culture

Writing at CNN, L.Z. Granderson argues that Americans’ abysmal level of academic prowess undermines democracy at the voting booth, which has paved the way for a dysfunctional Congress. He bases the observation on findings of a recent survey showing that Americans trail other countries in literacy, math and computer skills. You see, while we were…

Ben S. Carson, in a piece at the Washington Times, slams critics who have accused him of comparing Obamacare to slavery. “I stated that Obamacare was the worst thing in our country since slavery,” he writes. Many can remember as youngsters doing something wrong, for which they knew punishment was deserved. In order to avoid…

Bill de Blasio is primed to become New York City’s next mayor because the Democratic candidate’s interracial family represents and cultivates social change, Ben Ryder Howe writes at the New York Observer. I had to laugh when I read recently that Bill de Blasio, the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, is leading the…

U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos ignited controversy when they bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists in the “black power” salute during the Olympic medal ceremony Oct. 16, 1968, in Mexico City. While some viewed them as heroes, in the eyes of some they represented a scourge on America. The men were suspended…

At a time when diversity among broadcast and cable news anchors appears to be on the wane, or barely exists in places like, say, um, Utah, 27-year-old Nadia Crow’s recent move represents a bit of good news. She became the first regular African-American anchor at Utah’s KTVX-Channel 4 and in the state, according to the…

Eighty-six-year-old singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte has moved on to a different battle, following his high-profile intergenerational beef with Jay Z this summer.  Saying that at his age it’s time to get his affairs in order, he filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a New York City federal court against the three surviving children of…

(The Root) — When 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel was reprimanded for allegedly taking payment for signing autographs, the ensuing controversy reignited an age-old debate: Should college athletes be compensated? Manziel appeared on the cover of Time magazine under the headline “It’s Time to Pay College Athletes.” But the way…

(The Root) — While the federal government hangs by the hair of its chinny chin chin, hip-hop MC Kendrick Lamar is playing the big, bad wolf, challenging rappers during Tuesday night’s broadcast of the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards cypher to step up their art and performance in respect for the culture’s battle tradition. Surrounded…

(The Root) — On Nov. 11, 2012, just before 10 p.m., Leon Ford Jr. looked in his rearview mirror and saw flashing lights. Ford pulled to the side of the road. Almost everything that happened next — whether Ford should have been stopped, what happened when Pittsburgh police officers approached Ford’s car, what Ford and…