culture
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Brooklyn Celebrates Do the Right Thing Day in Honor of Spike Lee
Toronto has Bob Marley Day, and now Brooklyn, N.Y., will have Do the Right Thing Day, in honor of one of director Spike Lee’s greatest cinematic achievements, the Daily News reports. Do the Right Thing Day will be celebrated on June 30, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced on Tuesday during an official ceremony in…
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Paying Tribute to 3 Jazz Legends
On the occasion of the announcement of the 2015 class of NEA Jazz Masters—the nation’s highest honor for jazz artists—let’s take note of three recently departed NEA jazz masters: trumpeter Joe Wilder, singer Jimmy Scott and pianist-composer Horace Silver. Each of these soft-spoken, graceful men was a musical stylist of originality. Wilder carved a path…
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The Cost of Weddings Shouldn’t Be Why People Opt Out of Marriage
Anyone who follows my work knows I have written about the impact of out-of-wedlock births in the black community, but a new study, which you can read here (pdf), takes a wider look at the impact across racial lines. The analysis raises some interesting points worthy of consideration, namely the role society plays in deterring some…
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How Michael Jackson Keeps Breaking the Bank 5 Years After His Death
Current artists like Jay Z and Kanye West still have nothing on America’s most revered King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who has made more than $700 million since his death in 2009, Forbes reports. According to the influential business magazine, that is more than Jigga, West and Taylor Swift have earned combined—a paltry $544 million—since that same…
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Man Walks Into Queens, NY, McDonald’s With Knife Sticking Out of His Back
On Tuesday morning, 53-year-old Andrew Hardy was trying to break up a fight when he was stabbed in the back. Hardy then strolled into a Queens, N.Y., McDonald’s with the knife still sticking out of his back. With his white T-shirt soaked in blood and the knife plunged deep into the center of his back,…
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Members of Congress Join Hands to Sing ‘We Shall Overcome’
A rare moment took place on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Congressional leaders posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest honor, to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Afterward, the congress members joined hands and sang a harmonious rendition of “We Shall Overcome” to honor the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil…
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Primary Fight: Charles Rangel Declares Victory, but Adriano Espaillat Refuses to Concede
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) thus far appears to have maintained his grip on New York’s 13th Congressional District, leading his closest primary challenger by approximately 1,800 votes and earning about 47 percent of the vote with 100 percent of precincts reporting, according to New York Times election data. The veteran politician may indeed once again…
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It’s Not Crazy for African-American World Cup Fans to Root for Ghana
In Team USA’s World Cup game against Ghana, I found myself cheering for Ghana. On Twitter I was accused of being unpatriotic, including by some people I respect. It’s hard to explain, but what can I say? I wanted the African team—or maybe the brown(est) team—to win (I’m black). Am I wrong? —World Cup Worries…
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Men, Don’t Let Your Feelings Be Hurt by #PrisonBae
Fact: Jeremy Meeks is fine. OK, technically that’s an opinion, but it seems the vast majority of people—including a couple of modeling agencies—share it, so let’s just say it’s close to fact. Meeks—the convicted felon with chiseled features, eyes the color of a Caribbean ocean and a café au lait complexion who has drawn the…
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Guerrilla Artist and Professor Installs Hidden Monument to Trayvon Martin
One associate professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design wants to make sure Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African-American 17-year-old gunned down in Florida by George Zimmerman in 2012, will be remembered in perpetuity in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Matthew Hincman for years had been eyeing a lamppost as a potential art space before…