culture
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'Treme' Star Hits Macy's With Racial Profiling Suit
The floodgates have opened. In the aftermath of high-profile racial discrimination claims against Barneys, the upscale retailer, more incidents are coming to light. Now, actor Robert Brown, star of HBO’s Treme, says he was profiled in June at Macy’s after buying his mother a $1,350 watch. He has now filed a civil suit against the…
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Budding Dark-Skinned Superstar?
(The Root) — 12 Years a Slave is being hailed as the front-runner to sweep the next Academy Awards. In addition to Chiwetel Ejiofor’s powerful performance and Steve McQueen’s forceful direction, there is Lupita Nyong’o’s haunting turn as a slave named Patsey. Nyong’o’s ability to convey Patsey’s grace and humanity, regardless of the abuse and…
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Howard Homecoming a Waste? No Way
(The Root) — Like many Howard University alumni, I’m pretty committed to — and really sentimental about — my alma mater’s annual homecoming weekend. I haven’t missed one since I graduated. Just as I was giddily putting the last touches on this year’s plans, I received the following email, sent to The Root by a…
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Obamacare Website Glitches: Privilege Is Clouding Reporting
Political commentator Zerlina Maxwell, writing at Feministing, hits journalists who have health coverage but log on to healthcare.gov, make false calls into the call center and then report negative stories about problems with Obamacare enrollment. She says that these journalists are letting their position of privilege cloud their reporting — and they’re missing the point…
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Barneys Hires Civil Rights Expert
Day 3 of Barneys-gate: In an attempt to stop the bleeding from claims made by two shoppers, the CEO of Barneys New York has issued a Facebook apology and hired a civil rights expert to review the treatment of customers, the New York Post reports. The move comes days after two young African Americans claimed…
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Domestic Violence and the Toll on Black Women
At the Huffington Post, Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, writes in response to an alarming new study from his organization about the rates at which black women are murdered by men. The high toll gun violence exacts on black males is all too well known. Less known is the fact that black…
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'12 Years a Slave': Horrors Hard to Sell?
The brutal honesty of 12 Years a Slave could make it difficult for the critically acclaimed film to make it into the mainstream. The film’s distributor, Fox Searchlight, is aware that showing slavery in an authentic light may be difficult for some viewers to watch, the Los Angeles Times reports. An unflinching look at whippings,…
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'Scandal' Recap: Last Night's 10 Best Quotes
(The Root) — There’s nothing like a nice, juicy Cyrus Beene quote. Pretty much everything the cheeky chief of staff says can be applied to any real-life situation if you try hard enough. To wit, if someone cuts you in line at the coffee shop, just stick them with a snarling, “You might be animal,…
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When Misspellings Mar Your Ancestry Search
(The Root) — “One line of my family tree, surname Hereford, has lived in the area of Huntsville, Ala., since at least the early 1900s. In researching this line via U.S. census documents, I have found the last name to be spelled multiple different ways, including ‘Heriford’ and ‘Hurford.’ I have been able to find…
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Wither TV's 'Strong Black Woman' Trope?
Kerry Washington’s role as Olivia Pope on Scandal and Nicole Beharie’s as Abbie Mills on Sleepy Hollow have effectively helped dismantle the age-old television stereotype of the strong, stoic black woman as they portray characters who are allowed to be emotional. “Olivia Pope and Abbie Mills push against the idea of the Strong Black Woman…