culture
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Defending the Importance of Hip-Hop Scholarship
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal is joined by Julius Bailey, assistant professor of philosophy at Wittenberg University, and Regina Bradley, an instructor of English and interdisciplinary studies at Kennesaw State University. They are discussing the importance of hip-hop studies and the use of social media in hip-hop scholarship. Recently Bradley contributed to and…
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Body Too Toned for Planet Fitness?
Tiffany Austin was just hoping to get back into shape after a car accident and, like so many others, went to her local Richmond, Calif., Planet Fitness in hopes of working it out … only to be told by an employee that she was “intimidating” others, according to KTVU. That’s right. Austin was allegedly told…
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Mentally Ill Former Marine ‘Baked to Death’ in Rikers Island Jail Cell
It was a cold February night, and Jerome Murdough had huddled inside an enclosed stairwell on the roof of a Harlem public housing project to get warm when he was arrested for trespassing. While in custody at New York City’s Rikers Island jail, he was found dead in his cell, and officials are now claiming…
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Have Uncle Ruckus and The Boondocks Been Hijacked?
In November 2005 the Cartoon Network debuted The Boondocks during its late-night Adult Swim programming and gave us a glimpse into the fictitious Freeman family, who had just moved from the South Side of Chicago to the mostly white, made-up suburb of Woodcrest. In the premiere, viewers heard 10-year-old Huey Freeman proclaim that “Jesus was…
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Chicago Man Confesses to Killing Girlfriend’s 1-Year-Old Daughter
A Chicago man has been charged with murder after confessing to beating his girlfriend’s 19-month-old daughter to death on Sunday, New York’s Daily News reports. According to authorities, who confirmed that the confession that was made on Wednesday, 23-year-old James Harris said he had beaten Amierah Roberson to death in his home, where she was left…
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Elton John Wants to Make Hip-Hop
In 2007 Kanye West sampled Elton John’s Someone Saved My Life Tonight on his hit single Good Morning. Three years later, West invited John to his Hawaii studio to play piano for All of the Lights on his critically praised album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. So don’t be shocked if you hear that West…
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Oprah Spills the Tea on Move With Starbucks
It seems fitting that the woman once known for spilling the tea is now selling it, as Oprah Winfrey announced Wednesday at the Starbucks annual shareholders meeting that she and the coffee company have teamed up to create Oprah Chai. The celebrity talk show host announced that the drink would be sold at Starbucks cafés…
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Single Mothers, Sons and the Sex Talk
I remember the day as if it were yesterday. My son, who was 11 years old at the time, excitedly walked into my room in the middle of the afternoon. “Mommy, I’m a man now!” I choked on my water, literally. I sat there with my mouth wide open and really didn’t know what to…
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War-Torn Congolese City Sings and Dances for Lasting Peace
For a few peaceful days in February, the city of Goma, in Democratic Republic of the Congo, was filled with the sounds of music rather than the cries of war. Despite ongoing problems between their respective countries, thousands of people from neighboring Rwanda and Burundi descended on the DRC for the region’s first multinational music…
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Texas Prepared to Execute Aspiring Rapper in Murder Case
Texas is prepared to execute 33-year-old Ray Jasper on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CDT for killing a music-studio owner in 1998, Reuters reports. Jasper was convicted of slitting David Alejandro’s throat before stabbing him to death in San Antonio so that he could rob the owner of his studio equipment. Alejandro offered his space to…