culture
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Wu-Tang-Affiliated Rapper Mutilates His Genitals in Response to ‘Demons’
Shock value in rap has escalated from N.W.A chanting “F—k the police” in the hook of a song to an artist mutilating himself and then jumping off a building. Forty-year-old Andre Johnson did the latter in April in Los Angeles. Before jumping from the second floor of a North Hollywood building after law enforcement ordered him…
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Court Upholds Affirmative Action at the University of Texas
A three-judge federal appeals court decided Tuesday that The University of Texas at Austin can use affirmative action when considering whether college applicants gain admission, according to U.S. News & World Report. The 2-1 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit comes as a win for proponents of affirmative action and a…
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Is Hotel Shampoo Kind of Racist?
Editor’s note: We took Race Manners to Facebook today, where The Root Associate Editor Jenée Desmond-Harris engaged in a live Q&A. One reader took serious issue with the toiletries offered by major hotel chains, going so far as to call the selections a “microaggression” against black people. Another exchange tacked a timeless question: What does…
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Actor Lance Gross Chaperones Howard University Students on Trip to China
Actor Lance Gross is playing a new role as a global ambassador for the Howard University Freshman Leadership Academy. The voyage started this past Sunday, when the Howard alumnus and about 60 students and faculty members boarded their flight to Beijing. On this three-week immersion trip, students will examine practices in education, business and leadership…
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The Boondocks’ Aaron McGruder Seals Deal With Adult Swim
Hooligan Squad. That’s the working title of the first project that Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder will tackle under his new first-look development deal with Adult Swim, the Los Angeles Times reports. The live action-adventure pilot is set in the near future and deals with an American uprising in San Francisco, which has been occupied by the…
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Mom Jailed for Letting 9-Year-Old Daughter Play at Park Near Job
Is letting your child play in the park a crime? The North Augusta, S.C., police department thinks so. According to ABC 6, Debra Harrell has been charged with unlawful conduct toward a child for allowing her 9-year-old daughter to play in a park while Harrell worked at a nearby McDonald’s. The 9-year old was approached…
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Shoppers Smash Window of Hot Car to Save Kids While Mom Got Haircut
Two kids stuck in a hot Jeep on a 90-degree day with the windows up, crying. Shoppers in Katy, Texas, saw the situation and didn’t wait for this scene to turn any more tragic: They began trying to break the Jeep’s window with their hands in order to free the little boy and girl whose…
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Police to Press Charges in Virginia Target Shoplifting Case
The Leesburg Police Department in Virginia announced Monday that it will be looking to press charges against an alleged shoplifter involved in a controversial Target case that may have led to a security guard being fired after he reported the incident, the Washington Post reports. According to the report, the police had been waiting on…
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Olympic Legend Alice Coachman Dies at 90
Alice Coachman, the Olympic legend who shattered ceilings and the status quo when she became the first black woman to win a gold medal at the games, earning the medal for her 5-foot-6-1/8-inch high jump, has died in her hometown of Albany, Ga., at the age of 90, the New York Times reports. Coachman had…
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Tupac Musical Holler if Ya Hear Me Silenced on Broadway After 6 Weeks
In the end it may have been too much for Holler if Ya Hear Me to carry. The Tupac musical was supposed to be a bridge between the gritty streets of hip-hop and the highbrow Broadway scene. Holler opened to lukewarm reviews, struggled to find an audience, and after some 38 performances and 17 previews…