culture
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Sen. Chuck Schumer Wants Tracking Devices on Autistic Kids
Sen. Chuck Schumer is demanding that the federal government create a program to outfit autistic kids with tracking devices after the disappearance of autistic teen Avonte Oquendo, whose remains were recently discovered, the New York Daily News. The senator plans to introduce “Avonte’s Law” this week. Oquendo disappeared from the Riverview School in Long Island…
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Pharrell’s Hat Has Hip-Hop Roots
Turns out superproducer Pharrell Williams’ hat wasn’t just a fashion faux pas but was actually a nod to hip-hop history. While the rest of us were on Twitter laughing at the images of his oversized real-life re-creation of the Arby’s insignia, photoshopped atop the heads of some of our favorite celebrities, the folks over at…
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Joy-Ann Reid to Host New Daytime Show on MSNBC
Joy-Ann Reid has secured a spot as host of one of the two new daytime programs MSNBC is launching on Feb. 24, according to Variety. Reid’s new show will begin at 2 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. Ronan Farrow, the son of actress Mia Farrow, will also be hosting a new show on the network…
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The Death of a Friend Inspires Reflections on Mortality
Something there is about the death of a friend or colleague close to your own age that makes you contemplate your own mortality. It happened to me several years ago when my good friend Ed Bradley passed, and it seems to be happening more frequently now as I am fully ensconced in my 70s. On…
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Indiana Woman Admits to Selling Baby for Sex
An Indiana woman is admitting to allowing a man from her community to “buy” a baby eight times and being in the room for all the encounters, except the last one, the Sun-Times Media Wire reports. Natisha Hillard, a 25-year-old from Gary, Ind., pleaded guilty in a U.S. District Court in Hammond to her crimes.…
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33 Weddings, Robots, a Goofy Hat and Major Snubs: Must Be the Grammys
This year’s 56th Annual Grammy Awards show was filled with head-scratchers, from Pharrell’s hat to a mass wedding officiated by Queen Latifiah to robots winning best album and song and then being unable to deliver an acceptance speech because they are nonverbal futuristic machines. The biggest head-scratcher of them all was a Compton, Calif.-raised rapper,…
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Maryland Mall Shooter Revealed, Motive Still Unknown
On Saturday morning, instead of heading off to Dunkin’ Donuts where he was supposed to open the store, Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, whom neighbors describe as a quiet, skinny teenager who loved skateboarding, got in a cab with a pump-action, pistol-grip Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun hidden from sight and a backpack filled with homemade explosives and…
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This Is What It’s Like to Be a Black Female NFL Agent
Editor’s note: With this article we introduce a new column: My Thing Is, a place for The Root’s readers and contributors to reveal their personal narratives. Want to tell your story? Send pitches to MyThingIs@theroot.com. I’m a 5-foot-4, 130-pound woman who loves her stilettos and pastel suits—especially pink ones. What do I know about football?…
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Usher Flies to Panama to Meet With Justin Bieber
R&B crooner Usher flew to Panama in an effort to have a sit-down with imperiled pop star Justin Bieber, TMZ reports. The 19-year-old singer’s mother, Pattie Mallette, his manager, Scooter Braun, and close friends Ryan Good and Ryan Butler were also reportedly on hand in Nitro City, a resort in Punta Chame, Panama, the report…
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Ride Along Cruisin’ at No. 1
Ride Along cruised to the No. 1 spot at the box office for the second weekend in a row, earning $21.2 million and leaving its competitors the dust, the Daily News reported Sunday. The Universal Pictures buddy comedy, co-starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, zoomed past the week’s lone new release, the monster thriller I,…