culture
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National Museum of African American History to Display Photos of the Gullah People
The collection is haunting: black-and-white stills of another place from another time, a documentation of the Gullah, or Geechee, people—a population of African descendants living on the Sea Islands off the Eastern coastline. The images of a place and a people that time forgot were captured by celebrated photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe—the wife of renowned tennis…
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Pay Up, Colleges, and Stop Exploiting Your 'Student-Athletes'
Recently, Bill Maher tweeted that “March Madness really is a stirring reminder of what America was founded on—making tons of money off the labor of unpaid black people.” Although there are some parallels, college athletes do receive scholarships and are not forced to play. A more accurate comparison would be when a company builds a…
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Ex-FAMU Band Member Gets 1 Year for Role in Hazing Death
A judge on Friday sentenced a former Florida A&M band member to one year in jail for his role in the brutal hazing death of Robert Champion, a drum major, the Associated Press reports. Circuit Court Judge Marc Lubet sentenced 22-year-old Jessie Baskin, to 51 weeks in county jail, five years’ probation and 300 hours of…
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Chemical Plant Threatens to Erase Enclave Founded by Freed Slave
A project led by South African chemical giant SASOL threatens to erase the small community of Mossville, La., which was founded in 1790 by Jim Moss, a freed slave, Mother Jones reports. Over the past half-century, the small, predominantly African American unincorporated enclave on the outskirts of Lake Charles in Calcasieu Parish, La., has been…
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Eagles Cut Wide Receiver Desean Jackson Amid Gang Rumors
At 27-years-old, three-time-pro-bowl wide receiver Desean Jackson should be in the prime of his career. Coming off his best season with the Philadelphia Eagles and in only the second year of a recently signed five-year deal worth $48.5 million he was cut from the team. Some say he butted heads with new coach Chip Kelly,…
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Search Intensifies for 8-Year-Old DC-Area Girl
Police continued to search a sprawling park in Washington, D.C., for 8-year-old Relisha Tenau Rudd, saying they could not rule any possibility in the investigation that is now focused on a possible abductor wanted for the murder of his wife, CNN reports. Detectives began searching the aquatic gardens area of Kenilworth Park on Thursday after…
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NJ Teen Suspended for Flying Confederate Flag on Truck
Seventeen-year-old Gregory Vied says he was suspended for flying a Confederate flag on his pickup truck, which was parked in a student lot at Steinert High School in Hamilton Township, N.J., Fox News reports. Vied told News12 he was suspended after many warnings from school administrators to remove it. He said that although he understands the history…
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Marcus Samuelsson Hosts Benefit for Victims of East Harlem Building Collapse
Some residents and business owners in New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood are still struggling to recover in the aftermath of a gas explosion that left eight people dead and flattened two 5-story apartment buildings about two weeks ago. At least 100 people were left homeless after the morning blast on Wed., March 12. And…
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A Harlem Church and the Hate That Produced a ‘Hate Crime’
Does God hate fags? According to Pastor James D. Manning, the answer, apparently, is “yes,” because the marque outside Manning’s ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem bore these words: “Jesus would stone homos. Stoning is still the law.” It’s the message that a passerby could read outside the otherwise typical-looking entrance to his church a few weeks…
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Gone With the Wind Prequel Gives Mammy Her Say
Mammy’s story will finally be told. On Thursday, Simon & Schuster imprint Atria Publishing announced that it had acquired rights to Ruth’s Journey, a prequel to “Gone With the Wind” that tells Mammy’s version. According to New York’s Daily News, the novel, by Donald McCaig, is set to be published this October. It will be McCaig’s second…