culture

It’s reassuring to see high-profile black people engage in debates about compelling and complicated issues. In a way, it shows that their money hasn’t made them complacent or detached from the realities of ordinary life. Jay Z and Harry Belafonte don’t see eye to eye on how wealthy blacks ought to empower the communities they…

A former customer at a Tennessee Red Lobster has hit the chain and a waitress with a $1 million lawsuit after he was accused last year of writing the n-word in the tip section of a $44.53 receipt, according to News 2. In the suit filed Thursday at the Williamson County Court in Franklin, Tenn.,…

A homeless woman who left her children in a car during a job interview in Scottsdale, Ariz., can now have supervised visits with them, the Arizona Republic reports. Commissioner Richard Nothwehr ruled Thursday that the woman, Shanesha Taylor, 35, of Phoenix, could have supervised visits with her 8-month-old and 2-year-old sons, the report says. She…

To pave the way for a sale of the Los Angeles Clippers without NBA intervention, Donald Sterling reportedly offered to step aside to allow his wife to broker the sale of the team, according to CNN. But the NBA rebuffed the offer, CNN says. The couple co-owns the team through trust, with Donald Sterling as…

Founded 16 years ago by Lawrence Krisna Parker, aka KRS-One, National Hip-Hop Appreciation Week (May 19-25) seeks to recognize the original elements of the culture—rapping, deejaying, break dancing and graffiti—and to renew the consciousness of the art form. This year’s theme is heritage. Artists, activists, entertainers and scholars around the world participated in a variety…

The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates has set off a firestorm of debate once again, this time about race and reparations. In an exhaustive and sweeping piece, “The Case for Reparations,” he skillfully surveys American history, mining its data for evidence about the ways that enslavement, Jim Crow segregation, redlining and predatory lending has left black Americans…

How do you feel about getting revenge on the ex that hurt you? Nothing involving harm to the person or property—just to expose him for what he is. He portrays himself as this great guy, but I know things about him that would shock people, especially his new girlfriend. I’ve spent months going back and…

According to a police officer who was among the first on the scene of the fatal drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996, the poet and rapper’s last words were, “F—k you.” Officer Chris Carroll told the british newspaper The Independent that he was one of the first to respond to the shooting,…