culture

  • Madam C.J. Walker’s Restored Estate Recaptures a Grand History

    Recently I received an email from a young woman who works for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. More or less it read, “Hey, you want to see Madam Walker’s estate?” The Trust, as they like to call it, was hosting a media tour of Villa Lewaro, the official name for the upstate New York…

  • Remember When Black TV Programs Were Angry and Unapologetic?

    When I was growing up in a northern-New Jersey ghetto in the early Afro-picked 1970s, my mom used to take me places in her car. Our radio dial was locked to 1430 WNJR, a soul AM station, and in the afternoons I would hear something at the top of the hour called “National Black Network…

  • Learning Racial Literacy Shouldn’t Be Punishment

    I’m a teacher at a private elementary school that is in a predominantly white area but counts diversity and inclusion among its core values. This year we happen to have a Sri Lankan family and an Indian family who have boys the same age, each of whom is picked up by his father after school.…

  • Miss. Kindergartner Brutally Attacked by Child at School Playground, Mom Says

    One Mississippi mom is demanding answers after she went to pick up her daughter from elementary school late last month, only to find the child’s face swollen and bruised “beyond recognition,” the Huffington Post reports. Lacey Harris, the mother of AvaLynn, says that the child told her another student kicked her repeatedly in the face…

  • Atlanta Cop Accused of Killing Woman He Met on the Internet

    Atlanta Police Officer Tahreem Zeus Rana has been charged with murder in the death of Veronica Woodard, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Woodard was a recent transplant from New York when she met Rana through Backpages.com in the romantic-personals section of the site. Woodard’s body was found burned on Aug. 22 in Hapeville, Ga., and…

  • Human Trial to Start for Ebola Vaccine

    The first trial on human beings for an untested Ebola virus vaccination will begin next week, U.S. health officials have announced, according to USA Today. According to the report, 20 healthy participants will take part in the trial, which will take place at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Researchers are expecting results…

  • 32 Teens Escape Tenn. Detention Center; About 9 Still on the Run

    The Woodland Hills Youth Development Center—a detention center in Nashville, Tenn.—is back to relative calm after more than 30 teens escaped Monday by crawling through a weak spot in a fence, the Associated Press reports. According to the report, two of the teens, who range in age from 14 to 19, were captured almost immediately,…

  • Abducted Ga. Couple Found Shot; Man Dies, Fiancee Fighting for Life  

    Questions remain in the fatal kidnapping of a Decatur, Ga., couple as the authorities continue their search for suspects, WXIA-TV reports. Jeronta Brown and his fiancee, Briana Brooks, were returning home after taking their 8-month-old baby and teenage niece out to eat early Saturday morning. As they were walking toward the house, they were jumped…

  • Rosa Parks Artifacts Sold to Warren Buffett’s Son 

    Artifacts belonging to legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks have been auctioned off for a reported $4.5 million, according to a lawyer involved in the sale, the Associated Press reports. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, run by Howard G. Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, purchased the items that once belonged to the…

  • Man Who Reportedly Killed 3 Relatives Is Hit by Truck While Running From Scene 

    A Florida man who allegedly went on a shooting rampage on Friday, killing three people, might have killed more had he not been accidentally struck by a truck, police told 10 News. According to witnesses who spoke with the news station, George Mason III reportedly shot and killed Jannie Taylor, 81; Ralph Peyton, 29; and…