culture
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Thousands of Parolees Wrongly Jailed, Lawsuit Claims
Professors at Northwestern University Law School and an attorney at Uptown People’s Law Center have issued three class action lawsuits against the state of Illinois alleging that the parole system is running a scam to keep parolees locked up needlessly, the Chicago Tribune reports. Forty percent of the current Illinois prison population consists of people…
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America’s Oldest Known WWII Vet to Meet With President
President Barack Obama is slated to meet with the oldest living World War II veteran in honor of Veterans Day, USA Today reports. Richard Overton, 107 years young, wondered out loud one day last May while touring the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., what it would…
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With Police Closing In, Teen Updates Facebook
A 16-year-old was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with attempted murder after a standoff with police. The teen continuously updated his Facebook status while police were outside his door, the New York Daily News reports. Corey Dunton has been charged in a shooting at Bryant Park ice rink in Manhattan that left one person…
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Birthday Party Ends in Shooting, 2 Dead
Police in Houston are still trying to piece together how a teen’s 18th-birthday house party turned into a mass shooting, leaving two kids dead and 22 people wounded. Around 11 p.m. Saturday night the party—which was heavily promoted on Twitter and Facebook—was in full swing. “Out of no apparent provocation, someone discharged a firearm in…
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Incognito: Jonathan Martin Also Sent Threatening Texts
The bizarre story of locker room racism and bullying continues to get more bizarre. Richie Incognito took to Fox Sports to defend using racist and profane language with Jonathan Martin, saying that doing so was a part of the Miami Dolphins “brotherhood.” He also emphasized that he “is not a racist,” and for anyone to…
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Slavery Isn’t Just Black People’s Burden
I don’t have much of a poker face. This became obvious this spring when I toured Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s mountaintop home in Charlottesville, Va., for the first time. I watched a 60ish white tour guide stumble over a question about Jefferson’s black descendants, then awkwardly change the subject. I cocked my head to the left.…
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Moms and Sons: Leading Boys to Become Men
After a rougher than normal day, my son’s resistance proved to be exactly what I needed. Doubt stalks single mothers raising sons, like shadows on sunny days. It’s a hard feeling to shake when you’ve never been a little boy and you’re really just guessing what it takes to make a man. I’m equipped to…
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Who Were the Harlem Hellfighters?
Editor’s note: For those who are wondering about the retro title of this black-history series, please take a moment to learn about historian Joel A. Rogers, author of the 1934 book 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof, to whom these “amazing facts” are an homage. Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 54:…
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Dear Kanye: We Used to Love You
Dear Kanye, I must admit that you had me going for a while. Your musical genius was once without precedent, and no one this side of Wu-Tang’s the RZA could match your ability to turn even the most obscure audio clip into the bedrock of a hit record. I truly believed you were the “new…
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'Scandal' Recap: Between a Rock and a Heartache
Admit it. You were more than a little disappointed when it turned out that Olivia’s mom wasn’t Whitley Gilbert. How awesome would that have been? Still, despite the glaring omission of A Different World-meets-Scandal mashup that “I love the ‘90s” afterschool specials are made of, this week’s episode of everyone’s favorite melodrama was all about…