culture

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick apparently has had enough of courtrooms. He prefers to sit out on a Dec. 10 court hearing that will determine just how much he owes Detroit and tax collectors after convictions for corruption and other crimes, the Detroit Free Press reports. He says it can be hashed out by the judge…

Police have arrested a 15-year-old suspect and are searching for a second youth in connection with a “knockout” attack in Northeast Philadelphia earlier this month, CBS Philly reports. Officials say a 15-year-old male has been arrested, and they are searching for a second suspect for their roles in an attack outside a pizza shop on Nov.…

A Detroit-area police officer has confessed to making at least one video showing an African-American man being commanded to sing and make animal noises, the Huffington Post reports. The police officer in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., was reportedly taken off duty and is “expected to face discipline next week,” the Post says, citing Motor City Muckraker,…

The Island will forever be synonymous with John Kani and Winston Ntshona, the two black South African actors who devised the play in collaboration with white South African dramatist Athol Fugard in 1973, and who played the two lead roles (to which they lent their names) for almost three decades in productions throughout the world.…

Family holiday gatherings provide a wonderful opportunity to learn more about one’s roots. These get-togethers can prove to be a valuable resource for furthering your genealogical research, if you’re prepared to make the most of them. Below are a few ideas to help you get ready. Picture This As the older generations of a family…

Last month Twitter found itself the latest major tech company to face criticism for a lack of diversity—a jarring lack of diversity, to be more precise. It was revealed that the company’s entire board of directors consists of white males. The revelation generated plenty of hand-wringing about a well-covered topic, namely the underrepresentation of women…

Sometimes we collectively create the man, only to watch him become the thing he once rallied against. Hip-hop is funny that way. Artists use the story of their lives as the vehicle to drive a wedge between the man they have become and the person they once were. In street terms: Once the money gets…

We are now officially in the age of the “selfie.” Once the Oxford dictionaries named it as their 2013 Word of the Year, it’s has become as institutionally cemented in our lexicon as any other noteworthy catchphrase in our recent public consciousness. But a battle for the human soul now begins over what, exactly, selfies…

After last week’s gut-punching episode, you’d think Scandal might want to cut us a break. You know, give us a chance to catch our collective breaths. Why not try a very special musical episode? Or even a “Where are they now?” recap of the gladiators who mysteriously went missing? What ever happened to Olivia’s old…