culture
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1994 Harvard Student: Nigeria’s Democratic President Was Overthrown. He Was My Dad. Here's Why the U.S. Did Nothing.
Hafsat Abiola was walking on campus one day in 1994 as a student at Harvard University when she was summoned by a group of students who were collecting signatures for a petition. “There’s an elected president in jail in Nigeria and we’re gathering signatures to demand his release,” one of them said to her.…
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NC Teen Against Gun Violence Killed in Gang Gunfight
Just last month, 19-year-old Ravon Jordan was standing before the Fayetteville, N.C., City Council, speaking about gun violence and calling for the senseless deaths to stop. “Since I’ve known about Cambridge Arms, there have been four murders all due to gun violence,” Jordan said before the council on May 12, the Fayetteville Observer reports. But…
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Comedian Kevin Hart Donates $50,000 to Texas Southern University Band
Comedian Kevin Hart is well-known for generating big laughs. However, he also has a pretty big heart, donating $50,000 to HBCU Texas Southern University’s band after hearing that the Tom Joyner Foundation was trying to send the members to go see Michael Strahan—a famed alumnus known for the most sacks in a single season—inducted into…
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Texas Father Who Overpaid Child Support Reports to Prison
Clifford Hall, the 43-year-old Texas father who made national news after he was sentenced to six months in jail for delinquent child support payments, has exhausted all appeals and reported to prison. What made Hall’s case so intriguing was that a Texas judge found Hall to be in contempt of court and ordered him to…
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McDonald’s Stabbed Man Was on Phone With Daughter Canceling Movie Date
Andrew Hardy has one cool head on his shoulders. The 53-year-old Queens, N.Y., resident became an Internet sensation when he strolled into a neighborhood McDonald’s with a knife literally stuck in the middle of his back, his phone to his ear. “Yo, we might not be going to the movies. I got a knife sticking…
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2 Ghana Players Suspended Indefinitely Hours Before Decisive World Cup Game
Ghana vs. Portugal is one of the deciding games of the World Cup, since only one of the playing teams will be in the last 16 for the series. However, things took an interesting turn when two star players for the Ghanaian team were indefinitely suspended and sent home by coach Kwesi Appiah, Yahoo Sports…
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Study: How Much Education Does It Take to Get a Job? Depends on Your Race
“Young African Americans need two more levels of education than their young white counterparts to have the same chance at employment” is the stark conclusion of a new study from Young Invincibles, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that focuses on young Americans. The study, “Closing the Race Gap” (pdf), confirms the timeless adage that as a black…
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Oklahoma Inmates Fight Lethal Injections
Death row inmates in Oklahoma are still fighting for their lives. On Wednesday, attorneys for 21 inmates filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma City’s U.S. District Court, claiming that prison officials are basically experimenting on inmates with the current lethal-injection cocktail, causing them cruel and unusual punishment, the Associated Press reports. The attorneys are hoping to…
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Police Find Missing Detroit Boy Alive in Parents’ Basement
A missing 12-year-old Detroit boy who was the subject of a massive citywide search was found Wednesday in the basement of his family’s home. Detroit Police Chief James Craig told the Associated Press that Charlie Bothuell V, who had been missing for some 11 days, was found behind boxes and a large plastic drum in…
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Detroit Water Works: How a Bankrupt City Is Putting the Squeeze on Its Tapped-Out Residents
A total of $150 or two months of past-due water bills is all it takes for the already bankrupt city of Detroit to shut off someone’s water. With work scarce and money even harder to find, some 150,000 residents have been threatened with shutoffs by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, and local activists told…