it feels to be Sabrina’s…
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Family: Repeated Bullying Drove Fla. Teen to Suicide
Shaniqua Hawkins said her family moved from New York to Florida because her son could no longer endure repeated attacks by bullies, who teased him relentlessly about his size, according to Orlando’s WESH 2. Last week Lamar Hawkins III, 14, had had enough. The Greenwood Lakes Middle School student took his father’s gun to school…
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3-Day Ebola Lockdown in Sierra Leone Incites Fear, Conflict
Despite fear and loathing among some residents, officials in Sierra Leone said Saturday that most of the nation’s 6 million people were complying with an unprecedented three-day lockdown to help combat the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, the Associated Press reports. Some people ran away from their homes, while others clashed with health workers…
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Ohio Man Lands in Jail Over $4 Pizza Dispute
A 30-year-old Dayton, Ohio, man out looking for a late-night snack instead found himself locked up after he allegedly threatened workers over a $4 pizza order, WHIO reports. The man, Keith Stark Jr., 30, allegedly threatened to shoot the owner of Cousin Vinny’s Pizza at 4:15 a.m. Saturday after he became upset about the order,…
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How HBCUs Respond to a Call for Inclusion of LGBT Students
For many who choose to attend an HBCU, the decision is about far more than just academics. Since the first HBCUs opened their doors in the years before the Civil War, they have offered black students an opportunity to pursue advanced studies in a space they can be certain will be supportive, welcoming and inclusive.…