culture
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Wage Fight Pushes 22-Year-Old KFC Worker Into National Spotlight
Naquasia LeGrand was tired. She had been working at two KFC restaurants, 15 hours at the first and then hiking it across to work whatever hours she could get at the the other store. Some nights after a full day of frying chicken, sweeping floors and serving customers, she would close the store at 1…
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Girls With Guns, Boys With Dolls: Does It Matter?
The first toy I fell in love with was a red dump truck I received after a cousin said he was tired of it. Here was a 4-year-old girl, in pigtails and ribbons, dragging a dump truck around after my mother rigged it with a rope. At that age, all I knew was that the…
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The Wild Adventures of a ‘Colored Girl’ in the Early 20th Century
Anita Thompson Dickinson Reynolds was the black—or mocha—Zelig, traipsing continents at will, dancing on Broadway, acting in Hollywood with Rudolph Valentino, toiling as a journalist during the Spanish Civil War, slumming it with French royalty—all the while rubbing shoulders with the likes of Coco Chanel, Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin and W.E.B. Du Bois. As Reynolds…
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Some of My Best Friends Are White
While reading the many news stories that appear in my in-box each morning, I eventually get to the articles that center on race and racism. I save this part for last because know I’m going to read about an attitude or injustice that will piss me off, and I prefer to let my anger build…
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12 Years a Slave Wins Oscar for Best Picture
The brilliant yet brutal 12 Years a Slave made history Sunday night as the first film directed by a black man, with a predominately black cast, to win an Oscar for best picture. In one of the most competitive Oscar races in recent memory, the honor was bestowed tonight at the 86th Academy Awards. Producer…
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Lupita Nyong’o Takes Home Oscar for 12 Years a Slave
The “It Girl” is really “It.” Lupita Nyong’o won an Oscar Sunday night for best supporting actress for her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. After hugging director Steve McQueen, her co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor and (oddly) Liza Minelli, the stunning star took the stage to give an emotional and heartfelt acceptance speech. “It…
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Academy Awards 2014: Most Black Presenters Ever
In a year when movies like 12 Years a Slave have captivated audiences around the globe, the Academy Awards tonight will have 10 prominent black entertainers as presenters—the most ever in its 86-year history. The star-studded list includes Viola Davis, nominated for Doubt and The Help; Jamie Foxx, who won best actor for Ray; Whoopi…
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Texas Cops Arrest Black Student Filming ‘Speed Traps,’ Hurl Epithet
A 25-year-old student at the University of Texas at San Antonio was simply filming officers as they pulled over cars along a highway and posting the videos to Facebook. She wrote: “This is where our funding is going, straight into hard police work,” according to KENS 5. The next thing Abie Kyle Ikhinmwin knew, she was…
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Vandals Hit Spike Lee’s Old Block After Gentrification Rant
Director Spike Lee isn’t the only one who’s angry. CNN reports that just days after the filmmaker’s expletive-filled rail against gentrification in his old neighborhood, vandals hit his father’s home and shattered the front door of the neighbor’s home on Washington Park in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, N.Y. “Do the Right Thing,” the…
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Watch: Philadelphia 76ers Retire Allen Iverson’s No. 3
Retired NBA player Allen Iverson took to the court Saturday to bid farewell to fans, friends and colleagues as the Philadelphia 76ers held a ceremony to retire his No. 3, ESPN reports. He reportedly cupped his hand to his left ear in a request to hear his favorite tune for the last time. And on cue, an…