culture
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A Black French Woman Smiles at Freedom
(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. A young black woman, her face timeless yet somehow familiar, looks down with a sideways glance, her lips parted…
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3 Black Directors Make '20 to Watch' List
Have you seen Pariah? The 2011 coming-of-age film about a young lesbian was a Sundance darling. What about An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, a film that blended real-life actors with animation to tell the story of a man grief-stricken over a breakup? Or maybe you saw Medicine for Melancholy, a romantic indie film about two…
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2 Suspects Arrested in Shooting Death of Black Baby
This past Friday, police arrested the two men who they suspect are responsible for the killing of 1-year-old Antiq Hennis of Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the Daily News. Although they received no help from Antiq Hennis’ father, Anthony Hennis, who was the original target and believed to have key information, police were able to track…
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Can You Grant Permission to Use the N-Word?
No one can grant anyone else permission to use the n-word, Gene Demby argues at the NPR blog Code Switch. There isn’t a consensus on whether or not black people should use it, and although white people aren’t encouraged to use it, there’s wiggle room there, too, depending on the person and context. There’s this…
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Black Women and 'Strip Club Chic'
Even though celebs like Nicki Minaj frequent strip clubs, black women should think critically about supporting such venues, Monique John argues at For Harriet. Historical exploitation of the black female body makes the decision all the more personal, political and complicated. Nicki Minaj. Rihanna. Diamond. Young B. These celebrities have made going to the strip…
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Tyra Banks in Whiteface Is Not Reverse Racism
In a piece at Clutch magazine, Yesha Callahan cautions against claiming reverse racism about Tyra Banks’ participation in a photoshoot emulating white supermodels in which she appears lighter. Although Callahan doesn’t particularly like the photos, she has a hunch that much of the outcry stems from the backlash white people receive when they appear in…
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Interracial Couple Fights for Right to Stay in Town
In a town as small as Leith, N.D. (population: 16), Bobby and Sherrill Harper stick out like sore thumbs, Bobby especially. They are the town’s only interracial couple, and Bobby is the only black man. But according to CNN, one Leith resident, Paul Craig Cobb, thinks Bobby is one black person too many. Paul Craig…
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Serena Williams Wins 5th US Open
In order for No. 1-seeded Serena Williams to take home her fifth U.S. Open title, she had to beat No. 2-seeded Victoria Azarenka and, it seemed, another opponent. As ESPN reports, Azarenka wasn’t giving Williams problems as much the weather at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens. After one miss, Williams declared, “I can’t…
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Black Woman to Be 1st Non-Irish Host of Boston St. Patrick's Day Breakfast
When Linda Dorcena Forry won her bid for state senator of the First Suffolk District in Boston in May, her victory signified change to come. Not only is she black, but she is the first woman to hold the seat. Those two factors alone showed outsiders that Boston, long associated with racism toward blacks and…
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Lessons From the Birmingham Bombing
(The Root) — Sept. 15 marks the 50th anniversary of perhaps the most tragic episode of the civil rights movement. On that day Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, 14, Addie Mae Collins, 14, and Cynthia Wesley, 14, were killed in a terrorist-sponsored explosion at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Their deaths overtook…