culture
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Case Dismissed for NJ Man Jailed Almost 20 Years for Murder
It’s been nearly 20 years since Gerard Richardson was found guilty for the murder of a 19-year-old in New Jersey, and on Tuesday a judge finally dismissed his case because the DNA evidence from a bite mark that largely contributed to his imprisonment could not be tied to him. “I wish I had words for…
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NWA, LL Cool J and Chic Didn’t Make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Seriously?
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2014 class of inductees today, and here’s to LL Cool J, NWA and Chic for making the grade. Oh, wait. It turns out they didn’t. This year’s class—Nirvana, Kiss, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt—are a deserving bunch, and I even own…
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Guide Dog Risks Life to Save Owner
Cecil Williams, who is blind, left his home with his guide dog Orlando on a trip to the dentist. Williams began to feel faint while standing on a Manhattan subway platform and Orlando, a black lab, tried to prop Williams back up. “He tried to hold me up,” the emotional Williams told the Associated Press…
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George Zimmerman, the Next Picasso?
The art world has a new contemporary to add to its list of budding artists: George Zimmerman. That’s right, the acquitted shooter of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, is leveraging his “celebrity” to hock one of his original works on eBay. According to the Los Angeles Times, an eBay user with the alias “therealgeorgez”…
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Everyone Knew His Name. Now Hear His Story
There was a time, back in the ’80s and the ’90s, when you couldn’t turn the corner in Washington, D.C., and not see some evidence that Cool Disco Dan had been there. Way before Banksy, the D.C. graffiti artist was blasting his nom de plume on the sides of buildings, on bridges and on subway…
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8 Ways to Build Loyal Followers on Twitter
When it comes to Twitter, it’s hard to be an overnight success. It takes time to build and cultivate the relationships that can ultimately increase awareness of your business or personal brand. Attracting engaged followers is the key to success. When I first started out on Twitter, I worked it like a job, but even…
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Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom Was Also South Africa’s
Nelson Mandela’s life contained enough drama, pathos and triumph to make several films based on his story, but the new biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is primarily concerned with revealing the man behind the legend. And it serves as an important reminder of the power of social movements in the face of political and…
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NAACP Report: Limited Opportunities for Minorities in Energy Industry
An NAACP report on the energy industry shows that protecting the environment and fueling the nation don’t always provide opportunities for people of color, or the businesses they own. The organization released “Just Energy Policies: Reducing Pollution and Creating Jobs” on Tuesday, which looks at the energy policies of all 50 states and provides its…
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Watching 12 Years a Slave Could Save Your Life
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave is leading the Golden Globe nominations and is sure to be an Oscar contender. It’s been praised as an antidote to slavery-nostalgia fantasies like Gone With the Wind. Yet some see no redeeming qualities or uplift in the movie—just pain. Others feel that we don’t need to be reminded…
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Investing in African-American Women Could Jump-Start Economy
(Special to The Root)—African-American-owned businesses are the fastest-growing (pdf) segment of the women-owned-business market and are starting up at a rate six times higher (pdf) than the national average for all new firms. As the Center for American Progress’s new report “The State of Women of Color in the United States” shows, this is good…