culture

When the University of Missouri’s hot NFL prospect Michael Sam announced recently that he was gay, it was all anyone wanted to talk to him about. Now, days after the announcement, it’s still all anyone wants to discuss. But he’s ready to talk football, according to the Huffington Post. “I wish you’d say, ‘Hey Michael…

In an effort to correct possible acts of bias that spanned three wars, President Barack Obama will bestow the Medal of Honor on 24 Army veterans in the aftermath of a congressionally mandated review, designed to ensure that eligible recipients were not bypassed due to prejudice, the Associated Press reports. The ceremony will honor veterans,…

Thirty-year-old Marcus Jeter of Bloomfield, N.J., was facing a five-year prison sentence until he was freed by evidence from a dashboard camera on the police cruiser of the very officers who falsified reports, according to ABC 7 New York. The video came to light after Jeter’s defense attorney, Steven Brown, requested all recorded evidence. Initially,…

Steve McQueen’s historical epic about slavery in America, 12 Years a Slave, swept the film categories at the NAACP Image Awards, earning four wins. At the 45th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday evening at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Lupita Nyong’o won for supporting actress, and in a separate ceremony Friday evening, McQueen won the Image Award for director…

Next week VH1 is set to air The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop, a four-part documentary series based on Steve Stoute’s similarly titled book, The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. It was a fascinating read and remix of hip-hop’s history and…

While the n-word has slipped into common use in some circles, its days are numbered on the NFL gridiron. The agency that monitors diversity for the NFL says the league may institute a rule to penalize players 15 yards for using the word on the field, ABC News reports. John Wooten, head of the group,…

A national organization Friday indefinitely suspended a fraternity chapter at the University of Mississippi and expelled three of its freshman members because of their suspected involvement in hanging a noose on a statue of the first black student to enroll in the then all-white college, the Associated Press reports. Sigma Phi Epsilon said in a…

Call it another win for 12 Years a Slave. The award-winning film will soon serve as another avenue for public high school students to learn about the harsh lessons of race in America, according to a news release. The National School Boards Association is partnering with New Regency, Penguin Books and the filmmakers to distribute copies of…

History doesn’t just happen. History starts with a vision.  In the early 1980s, Rep. George T. “Mickey” Leland, who was then chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, envisioned a more inclusive telecommunications and media world. A decade later, the late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown recognized that the power of the Internet could unlock a brighter…