culture
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Oxford Tips a Hat to Harvard in ‘I, Too, Am Oxford’ Project
The black students at Harvard seem to be on to something. Students of color at Oxford University in the United Kingdom have launched their own social media campaign, “I, Too, Am Oxford,” highlighting things that have been said or suggested to them. Dozens of photos have already been added to the Tumblr page, showing students…
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Frank Ocean Cuts Chipotle a Big Check, Tells the Company to Shove Off
Chipotle may have won some big bucks … but the restaurant chain also garnered singer Frank Ocean’s irritation along with it. According to TMZ, Ocean coughed up $212,500 after the company sued him, but he didn’t exactly do it graciously, posting a photo of the check on Tumblr with the memo “F—k off” scrawled on…
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Teen Posts Photos of Domestic Violence Injuries to Social Media
A young aspiring model is using an alleged domestic violence incident to shine light on partner abuse and how serious and life threatening it can be. Mori Gabriella Montgomery, 19, has been posting pictures to her social media accounts of her gruesome injuries allegedly caused by an abusive boyfriend, New York’s Daily News reports. Montgomery claims…
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Enough Granny Compliments—I’m Calling Lupita a Hottie
Perhaps my brown-girl sensitivities are tainting my view, but I feel like there’s something going on with the words we use to describe Lupita Nyong’o. Lupita is pretty, she’s cute and she’s a legitimate dime. And I use those adjectives intentionally, because it seems like these words are rarely used to describe her good looks…
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FBI Offers $20,000 for Information on Missing Toddler
The FBI and the Madison County’s sheriff’s office are offering a $20,000 reward for information on Myra Lewis, a 2-year-old from Mississippi who disappeared on March 1, the New York Daily News reports. Lewis was last seen around 11 a.m. on March 1, wearing khaki pants, pink tennis shoes and a turquoise sweater with a…
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Prosecutors: DC Mayor Vince Gray Knew About ‘Shadow Campaign’
District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray, whose bid for reelection is being rocked with scandal, acknowledged Tuesday that he has taken a political hit from allegations that he led a “shadow campaign,” while the Democratic primary is just three weeks away. On Monday, Jeffrey Thompson, one of Gray’s 2010 campaign benefactors, who asked that Gray…
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Man Freed After Decades on Death Row
Since August of 1988, Glenn Ford has sat on death row waiting for two fates that both seemed unthinkable: Either he would be set free or be executed. For 26 years maintained his innocence. On Tuesday afternoon, Ford, 64, walked out of prison at Angola in Louisiana a free man, hours after a judge approved…
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Is It Hip-Hop Homophobia Over French Nails and Skirts?
Apparently, veteran gangster rapper Snoop Dogg still enjoys defying all the rules of so-called authentic black masculinity found in mainstream hip-hop culture. After reinventing himself as a devoted father and Snoop Lion—the reggae-infused advocate of black consciousness and universal love—he is now using Instagram to promote his fierce, duo-chrome French manicure, complete with marijuana leaf…
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DNA Test Showed Mostly European Ancestry? It’s OK, You’re Still African American
52.9. I’d never given much thought to this arrangement of numbers until a few months ago. Those digits represent a majority of my ancestral makeup. During a recent DNA examination, I discovered that 52.9 percent of my ancestors are European. My African relatives make up 43.4 percent of my DNA (including 28 percent West African). A small…
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17-Year-Old Chicago Rapper Charged With Murder
A teenage Chicago rapper has been charged with murder in connection to the fatal shooting of a driver in the Wentworth Gardens housing complex, over what the assistant state’s attorney is claiming was retaliation for an earlier dispute, the Chicago Tribune reports. Seventeen-year-old Clint Massey, who goes by the stage name “RondoNumbaNine,” was ordered held…