culture
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Woman Says BART Police Handcuffed and Beat Her in Train Station
Oakland, Calif.’s, BART system has become the location of another police injustice, charges one woman. Nubia Bowe, 19, and two friends were returning home on a BART train the night of March 21 when police accused them of solicitation, Oakland Post News Group reports. BART police had entered the Lake Merritt station to respond to…
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The Root Is Looking for Summer Interns
Is it your dream to have a cutting-edge journalism career? Do you love to tell great stories through pictures? Do you have your ears and eyes on all things black culture? Are you a promising writer or multimedia producer or social media maven? Are you a resourceful problem solver who can work well independently as well…
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Belle: Did a Biracial Woman Help End Slavery in England?
The new film Belle, which opens Friday, introduces the world not only to a black heroine from the 18th century but also to rising star Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The 30-year-old British-born actress plays the film’s lead, Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed-race daughter of a white English aristocratic father and black slave mother. Mbatha-Raw’s own mother, Anne Raw, is English…
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Audra McDonald Soars as the Legendary Billie Holiday
Audra McDonald’s Tony nomination this week for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her work in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill isn’t a surprise to anyone who has seen her channel Billie Holiday. I did, closing my eyes during the performance, imagining that I was in Philadelphia in 1959…
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President Obama’s Awesomely ‘Dad’ Sense of Humor
President Barack Obama will take on the role of stand-up comedian—delivering one-liners and performing sketches before a crowd of journalists, celebrities and politicians—during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday. Since the president has to poke fun at himself, we wanted to poke a little fun at his awesomely “dad” sense of humor. 1.…
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Columbus Short Ransacked Home, Wife Claims
Columbus Short’s name isn’t going to be free of controversy anytime soon, with his wife claiming that the scandal-ridden actor broke into their house over Easter weekend and left it in disarray, TMZ reports. Tanee McCall-Short (also known as Tuere in the U.S.) claims in new court documents that Columbus Short entered the house—despite a…
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Seriously, D.L. Hughley, You’re Telling Columbus Short’s Wife to Shut Up?
I’m not sure what D.L. Hughley’s problem is with Columbus Short’s estranged wife, Tanee McCall-Short—or, in general, with women who have been subjected to domestic violence—but on a recent episode of his online radio show, the comedian had some raw advice for McCall-Short, who says she was attacked by Short: “Shut the f—k up.” Excuse…
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Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole to Star in After Midnight
The revolving lineup of R&B heavyweights keeps coming for the newly Tony Award-nominated musical After Midnight. According to the Associated Press, producers for the show, which earned seven Tony nods on Tuesday, including one for best musical, have confirmed that Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole will guest-star in the revue this summer. The show,…
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Oprah’s Name Floated as Possible New Clippers Owner
No NBA owners plan to side with embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the heaviest sanctions possible against the owner, including putting Sterling’s ownership rights to a vote. Without the support of the owners, Sterling would be forced to sell his team, according to the Associated Press, which…