culture

Dunkin’ Donuts executives have issued an apology after releasing an ad to promote the company’s new “charcoal donut” in Thailand, featuring a woman in “blackface” makeup, The Guardian reports. They also suspended the ad campaign, including a planned television spot. The advert, which was used to promote the donut giant’s “charcoal donut”, was called “bizarre…

(The Root) — Ye krik! Ye krak! Each time I hear those four words, I get goose bumps. To this day, that strikingly evocative French Creole refrain haunts me. Popularized by its use in a sadly much-neglected and long-forgotten foreign film with subtitles, the call-and-response exchange between a little black boy and an old black…

What a week it’s been for Lamar Odom, the NBA player and TV personality. It started off with rumors that he was addicted to pain medication, CNN reports. On Friday morning, he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Police say Odom, who refused all chemical tests, had been driving in a “serpentine…

Millennial Maya K. Francis writes in a refreshing piece at xoJane about, well, her generation. Instead of casting wild-eyed glances at the “me, me, me” generation, older folks should borrow a page from some of these, yes, industrious and tech-savvy youths. They could actually teach older folks some life lessons. My first job out of…

(The Root) — David Simon, the creator and lead writer of the HBO drama series The Wire, may owe viewers a sixth season of the critically acclaimed show in order to fulfill an offer he extended to Attorney General Eric Holder a few years back. As many may know, Holder, like President Obama, is a…

Rick Wade, a former senior adviser in the Obama administration and deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Commerce Department, is considering a run against GOP South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Warren Bolton writes in The State. If Wade, who now heads a fledgling global-business-development firm, decides to step into the race, it would create…

Calling Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye “completely objectionable, from language to the content,” Republican Sen. Bill Holtzclaw of Alabama said it should be banned from schools, according to The Atlantic. Bowing to Tea Party pressure, Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw said this week that he thinks The Bluest Eye, Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s…

Gladiators, get ready: The second-most-important moment that Scandal fans have been waiting for is finally here: the first official teaser for the season 3 premiere (the most important is the night the show comes back). But there is some additional news, not only for die-hard fans but also for newbies who are thinking of giving…

Justice has finally prevailed for Robert Miles of Syracuse, N.Y. Seven years after being duped out of a winning $5 million scratch-off ticket, he will receive his winnings within the next couple of weeks, the Associated Press reports. The maintenance worker, who bought the ticket in October 2006, tried to claim his winnings at the…

The scrutiny of Cory Booker continues, but instead of his sexuality, the National Review is going after his credibility. Since the first time he ran for mayor, unsuccessfully, in 2002, Booker has woven into his speeches a story about a drug dealer he befriended named T-Bone. Booker has given detailed anecdotes about his relationship with…