culture
-
11-Year-Old Chicago Girl Killed by Stray Bullet at Slumber Party
Shamiya Adams’ mother did all she could to protect her daughter and her twin brother. According to CBS News, Shamiya’s mother, Shaneetha Goodloe, was so unnerved by the persistent violence in Chicago that she forbade the 11-year-old and her brother from playing outside, saying that if Shamiya wanted to hang out with friends, it would…
-
Journalist Wins Right to View James Brown’s Documents
While excitement is brewing for the new James Brown biopic to be released this summer, one freelance journalist is more interested in the legal battle over the Godfather of Soul’s estate. According to the Associated Press, a South Carolina circuit court judge has ordered the state’s attorney general to give Sue Summer the documents she…
-
The Rev. Al Sharpton Wants Justice in Choke Hold Death
Four New York City emergency workers who responded to a 911 call after police apparently choked a man—who later died while in police custody—have been put on “modified” duty, the Associated Press reports. According to the Fire Department of New York, two EMTs and two paramedics have been barred from responding to 911 calls after…
-
Vandals Damage Tuskegee Airmen Tribute Statues
They were 13 brightly colored statues of boys and girls wearing aviator goggles, who stood proudly on Chicago’s lakefront. They were called “The Watch” and were Chicago artist Hebru Brantley’s tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, the brazen men of color who flew and fought in World War II. On Sunday, vandals destroyed them. According to…
-
An Open Letter to My White Stepmom
Before I delve too deeply into this, I want to remind you that I do love you. It is because I love you that I am writing this letter. It’s true that in typical teenage fashion, I replaced the sadness of my mother’s absence with resentment for your presence. Still, you’ve never done anything to…
-
Report: HIV Diagnoses Fall in US, Rise Among Some Gay Men
The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that the rate of HIV diagnoses in the United States have fallen more than 30 percent over the past decade, but has surged among some gay men, according to Philly.com. There has been a dramatic 132.5 percent increase in the rate of HIV diagnoses among men who…
-
Watch: NYC Cops Purportedly Failed to Help Eric Garner After ‘Choke Hold’
Stunning new video footage posted online claims to show more than seven additional minutes of circumstances involving the death of Eric Garner, the Staten Island father who was put in a choke hold by a New York City police officer and died, the Washington Post reports. Authorities say that Garner died Thursday of a heart…
-
22 Shot, 2 Dead During Violent Chicago Weekend
Just two weeks after gunfire racked the streets of Chicago over the July Fourth holiday, 22 people were shot and two killed during a 12-hour spate of violence this weekend, ABC News reports. Chicago Police Department spokesman Officer Jose Estrada told ABC News that 22 people were shot between the hours of 3 p.m. Friday…
-
Jury Awards Widow $23,600,000,000 in Tobacco Case
In one of the largest verdicts ever against a tobacco company, a Florida jury has awarded a stunning $23.6 billion in punitive damages to the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer, Agence France-Presse reports. The jury in the case Cynthia Robinson v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. voted Friday in favor of Robinson,…
-
Really, NY Magazine? Couldn’t Find a Black Rom-Com for Top 25?
I’m a big fan of New York magazine, in large part because of its cultural coverage and willingness to give a platform to artists, institutions and subjects that other mainstream publications might not. A case in point is the slide show the site just devoted to the upcoming coffee table book Vintage Black Glamour, which…