culture

(The Root) — “I have been doing genealogical research on my family, and I’m wondering if I’m related to William Bunch (aka Peetie Wheatstraw), the blues musician. I’ve seen a picture of him, and the resemblance to my grandfather Nelson Bunch is remarkable. When I’ve asked family about it, they all say that my grandfather…

After Miley Cyrus’ controversial performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, New York magazine explored data to determine what American were most interested in reading about. The results? They were 12 times more curious about twerk-gate than about the conflict in Syria, Mediaite reports. Mocking the priorities of the average American news consumer is the…

Transgender writer and activist Janet Mock lambastes critics who shame men for dating transgender women in a piece at her eponymous blog. “Trans women are women,” she writes in light of the recent so-called sex scandal involving popular hip-hop DJ Mister Cee, who on Thursday acknowledged receiving oral sex from a transgender woman — and…

In an insightful piece in Time magazine, John McWhorter admonishes New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for calling Democratic mayoral front-runner Bill de Blasio’s campaign racist for drawing attention to his interracial family. He says it underscores Bloomberg’s “tragically tin ear” on race relations. Of course, to Mayor Bloomberg, de Blasio’s calling attention to his black wife,…

A black Florida man, Bobby Wingate, is suing the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after a deputy cited him for “walking down the wrong side of the road” during stop, then punched him in the face last December, according to the Raw Story. The deputy was unable to defend the citation when the case appeared in court.…

Authorities in Council Bluffs, Iowa, are investigating a possible hate crime after the home of an interracial couple was set ablaze and the n-word was scrawled on their walls, the Raw Story reports. Shelly Owens told KETV that firefighters were called to her Council Bluffs home at around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. “I’m very angry,” she said.…

When 7-year-old Sacha Marie is not watching her father, New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler, score and rebound on the basketball court, her time is spent playing on a different type of court and watching a different type of athlete. Chandler told the New York Post he brings Sacha Marie to the U.S. Open to watch…

The National Review continues to tell Cory Booker that his stories need more real people. First it was Booker’s imaginary drug-dealer friend, T-Bone; now it turns out the Newark, N.J., mayor, who is running in a special election for U.S. senator, may have created another fictitious tale to boost his superhero profile. According to the…

(The Root) — It’s Fashion Week in New York, where fashion designers are presenting their 2014 spring and summer collections. There’s excitement in the air and a lot of money on the line. And while insiders and laypeople alike have plenty of thoughts about next year’s styles, very few are thinking about activism — in…

Dr. Shiping Bao, a former associate medical examiner in Florida’s Volusia County who testified at George Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, plans to file a $100 million lawsuit in the case, according to WFTV 9. He reportedly will allege that the medical examiner, the state attorney’s office and Sanford Police…