culture
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ABC’s New Black-ish Strives to Keep It Real While Keeping It Funny
If 2013 was all about “cultural appropriation”—the Grammys, Baauer’s “Harlem Shake,” Billboard’s color vacancy, that damn twerk—then 2014 might just be all about “policing” bodies, respectability … and blackness. Everywhere you look, there are guidelines being open-source administered by all but unfortunately adhered to only by few. So maybe it makes sense that this would be…
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Watch: Pregnant Woman Thrown to the Ground Belly-First by NYPD Officer
Sandra Amezquita was trying to come to the aid of her son, 17-year-old Jhohan Lemos, who was being arrested by police. However, one New York City Police Department officer didn’t take too kindly to her intervention and tossed the 44-year-old, who is five months pregnant, to the ground, stomach-first, before straddling her back, with her…
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Grand Jury: No Indictment for Cops in John Crawford III Wal-Mart Shooting
An Ohio special grand jury decided after days of deliberation that no officers will be charged in the death of 22-year-old John Crawford III, who was shot and killed inside a Beaverton Wal-Mart while carrying an air rifle sold at the store. Special Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier announced Wednesday morning at a press conference that the…
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14-Year-Old Louisiana Boy Fatally Shot by Police
A 14-year-old Louisiana boy is dead after he was fatally shot by a Terrebonne Parish deputy Tuesday night in Houma, La., WWL TV reports. According to the report, Louisiana State Police are involved in the investigation of the shooting. Louisiana State Police Trooper Evan Harrell told reporters that it is still unclear what happened, but…
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Protests in Ferguson After Michael Brown Memorial Burned
A small group of protesters converged on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo., Tuesday to continue the effort to bring attention and resolution to the shooting death of unarmed teen Michael Brown by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. The protest comes after reports that a memorial to Brown caught fire Tuesday, which upset many on…
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Wal-Mart Institutes New Dress Code Workers Say They Can’t Afford
In an effort to spruce up the look of its stores for the upcoming holiday season, Wal-Mart has implemented a new dress code policy and wants its employees to wear collared shirts and khaki pants. But workers say they don’t know how they’ll pay for the new wardrobe, seeing as how they only make approximately $800 a month, the Huffington Post reports. Wal-Mart…
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Ray Rice Scandal Causes NBA to Review Its Domestic Violence Policies
There’s nothing wrong with learning from the mistakes of others, and the NBA is doing just that. Its officials are seeing just how much havoc unclear and lax domestic violence policies have caused the NFL, and so NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has described how the basketball league is getting ahead of the ball and reviewing its…
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Bigen: The Black Magic ‘Solution’ for Male Baldness
Bigen. Pronounced “Beijing.” Sounds almost magical. “Bigen Blackout.” That’s what the hood calls it. A mystical mix of chemicals whipped up and applied to hair, and like magic—or Magic Marker, as it were—beards look blacker, more asymmetrical, and hair looks thicker and fully restored. In a layman’s hands, Bigen is nothing more than semipermanent hair…
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Know Your Rights When Confronted by the Police
In recent months we’ve witnessed the arrests and deaths of citizens after disturbing interactions with police. In one of those cases, a bystander captured on video an incident during which Eric Garner died after being put in a choke hold on a sidewalk in New York City’s Staten Island. And just last weekend Danièle Watts, a…
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Why Every Black Man Needs to Read Charles Blow’s ‘Up From Pain’
Every man in America—particularly every black man in America—should read New York Times op-ed columnist Charles M. Blow’s recent essay, “Up From Pain,” adapted from his forthcoming memoir about identity, sexual abuse and coming to terms with his own identity as a man. Reading it is akin to listening to Nas or Kendrick Lamar at…