culture
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Chicago Fire Kills 4 Children, Injures 2 Adults
A tragic early-morning fire Monday took the lives of four children and left two adults in critical condition in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reports. The children, ages 6 to 16, were found on the third floor of the badly damaged building. According to the Tribune, the fire spread from an empty second-floor apartment and up…
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Mitt Romney Thinks He Would Have Been a Better President Than Obama
Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney didn’t want to toot his own horn but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to humble-brag during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. Romney said there was no doubt in his mind that he would have been a better choice and a more effective leader than President Barack Obama, pointing…
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Backroom Racism: Why Atlanta Hawks Owner’s Email Is Worse Than Sterling’s Rant
There are two types of racism that we have seen in recent months from the NBA. One is Donald Sterling’s ancient, deep-seated, boisterous disdain that is almost infantile in its delivery. While it is hurtful, it is also obvious and bold. As Chris Rock said of Sterling’s rant, “An 83-year-old white man doesn’t like black…
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Explaining the Underwhelming Reaction When Black Women’s Nude Pics Are Stolen
The following is a sampling of headlines about the recent theft and illegal release of alleged nude photos of celebrities: “Jennifer Lawrence, Others Aren’t Just Hacking Victims” “Kate Upton, Jennifer Lawrence’s Hacked Photos to Be in Art Show” “Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lawrence Allegedly Targets of Massive Celebrity Hacking, FBI Has Launched Investigation” “Celebrities’ Leaked Nude…
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Texas Teacher Who Gave Student Lap Dance Pleads Guilty
A former Houston middle school teacher who was accused of performing an erotic lap dance for a 15-year-old student in February pleaded guilty last week to having an inappropriate relationship with the boy. According to news station KHOU, video of Felicia Smith, the 42-year-old teacher who performed the dance in front of the class, made…
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Maybe My Weird Version of Blackness Isn’t That Weird
Growing up, I always thought I was weird. Even my own mother said so. I was a nerdy black girl who was quiet, shy and introverted; who struggled to find out who I was and to be comfortable in my own skin. For years I felt I had to put on masks of identities that…
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An Educator’s Perspective: It’s Too Easy to Blame Parents When Kids Can’t Read
Every semester I hope things will be different. I hope that when I walk into my English-composition and writing courses, the majority of my students will, at the very least, be equipped with the basics: They’ll know how to write paragraphs, how to read critically and how to comprehend a text in order to form their own opinions…
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Youth Groups Working for Ferguson’s Future
Why hold out for a hero when you can save yourself? When protests erupted in Ferguson, Mo., after the police shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, it wasn’t the black establishment of the St. Louis bedroom community taking it to the streets; it was Brown’s peers. Kids in their teens. Young adults in their…
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‘Offensive’ Email Prompts Atlanta Hawks Co-Owner to Sell Stake
Updated Sunday, Sept. 7, 4:18 p.m. EDT: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published the full text of the email that Bruce Levenson sent to Hawks General Manager Danny Ferry in August 2012. From: Bruce Levenson To: Ferry, Danny CC: Foreman, Todd (ucg.com); Peskowitz, Ed (ucg.com) Sent: 8/25/2012 11:47:02 PM Subject: Re: Business/Game ops 1. from day one…
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Sierra Leone Ebola ‘Lockdown’ Raises Concerns
A proposal by Sierra Leone officials to “lock down” its borders in an effort to contain the spread of Ebola may have the opposite effect as cases are concealed, health experts said Saturday, according to Reuters. The government plans to order citizens not to leave the areas around their homes for three days starting Sept.…