culture

Writing at Ebony, Lesli-Ann Lewis, who attended Dave Chappelle’s controversial recent return to the stage in Connecticut, writes that the comedian did not have a meltdown and argues that the problem was with the audience. The Oddball “Funny or Die” tour was supposed to be Chappelle’s big return to stand up (again). Shorty after taking…

Professor Cornel West, the radio personality and scholar, on Friday lashed out at organizers of Wednesday’s 50th-anniversary commemoration of the March on Washington, saying that it offered scant celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. and his accomplishments, according to Mediaite. He said the event merely highlighted “the coronation of the bona fide house Negro of…

MSNBC‘s Al Sharpton Friday slammed Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly for being disingenuous in his apology for incorrectly assuming that members of the Republican Party were not invited to speak at the 50th-anniversary celebration of the March on Washington. O’Reilly really struck a nerve with Sharpton when he said the apology was important because his viewers…

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…