culture
-
Vernon Jordan to Lead Search Committee for Howard University’s New President
Vernon Jordan Jr., a well-known lawyer in Washington, D.C., is charged with leading the committee tasked with finding Howard University’s next president, the Washington Post reports. The renowned historically black university has faced a series of troubles over the last year, topped off by then-president’s Sidney Ribeau’s abrupt retirement, after heated debates over the state…
-
Deaf Seattle Seahawk Makes Duracell Ad About His Struggles
How often are you motivated by a battery ad? Because Duracell’s new “Trust Your Power” commercial, featuring Seattle Seahawk Derrick Coleman, will definitely have you ready to take on the world. In the one-minute ad, the legally deaf running back narrates his own struggles growing up deaf, being picked on and being picked last, all…
-
Judge Refuses to Grant New Trial in the Case of Michael Jackson’s Death
There will be no new trial in the lawsuit that claimed concert promoter AEG Live was negligent in Michael Jackson’s death, a superior court judge decided on Monday, according to the Associated Press. Judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled that since jurors were given due instructions and there were no mistakes in her rulings, a retrial was…
-
Nebraska Toddler From ‘Thug Cycle’ Video Will Remain With Mother
The 2-year-old Nebraska toddler who has become the center of national scrutiny after an Omaha police union posted a video of him swearing labeled “The Thug Cycle,” will remain with his mother, a juvenile-court judge ruled on Monday, according to CNN. Both the child and his 17-year-old mother will be placed with the same foster…
-
Herbie Hancock Named Professor of Poetry at Harvard
Herbie Hancock, one of the architects of contemporary American music, who has left his fingerprints in just about every form of the art, is now the Harvard University 2014 Norton Professor of Poetry, BBC reports. The jazz legend will deliver six lectures on a variety of topics, according to Rolling Stone. His talks will mostly…
-
Transgender Woman CeCe McDonald Released From Prison
CeCe McDonald, a 26-year-old transgender woman who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for manslaughter, was released Monday, ABC News reports. McDonald didn’t plan on becoming a figure for the transgender-activist community late one night in June 2011, when she and friends were leaving a Minneapolis bar and were confronted by ex-con Dean Schmitz.…
-
Teenager Hurls Racist Remarks, Kanye West Allegedly Throws Punches
Looks like Kanye West’s plan to chill didn’t last long, as TMZ is reporting that the hotheaded rapper, who is now known as much for his antics as for his music, punched a teenager. According to TMZ, his fiancee, Kim Kardashian, had arrived at medical building when photographers swarmed her. Not wanting to deal with…
-
Online Gangbangin’: Flaunt It, Boast About It, Busted
The beat comes in—a rapid high-hat, laced with a dope-smoking, hypnotic keyboard punch—and then the hook, an ode to how Twain Gotti, a 22-year-old rapper from Newport News, Va., will ride out on his enemies. Gotti proceeds to spit the lyrics that got him arrested for an unsolved murder in 2007: Listen, walk to your…
-
Being Mary Jane Creator: ‘I Think Mary Jane Is All of Us’
When BET’s original movie Being Mary Jane premiered last summer, it drew 4 million viewers, making it the highest-rated cable show for the evening. When the show officially premiered last Tuesday, it was cable’s top show for the night again, attracting 3.32 million viewers. The show’s creator, Mara Brock Akil, is excited about what she…
-
Fat-Shaming Trolls Need to Get Over Gabourey Sidibe’s Weight
Gabourey Sidibe attended the Golden Globes Awards Sunday night. And in what has become a time-honored (and vile) tradition anytime she appears anywhere and happens to be photographed, some viewers thought it would be a good idea to mock her weight. Again. There was, of course, the flat-out name-calling, which was clear fat-shaming. And then…