culture
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Michael Sam Cut By St. Louis Rams
“It was a football decision.” With those words St. Louis Rams coach Mike Fisher announced that defensive end Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL, fell short of making the 53-man roster for the team. Fisher praised Sam’s pre-season performance in which he had 11 tackles and three sacks. According to…
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St. Louis County Officer in Bigoted Video Rant Retires
A St. Louis County police officer, who pushed a television journalist on live television in Ferguson, Mo., and was recently suspended after a bigoted videotaped rant, has retired, the Huffington Post reports. The officer, Don Page, served his last day with the force on Aug. 25, MSNBC reported Friday. A representative of the St. Louis…
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Watch: Fatal Shooting by Off-Duty Chicago Cop Sparks Calls for Justice
Marlon Horton was unarmed when he was shot and killed during a confrontation with an off-duty Chicago police officer last year. And a recently released video recording of the incident has reignited the family’s call for justice, according to Fox Chicago News television. The recording was released in the aftermath of two other high-profile deaths…
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Swaziland’s Royal Family Slammed for Opulent Lifestyle
Swaziland’s royal family has found itself ensnared in the firm grip of social media users who are determined to expose the lavish lifestyle of “Africa’s last absolute monarch,” while most of the country’s people barely subsist on $1 a day per person, Agence France-Presse reports. SwaziLeaks began writing critical posts about the problem almost a…
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$40,000,000 Civil Rights Suit Filed Against Ferguson
It was bound to happen. A group of demonstrators have filed a $40 million lawsuit against Ferguson, Mo., and its police department in the aftermath of days of angry protests that swept through the city this month. The lawsuit, filed by six plaintiffs, accuses police of using “wanton and excessive force” when demonstrators took to…
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The Weight of Words: New Course Tackles Writers’ Impact on Black History
Literature—regardless of how it is delivered, whether in song, sermon, novel, short story, poem or essay—has the unique ability to inform, to uplift, and to shape our opinions and worldviews. At least that’s how James Basker, the Richard Gilder Professor of Literary History at Barnard College at Columbia University, sees it. It’s a crucial point and…
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Black Men: ‘I’m Tired of Feeling Like Someone’s Enemy’
Editor’s note: We began this summer with a commemoration of Freedom Summer 50 years after blood was shed on Southern soil to ensure our inalienable right to vote as citizens of these United States. We end this summer with renewed cries for freedom—the freedom to walk our neighborhood streets without dying, the freedom to pick…
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Black Owners Say Racist Graffiti Was Spray-Painted on Their Chicago Restaurant
According to the owners, Nouveau Tavern is the only black-owned restaurant in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Because of that, they believe, they are being targeted for racially motivated harassment, reports CBS Chicago. Marketing executive Teddy Gilmore told CBS Chicago that the club was vandalized with racist graffiti using the n-word and saying “go home.” WGN…
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Philadelphia Cop Files Police-Brutality Lawsuit
Brandon Ruff, a police officer in Philadelphia, has filed a lawsuit against his own department for assault. According to Philly.com, Ruff says that he was assaulted by seven police officers after he attempted to anonymously turn in three weapons. An eight-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, Ruff is assigned to the 16th Precinct. The…
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The Game, Diddy, DJ Khaled, TGT and More Collaborate on Michael Brown Tribute ‘Don’t Shoot’
Michael Brown’s death appears to be sparking an entire cultural movement, particularly among black musicians. A group of powerful artists—including the Game, Diddy, Rick Ross, 2 Chains, Fabolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beats, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King Pharaoh and TGT—have collaborated on the just-released single “Don’t Shoot” in honor of the Ferguson, Mo., teen…