culture

I’ve often thought of doing what Sylvia Plath described so poetically: “I thought it would be easy, lying in the tub and seeing the redness flower from my wrists … till I sank to sleep under a surface gaudy as poppies.” Ever the poet, even my suicidal ideations are perfectly crafted for greatest artistic impact.…

The death of 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo this January brought attention to autism spectrum disorders among communities of color and the awareness of the need to protect autistic children from wandering, eloping or “bolting” from safe spaces. One of few children of color whose search—when he went missing from school—prompted mainstream media attention, Avonte brought a brown face to ASD. “In general,…

Dressed in a flawless white pantsuit while barking orders, Saturday Night Live’s Sasheer Zamata shined in her first big role as Scandal’s Olivia Pope. Zamata, who joined the show in January, is the first female African-American cast member to join the show in several years. But on Saturday, she delivered the performance of a veteran…

A Detroit police officer has been charged in connection with the sexual assault of a woman, after he responded to a 911 call about a domestic dispute, according to MyFoxDetroit. The officer, Deon Nunlee, 40, was arraigned Friday and charged with three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of assault with intent to…

Students at a Seattle high school could face disciplinary action after they reportedly hurled racial slurs at black basketball players on a rival team after a loss, MYNorthwest reports. The teams competed Friday for the fourth time this year at the WIAA State Basketball Tournament, but it was during the third matchup on Feb. 21…

Not again. A Maryland fraternity and sorority are under fire for reportedly hosting a Country Music Television vs. BET-themed party, where mostly white students dressed in hip-hop regalia and country-styled clothing. One white female student donned an Afro wig, butt padding and a clingy dress during the event, which the vice president of student affairs…

A federal jury on Friday convicted the daughter of President Obama’s former pastor of laundering thousands of dollars from a $1.25 million state grant for a Chicago-based job-training program, the Chicago Tribune reports. Jeri L. Wright, the 48-year-old daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, told the Tribune Friday as she left a Springfield, Ill., courtroom…

This week marked three months since 30-year-old Michigan doctor Teleka Patrick vanished without a trace after work one day. Patrick, who was in the midst of a psychiatric residency at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., was last seen on Dec. 5 as she tried to book a room downtown at a Radisson Plaza Hotel &…

Thirty-two-year-old Ebony Wilkerson’s three children were reportedly screaming for their lives when she drove a minivan into the ocean surf off of Florida, the Associated Press reports. The children, ages 3, 9 and 10, were rescued Tuesday by bystanders and officers as the minivan was almost submerged off a coast in Daytona Beach, Fla. Wilkerson,…