culture

Writing at Ebony magazine, Tanya Steele wonders if Miriam Carey, the woman who tried to drive through a barrier near the White House last week, would have been fatally shot if she had been white. Steele says the incident sheds light on how African-American women with mental illness are perceived in America.   So, I know how Miriam Carey…

Everyone should cut Lauryn Hill some slack, Alexandra Phanor-Faury writes at Ebony magazine. The singer is making culturally relevant music and working at a comfortable, healthy pace. While she may be free from captivity today, Hill was always free-minded. Carving out her own path sans regard to public opinion was her constant modus operandi. While many…

No group brings to mind images of hatred, violence and sheer ugliness more than the Ku Klux Klan. But is it possible that today’s iteration of the KKK looks remarkably different from the iconic images of white men in white robes and white hoods, burning crosses and terrorizing black people (and those who were allies of…

(The Root) — When was the last time the culture produced a great black male jazz singer? To be sure, there is no shortage of contemporary black female jazz vocalists — Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson and Lizz Wright, to name just a few — all at the peak (or close to, in Wright’s case) of…

(The Root) — Remember the name Maurice Green — not the Olympic sprinter, but the energetic young scholar who founded the International Black Doctoral Network Association Inc. The newly minted group just completed its first convention in Philadelphia, drawing 400 black Ph.D.s and doctoral candidates from a wide variety of disciplines to network, present papers…

(The Root) — In the weeks since the Washington Navy Yard shooting, the city of New Orleans reached a tragic milestone. All told, 108 people have been murdered in the Crescent City so far this year. In September two black girls, one 11 years old and the other age 2, were shot and killed. And…

Dr. Boyce Watkins, writing at Your Black World, slams Clear Channel for trafficking toxic and denigrating hip-hop and rap lyrics over its airwaves. He says the company must be confronted in court to put an end to negative messaging in the black community.  This week, I spoke at a conference hosted by the Center for…

Writing at the Washington Post, Jonathan Capehart explains why a detente may be fleeting in the latest searing bipartisan battle on Capitol Hill. He says President Barack Obama is done rewarding the GOP’s bad behavior.  As the sad drama of Miriam Carey was unfolding on Pennsylvania Avenue, I was listening to a Republican member of Congress talk…

Updated Oct. 6, 12:25 p.m. EDT: Washington police are investigating the use of deadly force in the shooting of 34-year-old Miriam Carey, who reportedly tried to ram her car through a White House barrier. The review comes after Carey’s family raised questions about the shooting, saying it was “unjustified.” Deadly force experts have also raised…

The Obama administration has been unflinching in its war on terror, despite exceptional political dysfunction at home, which includes a partial shutdown of the federal government. On Saturday, amid a day of bipartisan bickering over who is responsible for the closing of the government, came news of the capture of a Libyan al-Qaida leader, who…