culture
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Tristan Wilds Sings After 'The Wire'
Ever since he captivated audiences as Michael Lee on HBO’s The Wire, it seemed inevitable that Tristan Wilds would have a formidable acting career. But as he tells the Daily News, acting was never the plan; singing was his focus. Under the name “Mack Wilds,” a new persona he’s tailored specifically for the microphone, the…
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Isaiah Washington on Life After the F-Word
It’s been more than six years since Isaiah Washington was unceremoniously dropped from the hit TV series Grey’s Anatomy for allegedly insulting co-star T.R. Knight with a derogatory gay slur. Since then, the actor has failed to secure a role as popular as Dr. Preston Burke, his character on the Shonda Rhimes-created medical drama, which…
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'Sleepy Hollow': A New Day for Race on TV?
(The Root) — Of course, back in 1820, when Washington Irving penned The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, most black folks were in chains, women were little more than decorative chattel and a headless horseman turned out to be a practical joke formed out of a pumpkin. Clearly, a black detective — free and female —…
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NC Cop Charged in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Black Man
The Associated Press is reporting that a North Carolina police officer has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of former Florida A&M University football player Jonathan A. Ferrell, 24, who was seeking help after a car accident in Charlotte. The deadly encounter was set in motion when a former college football player survived…
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Black Names: What's the Problem?
Jamelle Bouie, writing at the Daily Beast, concludes that the perennial debate among some whites about so-called unconventional black names says more about white ethnocentrism and racial inequality than black culture. Reddit isn’t just a clearinghouse for interviews, animal pictures, and crazy stories. It’s also a place where people ask questions and have discussions. Yesterday,…
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The Lives They Might Have Lived, 4 Little Girls
“This is for four women who are not here,” Leonard Pitts Jr. writes at the Miami Herald in an evocative reflection on the lives of the four little girls who died in the Birmingham, Ala., church bombing. He pays homage to the accomplishments they were never able to achieve due to racial hatred. It is…
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Why a Black Man Says No to 'The Butler' and '12 Years a Slave'
At the Guardian, black Canadian author Orville Lloyd Douglas says he won’t be seeing Lee Daniels’ The Butler or 12 Years a Slave because they were created to engender white guilt. Further, the so-called race dramas are unlikely to teach viewers anything new, he writes. Lee Daniel’s new film The Butler is a box office success, already generating…
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O'Reilly: Trayvon Died Because He 'Looked a Certain Way'
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly on Friday returned to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. While blatantly ignoring the issue of racial profiling, he and his guest, former U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), rationalized that the unarmed 17-year-old was shot by George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood-watch captain, because he “looked a certain way,” according to the…
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Paula Deen Returns, Sheds More Tears
Beleaguered celebrity chef Paula Deen struggled to hold back tears Saturday as she received a warm welcome from the crowd during an appearance at a Houston cooking show, the Associated Press reports. Saturday’s event was Deen’s first public appearance since June when it was revealed that in an earlier legal deposition she acknowledged using racial…
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LeBron James Weds Fiancee in San Diego
The Miami Heat’s LeBron James on Saturday married fiancee Savannah Brinson at San Diego’s posh Grand Del Mar Hotel, according to the Associated Press. About 200 guests were present for the ceremony, said one of the people, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because the wedding was private and the couple had yet to…