culture
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Jason Collins’ No. 98 Jersey Is NBA Top Seller
Even though Jason Collins only signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets, NBA.com can’t keep his jersey in stock. According to New York’s Daily News, a league representative confirmed that the Brooklyn Nets’ No. 98 jersey was the top seller at the NBA store and its website, NBA.com, on Tuesday, the first day it was…
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Texas Police Defend DUI Arrest of Black Man Who Passed Sobriety Test
Texas police are not backing down or apologizing for arresting a man for drunken driving, even though his Breathalyzer result showed no hint of intoxication, the Raw Story reports. Larry Davis was arrested Jan. 13 after he ran a stop sign, the news site notes. Davis—who, officers on the scene said, appeared to be drunk—defended…
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Video Released of Man Allegedly Killed by Police Outside Okla. Movie Theater
Cellphone video has been released showing five Moore, Okla., police officers restraining Luis Rodriguez, an Oklahoma man who later died in custody, the Associated Press reports. The six-minute footage—which shows officers holding Rodriguez facedown on the ground, with one officer holding his head down—was acquired from the phone of Nair Rodriguez, his wife, who started…
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NY Knicks’ Raymond Felton Arrested on Gun Charges
Knicks guard Raymond Felton was formally charged with one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and one count of criminal possession of a firearm after Felton’s estranged wife turned in to police a gun that was stored at their house. Appearing in court on Tuesday, Felton appeared upbeat and did…
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Biden on Voting Rights and Black History: ‘Hatred Never Goes Away’
For the second year in a row, Vice President Joe Biden used his remarks at his Black History Month reception to emphasize that the fight for voting rights didn’t end during the civil rights movement and to lament that fair access to the ballot remains an unsettled political issue. “The zealotry of those who wish…
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Black Pastors Coalition Wants to Impeach Eric Holder for Support of LGBT Marriage
Some African-American religious leaders are calling for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to be impeached for his support of gay-marriage laws, backed up by a push to have them federally recognized, regardless of state laws, UPI reports. “The attorney general of the United States should be impeached over his repeated lawlessness in attempting to impose…
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Black History Month Reminds Us That Black History Is Living History
During this final week of Black History Month, it’s vital to acknowledge the ways in which this month—as well as the activists, students and scholars who support it—transcends mere historical commemorations and academic analysis. It is actively helping to reshape national race relations. Consider the example of the award-winning film 12 Years a Slave. The companion-book…
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How Not to Panic When Your Toddler Sounds a Little Racist
“My 3-year-old daughter attends preschool at a public charter in Washington, D.C. The school draws students citywide through a lottery system and is very diverse (a black plurality, with significant Latino and Asian populations). In her classroom of 18, she is one of four white children. “We opt to pay for the school-provided lunch, for…
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How I Imagine Trayvon Martin
I imagine you taller now. I imagine you ready for college or the armed forces, or sulking because the world isn’t kind to those who are fresh out of high school. I imagine you annoyed that the economy sucks and that tuition is high and scholarship opportunities are limited and the paperwork is endless. I…
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Get Happy With The Root
We’re two months into 2014, and Pharrell Williams’ Oscar-nominated hit song “Happy” is helping the team at The Root have the best year ever! We’re so happy, in fact, that we want to share it with the world, and we want the world to share it with us! So send us your vids in tune…