culture

  • White Woman in a ‘Chocolate City’ Shirt: Is It Wrong?

    I’m a white female cyclist in Washington, D.C., and like many of the street cyclists in the area, I ride with members of several different cycling groups, including the awesome guys at Chocolate City Cycling. Recently I was given a CCC T-shirt, but I feel weird about wearing it in public, especially outside the context of group…

  • Racism in High School Sports: Sign of a Bigger Problem

    Have you ever Googled the terms “racism” and “high school sports”?  Well, if you ever wanted to lose faith in humanity a few degrees more than you may already have, then a brief survey of the year’s most-reported high school sports stories have been about race. Race this, race that. When it comes to the…

  • Shaqtin’ a Fool: Ex-NBA Center Under Investigation for ‘Horseplay’ 

    Former NBA Center Shaquille O’Neal is the subject of an assault investigation by Atlanta police after alleged “horseplay” incident in which a co-worker was injured last year, ESPN reports. According to a police report, the incident is alleged to have occurred May 9 and was first reported to police July 2. Local authorities have not…

  • 74-Year-Old Woman Freed After Serving 32 Years for Murder 

    When Mary Virginia Jones was sentenced for murder Ronald Reagan was president and gas cost $1.25 a gallon. Today, some 32 years of her life left inside the cold concrete cell, “Mother Mary” as friends know her, is a free woman after students from USC’s law school convinced the district attorney to reopen her case.…

  • Hollywood Afraid to ‘Let Black People Tell Stories’

    In a brutally honest interview, Boyz N the Hood director John Singleton slammed the Hollywood “liberals” who don’t let black people “tell the stories,” the Hollywood Reporter reveals. In an interview with the entertainment outlet released on Monday, part of its “Hollywood Masters” series, Singleton came down hard on the major studios for refusing to…

  • Black Preschoolers Suspended More Than Whites, Study Shows

    A new study shows that the school-to-prison pipeline starts earlier than we thought. According to data released this week by the Education Department’s civil rights arm, black children accounted for about 18 percent of preschool enrollment but for half of the students suspended more than once, the Associated Press reports. The data show that overall,…

  • Arrest Warrant for Anita Baker Lifted

    The arrest warrant issued for singer Anita Baker was lifted by a judge during an emergency hearing in Wayne County Circuit Court on Monday, the Detroit Free Press reports.   “We asked for the emergency hearing because the court had issued a bench warrant for Ms. Baker’s arrest,” said Jamal Hamood, a lawyer representing Baker…

  • Judge Joe Brown Jailed for Contempt 

    In a twist of fate, Judge Joe Brown, has been sentenced to five days in jail after being charged with five counts of contempt of court in Tennessee, court officials in Memphis told the Associated Press. On Monday, the star of the now cancelled TV show Judge Joe Brown, was held in contempt after causing…

  • Belgian Newspaper Apologizes for Depicting the Obamas as Apes 

    Belgian newspaper De Morgen has formally apologized after a harsh backlash over an image the paper published Saturday depicting President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes, Al Jazeera reports. The Flemish newspaper published the ape photo and another of President Obama with language describing him as a marijuana seller in a satire…

  • When She Gives an Ultimatum, Fellas, Take It Seriously

    I wasn’t sure if I’d get out of there alive. Sitting onstage with four women, in front of a studio audience of nearly 200 women, I made this statement: “We [men] know exactly what to say to keep y’all hanging around just a little longer.” Oh my. I had the pleasure of guest-hosting The View this week,…