culture
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Elderly Grandmother Tied Up by Police During Raid
Ruth Hunter was stunned one morning earlier in April when her front door abruptly flew open and she heard shouts of “Police!” WTVR reports. “I thought someone was breaking in to rob or kill me,” the 75-year-old Virginia grandmother, who likes to keep to herself, told the news station. But it was state law enforcement conducting a…
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RHOA Smackdown Should Serve as a Wake-Up Call
Hand me a late pass. I finally watched a clip of The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion episode. (Sorry, since starring on reality TV, I stopped watching it.) Yes, the one where cast member Porsha Williams hit her co-star Kenya Moore over the head and dragged her across the floor by her hair like the…
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How a Man’s Love for Hunting Led to a Kidney Donation
Hunting helped save Gil Alexander’s life. It all started in 2008 when the Kansas farmer struck up a friendship with Rob Robinson, a 45-year-old firefighter from Mississippi who wanted to hunt on his property, the Associated Press reports. A few years later, Robinson returned again to the property to hunt, but at the same time…
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Kidnapper Releases Gospel-Singing Child
Gospel music may have saved little Willie Myrick’s life. Earlier in April the then-9-year-old was in his front yard in Atlanta when he bent down to pick up some money. At that point someone snatched him up and threw him into the back of a car, WXIA reports. According to Willie, his abductor told him…
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5 Things You May Not Know About James Baldwin
James Baldwin—novelist, essayist and simply one of the greatest writers of all time—would have turned 90 this year. New York Live Arts is marking the occasion with “The Year of James Baldwin,” a celebration of the writer’s life and legacy. The festivities begin today and run through April 27, with “Jimmy at High Noon,” a…
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The Man Police Forgot to Lock Up for 13 Years Now Wants to Be Set Free
A St. Louis, Mo., man was convicted in May 2000 of robbing a Burger King and told that he would receive instructions about when and where to report to prison. He waited. The instructions never arrived. While waiting, he got married … twice, raised four children, trained as a carpenter, and started a home-improvement company.…
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You Won’t Believe What Oprah’s Ex-Stepmom Has to Say About Her
Oprah Winfrey called her stepmother on her birthday and told her she had only a few days to get out of the house she had shared with Oprah’s father for over a dozen years. That is just one of the scandalous claims that Barbara Winfrey made about the media mogul in an explosive interview with…
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Jon Bon Jovi Helps Open Low-Income Housing in Philly
On Tuesday, rock star Jon Bon Jovi helped cut the ribbon on a 55-unit housing development for formerly homeless and low-income residents in Philadelphia, the Associated Press reports. After some 18 months of construction, JBJ Soul Homes opened in the Francisville neighborhood. The four-story building also will include retail and office space. Bon Jovi’s Soul…
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Does a Diverse Wedding Reception Require a DJ Who’ll Play More Than Rap and R&B?
First off, I just have to say I am not racist in any way. I love every type of music and type of person. I’m getting married in June and my co-worker is a DJ and he wants me to use him, but I’m kinda scared of one thing: He’s mostly R&B, rap and hip-hop,…
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Mitzi Miller Named Editor-in-Chief of Ebony Magazine
Veteran editor Mitzi Miller has been handed the reins of Ebony magazine and will take on her new position as editor-in-chief of the publication effective immediately, according to a press release. Desiree Rogers, CEO of the Johnson Publishing Co., which owns Ebony, made the announcement on Tuesday. “Mitzi is a gifted editor with tremendous energy…