culture
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Introducing Sen. Cory Booker
(The Root) — Cory Booker is officially a U.S. senator. Vice President Joe Biden swore in the former Newark, N.J., mayor, known for his boots-to-the-ground approach to governing, at noon today in the Old Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol. While the event was technically open to the public, viewers were not allowed in to…
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Va. Governor Hopeful Appeals to Blacks, Youth
As the race for Virginia’s governor heats up between Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II and Terry McAuliffe, Democrats are pulling out all the stops to lure African Americans and young voters to the polls, the Washington Post reports. McAuliffe has taken to an Obama secret weapon, the “pledge card,” a promissory note that serves as…
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Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Preterm Births in Black Women
Black women are more likely to deliver premature babies when a vitamin D deficiency is found during pregnancy, a new study, led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, has found. According to the research, which included Puerto Rican women, premature birth in nonwhite mothers naturally going into labor before the pregnancy…
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Survival First When Facing Street Harasser
(The Root) — “When a guy asks for your number on the street and you say, ‘I have a man,’ and he says, ‘Your man doesn’t let you have friends?’ How do you put an end to this convo? Apparently I’m answering wrong, because when I do it opens up dialogue, which results in me…
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'Best Man' Fans Wait 14 Years for Sequel
(The Root) — “You know, people really know me from The Best Man. I’ve done five other movies since then, but it always comes back to The Best Man. It was time to do the sequel.” –Malcolm D. Lee, director, The Best Man Holiday The year is 1999, and a consistent stream of films directed…
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Stop Hating on Poor Blacks Who Buy Expensive Stuff
In the aftermath of allegations of racial profiling at Barneys and Macy’s, Tressie McMillan Cottom checks in on criticism of the shoppers, who some say shouldn’t have been spending beyond their means in the first place. “Poor people make stupid, illogical decisions to buy status symbols,” she writes at her blog, Tressiemc, “for the same…
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Sen. Cory Booker Takes Office
(The Root) — Thursday will be a whirlwind day for the new senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker. His public swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., will be conducted by Vice President Joe Biden, and later in the afternoon he’ll visit with President Barack Obama at the White House. Booker will be one…
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'Baby Love' Writer on Muse of 1st Novel
(The Root) — Almost halfway through Rebecca Walker’s haunting debut novel, Adé: A Love Story, I realized that dog-earing was a fool’s errand. Every sentence was a gift. Every new paragraph packed with colors, scents and italicized sounds I had to see, smell and hear again. Soon the book’s pages were more bent than not.…