culture
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Warrant Issued for Air Force Officer Weeks After Run-in With Police at His Home
Air Force Capt. Nicolas Aquino’s future is on hold as he faces charges arising from entering his own house in Monterey County, Calif., KSBW reports. Aquino, who is a student at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, got the news of his arrest when his school supervisor called him and told him he is barred…
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Elderly ‘Homesick’ Bank Robber to Be Sentenced
An elderly bank robber who was homesick for prison is to be sentenced Thursday for the bank robbery he committed last year in the hopes of returning to prison life, the Associated Press reports. Walter Unbehaun, who dropped out of high school, spent most of his adult life in prison, and last year, bored, alone…
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Children’s Fantasy Fiction Needs More Characters of Color
In his 1976 essay The Devil Finds Work, James Baldwin wrote, “No one, I read somewhere, a long time ago, makes his escape personality black.” Baldwin was talking about the movies, but he might as well have been talking about children’s books. When I was a kid, I loved reading works like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The…
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25 Alternatives to Pharrell (or Any Other Celeb) for Insights Into ‘the New Black’
Pharrell Williams’ comments in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which he seemed to embrace the familiar suggestion that racism can be overcome by a change in attitude, didn’t go over well with many folks. Here’s what the artist and producer had to say: The “new black” doesn’t blame other races for our issues.…
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Baseball Legend Hank Aaron Gets Racist Hate Mail After Likening Obama Opponents to KKK
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. So the adage goes—and in the case of Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, it is painfully true. The 80-year-old legend was subjected to racist slurs and threats days after a controversial interview with USA Today. Last week Aaron spoke to the news site about the lack…
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Western Washington University Asks How to Be Less White
Western Washington University of Bellingham, Wash., is taking its goal for greater diversity to the next level, reportedly sending out a community questionnaire asking students, “How do we make sure that in future years ‘we are not as white as we are today?’” Campus Reform reports. According to the campus-news site, the WWU communications-and-marketing department’s…
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Puff Daddy’s Howard Commencement Speech Ignites Debate
Sean Combs, who left Howard University in 1990 after only two years to pursue his dreams of music stardom, is scheduled to deliver the school’s commencement address this spring, interim Howard President Wayne Frederick announced Tuesday in a statement. Critics and supporters took to social media to decry and praise the decision. Opponents said the…
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Hometown Heroes: Common and Kanye Team Up to Create 1,000 Jobs for Chicago Youths
Rappers Common and Kanye West are giving back to their native city Chicago in a big way. The two, along with rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith, are teaming up with the Chicago Urban League to create 1,000 year-round jobs for city youths, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The partnership, the Chicago Youth Jobs Collaborative, comes on the…
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Beyoncé and Jay Z to Tour Together
Make way for the dynamic duo. Power couple Beyoncé and Jay Z are preparing to introduce a joint stadium tour for the summer, Page Six reports. The 20-stadium U.S. tour is expected to start at the end of June, with the couple possibly performing in the Empire State on Independence Day. As the news site…