culture
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‘I, Too, Am Harvard’ Campaign Raises Alumnae Concern
As we watched the video for “I, Too, Am Harvard,” our hearts broke. Harvard undergraduates recounted painful experiences of isolation and alienation. They spoke of being maligned, underestimated and underappreciated. One student said that he did not feel valued or valuable. Another student said that although she went to Harvard, she was not “of Harvard.”…
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Are White Men Allowed to Laugh at Black Men’s Expense?
My boyfriend (white) and I (not white) were walking down the street in New Orleans, and I caught him chuckling at the sight of an African-American teen struggling to keep his baggy pants up while carrying a couple of shopping bags. We got into a pretty heated discussion about whether or not this was “objectively”…
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The 1st Black Emojis Are Here … and They Don’t Come From Apple
Oju Africa, a division of the African mobile company Mi-Fone, has one-upped tech giant Apple, launching the first set of black emojis ever, the International Business Times reports. The collection of 15 emojis is a direct result of an outcry over the lack of diversity in the current set, much of which comes from Apple.…
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Is This Vanderbilt Mural Racist?
After increased backlash, the mural of new Vanderbilt University football coach Derek Mason is going to be changed, The Tennessean reports. It has been more than two decades since the tradition of painting coaches’ portraits on the wall was started, but now students have petitioned for this particular image to be changed. Mason himself has said…
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Jury: Officers Wrongly Arrested Black Teen but Did Not Use Excessive Force
Three white Pittsburgh police officers were convicted of falsely arresting a black student at a performing arts high school, although they escaped charges of using excessive force to detain the youth, the Associated Press reports. Jordan Miles, now 22, was awarded about $119,000 in damages from an all-white jury of four men and four women.…
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Find Ways to Pay for College: The Root Live Today at 11 a.m.
In many African-American families, when we have an important issue to discuss, we gather in the kitchen and bring it to the table. That’s especially true of financial discussions, whether about how to pay the bills, how to send Junior to college or where to start looking for a new job. For the next three…
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NY Teen Accepted at All 8 Ivy League Institutions
Just a week after a Washington, D.C., teen was accepted at five Ivy League schools, a suburban New York high school teen has set the bar even higher. He was accepted at each of the eight elite Ivy colleges and universities, New York’s Daily News reports. Kwasi Enin, the son of immigrant nurses from Ghana, figured that…
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Body of Abduction Suspect Found, Search Continues for Missing DC Girl
Investigators believe that a man found dead in a D.C. park Monday afternoon is the janitor suspected of abducting 8-year-old Relisha Rudd, the Washington Post reports. Police Chief Cathy Lanier cautioned that while officials have not yet positively identified the body, reports drew them to Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, which led to an extensive…
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New Michael Jackson Album, Xscape, to Be Released in May
Michael Jackson fans have something to smile about, as a new posthumous album of the pop star’s previously unreleased music comes out May 13, the Associated Press reports. Epic Records and the Jackson estate are set to release an album of eight new tracks that have been updated musically, titled Xscape. According to AP, L.A.…
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4 Lessons From a Homeless Mother’s Tragic Dilemma
While politicians, most of whom have never been truly poor, continue, in the abstract, to debate how to best help those living in poverty, Shanesha Taylor—a homeless mother of two who was arrested for leaving her children unattended in her car in order to go to a job interview—just helped give the debate a human…