culture
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Sandberg Launches 'Lean In' Program at Howard
(The Root) — In a notable choice by an executive and author whose message about leadership has largely skirted challenges specific to women of color, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg chose Washington, D.C.’s Howard University as the site of the launch of her LeanIn.org campus initiative. Sandberg, author of the best-seller Lean In: Women,…
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Utah Station Hires State's 1st Black Anchor
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…
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Why Harry Belafonte Is Suing the Heirs of MLK
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…
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Are College Sports a Modern-Day Plantation?
(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…
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Why Kendrick Lamar Is a Sensitive Rapper
(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…
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Man Paralyzed by Cops Faces 20 Years
(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…
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Why Do Italian Men Love Black Women?
(The Root) — “I went to Italy, where Italian men love black women. My male friends here in the U.S. seem to think I’m exaggerating this when I bring it up, or act offended when I rave about the great time I had there and how much I enjoyed the unusual amount of attention and praise (yeah, I’ll…
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African Voodoo Should Not Be Fodder for Halloween
American Apparel should dismantle its “makeshift Vodou” display and not associate African spiritual traditions or religions with Halloween, Shantrelle Lewis argues at Ebony magazine. Lewis is concerned about the “bastardization of Vodou as a formal religion” and describes how many of the first black communities in the New World were practitioners of African spiritual systems. …
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There Are Tons of Black Female Comedians for 'SNL'
Kenan Thompson is way off the mark in suggesting that the reason Saturday Night Live has too few black female comedians is that there aren’t enough funny, talented black women for the job, Yesha Callahan argues at Clutch magazine. In a recent interview with TV Guide, Thompson removes all blame for Lorne Michaels, the executive producer…
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Legendary Motown Etiquette Expert Dies
(The Root) — On Monday Maxine Powell — the modeling-school proprietor, etiquette expert and charm-school coach — died at age 98. Best known for her work with Motown’s Artist Personal Development Department, she trained performers there in the arts of poise, posture, grace, speech and style. But her legacy extends far beyond the legendary record…