culture

Whether it’s W.E.B. Du Bois unpacking the question, “How does it feel to be a problem?”—as the unspoken query that society has historically put to black America—or the Notorious B.I.G. unapologetically claiming Casanova status, despite being a “heartthrob never, black and ugly as ever,” the issue of black self-image never leaves us. And it’s come…

Nearly 50 years ago—when segregation ruled college football in the South—a transformational game took place, pitting a team led by African-American players against one from a powerhouse that was almost entirely white. The black team won, and the cult of white supremacy on the gridiron was shattered. And given football’s powerful cultural influence, the game…

As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Apparently so is the road to terrible music videos. English singer-songwriter Lily Allen seems to have decided to make a statement on the Miley Cyrus-ification of pop culture by making her latest video an in-your-face attack on the sexual exploitation of women…

Since Kim Kardashian replaced her as America’s sex-tape superstar-turned-reality-show celebrity du jour, Paris Hilton has spent much of the last few years battling to remain relevant and to stop her descent into becoming a Hollywood punch line. But she recently earned ridicule for a surprising reason: her positive review of the film 12 Years a…

New rule: When targeting potential members for expansion of the Ku Klux Klan, find out if the neighborhood that is being canvassed is predominantly black first. A KKK group in Florida targeted the New Smyrna Beach area, a mostly black neighborhood, with flyers, news channel WFTV reports. Tim Washington was headed to work when he…

Turns out Instagram photos of food aren’t all boring, especially when they lead to multiple arrests. Three men and one juvenile have been arrested after they used a stolen credit card to purchase $120 worth of fast food and then posted photos of the feast on Instagram, the New York Daily News reports. Rocklin, Calif.,…

It is safe to say that Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter, Zoleka Mandela, didn’t have a normal childhood. “By the time I was born, on 9 April 1980, my mother (Zindzi Mandela) knew how to strip and assemble an AK-47 in exactly thirty-eight seconds. She was twenty years old, trained in guerrilla warfare and already a full-fledged…

On Monday, police announced that two young men had been charged in a shooting at a Houston house party that left two teenagers dead. On Tuesday, charges against one of the young men were dropped, and a community activist says the man is a hero. Harris County authorities dropped a deadly conduct charge against Willie…