culture
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The Catch Up: What You Missed This Week in Pop Culture News and More
This week was filled with more biopic news than we could count and a black superhero from Harlem. But the most powerful messages came from this week’s reminders that bullying and sexual assault are never justifiable. The rape victim, Jada of Houston, whose attack went viral, along with Vanessa Williams’ confession gave victims of sexual…
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Report: 100 AIDS Conference Delegates Aboard MH17
An estimated 100 delegates en route to the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, reportedly died aboard downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, according to a statement released Friday by Daniel C. Montoya, deputy executive director of the National Minority AIDS Council. Among those who died was Dutch researcher Joep Lange, a former president of the…
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Rights Groups Condemn Detroit Water Shutoffs
Responding to a widening water crisis in Detroit, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. on Friday appealed to city officials to place an immediate moratorium on water shutoffs while “a fair, humane and meaningful review process can be evaluated and implemented to help indigent residents.” A letter [pdf]…
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Is It Nation of Islam Time Again in Hip-Hop?
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, a wave of commercial hip-hop artists, like Public Enemy, Poor Righteous Teachers, Brand Nubian, Eric B. & Rakim, Paris, Gang Starr, Ice Cube and MC Ren, used their platform to promote political awareness, community uplift and cultural self-determination. They drew their inspiration in part from Islam—as culture, ideology…
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Helping Black Boys Become Great Men
From My Brother’s Keeper to various local community endeavors across the nation, black boys and men have become the focus of an increasing number of cultural initiatives to combat the violence and stereotypes that often lead to a painful fate—either lengthy prison time or a premature death. A recent study from the University of Chicago…
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11-Year-Old Scores Higher Than Einstein on Mensa IQ Test
An 11-year-old black boy from the United Kingdom is smarter than Albert Einstein. Just let that sink in for a minute. The proof is in a Mensa test that Ramarni Wilfred took earlier this year. The results of the test revealed that Ramarni has an IQ that is higher than Stephen Hawking’s, Bill Gates’ and…
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Former Black Panther and 1984 Plane Hijacker Sentenced to 20 Years
Former Black Panther Party member William Potts Jr. has already spent 13 years in a Cuban prison, described by his lawyer Robert Berube as “one of the worst hellholes on the planet,” for hijacking and diverting a New York Piedmont Airlines flight to Havana in 1984, Reuters reports. “There were no bathroom facilities. There were…
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Ariz. Mother Who Left Kids in Car During Job Interview Gets Court Deal
Remember Shanesha Taylor, the Arizona mother who was arrested and had her children taken away from her because she left them in the car earlier this year while she tried to interview for a job? Well, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery has confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Taylor’s lawyer: The two counts…
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Watch: NYC Father Dies After Being Put in Choke Hold by Police
Eric Garner was standing on a sidewalk Thursday when police, who accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes, approached him. Garner, 43, told police that he hadn’t sold anything and to leave him alone. After a brief standoff, five police officers attempted to take the 400-pound Staten Island, N.Y., father of six down to the ground.…
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NJ Apprentice Settles for $34,000 in Racial-Discrimination Claim
Imagine that you’ve nearly completed the requirements of your four-year—that’s eight terms—apprenticeship program, and with two weeks to go before graduation and promotion to journeyman status, you’re expelled. This happened to a black apprentice attending a school affiliated with the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee of Sheet Metal Workers Local 25, which represents sheet metal…