culture
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Searching for LeRoi Jones, Finding Amiri Baraka
The fact that his name was LeRoi signified something to me. There was no Norton Anthology of African American Literature in the world yet; Toni Morrison had not yet won her Nobel Prize for literature. All we got in an early-1980s freshman composition class was “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note.” And the only reason I knew…
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Franklin McCain, Civil Rights Sit-In Icon, Dies
Franklin McCain, one of the “Greensboro Four” who sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in North Carolina, sparking the sit-in movement in the 1960s, has died, NPR reports. McCain reportedly died Thursday at the Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro after a brief illness. There are conflicting news reports about his actual age, but he…
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Oprah Winfrey on Working With Lindsay Lohan: This Is What Everyone Warned Me Would Happen
Oprah Winfrey has added her voice to the resounding chorus of people in Hollywood and beyond who claim that Lindsay Lohan is notoriously difficult to work with, according to New York’s Daily News. There have been delays and problems in the making of Lohan’s new reality show, which is set to debut on OWN (Winfrey’s…
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I Expected African DNA Results. Why Are Mine Chinese?
“I used AfricanAncestry.com to trace my matrilineal and patrilineal DNA. Through my brother, Keiffer Mitchell, Jr., the patrilineal results were traced to the people of China. We were amused by the result, and somewhat disappointed, given that we expected results from Africa. I took the maternal DNA test and it traced to the Ibo of…
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Transgender Teen Facing Criminal Charges for Fighting Bullies
A 16-year-old California transgender student who stood up to three bullies, who she claims have taunted her for years over her gender identity, is facing criminal charges. The other three teens were only suspended, the New York Daily News reports. Jewlyes Gutierrez, a student at Hercules High School in Hercules, Calif., says she snapped during…
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29-Year-Old Mother of 3 Dies From the Flu
Alice and Darrell Jones, both young, in college and in love, were raising three children together. Earlier last week, they both got sick with the flu. On Monday, Alice, an aspiring Dallas nurse, was dead. She was 29. “I made it through Afghanistan and thought we would move on with our lives,” Darrell Jones, who…
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2014’s Golden Globes Spotlight the Spectrum of Black Films
The critically lauded 12 Years a Slave has been nominated in several prestigious categories in this Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards—and the conspicuous presence of black directors, actors and films this awards season offers a chance to reflect on Hollywood’s tortured racial past and hopeful future. The Golden Globes, which are dominated by the more liberal…
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Black, Brown, Natural and Relaxed: Women Talk Color and Role Models
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal sits down with creator-director Chaunesti Webb and actress Lakeisha Coffey to talk about their upcoming play I Love My Hair: The Remix and how women of color must learn to be comfortable in their own skin. Later, Duke University professor Claudia Milian discusses her new book, Latining America:…
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Chris Brown Rejects Plea, Could Face 180 Days in Prison If Found Guilty
Singer Chris Brown has rejected a deal that would have required that he plead guilty to misdemeanor assault charges, stemming from an altercation that led to the singer’s arrest outside of a Washington, D.C., hotel, the Associated Press reports. Danny Onorato, one of Brown’s lawyers, told AP outside of court that the attorneys rejected the…
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Dennis Rodman Apologizes for CNN Outburst, Says He’d Been Drinking
Dennis Rodman apologized on Thursday for implying that Kenneth Bae—the American imprisoned in North Korea—may have done something to warrant his detention, the Associated Press reports. “I want to apologize,” the former NBA star relayed to the AP in a written statement through his publicist. “I take full responsibility for my actions. It had been…