culture

(The Root) — Before the ladies of Sex and the City pounded the New York City pavement in their stilettos and before our new-millennium Girlfriends were taking over Los Angeles, we tuned in to our girls Khadijah (Queen Latifah), Synclaire (Kim Coles), Max (Erika Alexander), Regine (Kim Fields) — and the guys, Kyle (Terrence Carson)…

Kevin Hart, responding to criticism of his relationships, expressed frustration with black women, saying they “assume they know your life,” MadameNoire reports. Kevin Hart stays in trouble with black women[,] doesn’t he? At least that’s what we gathered from the controversy, or better yet criticisms, that have seemed to follow his career since he entered the…

Is blue-eyed soul a form of cultural appreciation or appropriation? Spurred by Robin Thicke’s soulful summer hit, “Blurred Lines,” Michael A. Gonzales explores the question at Ebony.  Nevertheless, while “Blurred Lines” is most definitely one of the hottest songs of the season, Robin Thicke also retains his spot as one of the more popular “blue-eyed soul” singers…

Today’s youths, like their forebears in the civil rights movement, are turning to strategic protest to challenge the status quo, including fighting to end “Stand your ground” laws, Dani McClain writes at Colorlines. Since July 16 — three days after the George Zimmerman verdict was announced — [Curtis] Hierro and between a dozen and 60…

(The Root) — Starting this Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, at 3 p.m. EDT, The Root, in partnership with the NAACP and the Black Youth Project, will kick off the “Martin Moment” series on Google+. Against the backdrop of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington, and the reinvigorated discussion…

Writing at CNN, Tavis Smiley argues that racism is one reason it took the federal government so long to change harsh, mandatory sentencing guidelines for certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders. The laws primarily affected minorities, especially black men, he says. As I watched the announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder this past week in San Francisco…

Following the No. 1 weekend opening of Lee Daniels’ The Butler, the Hollywood filmmaker Lee Daniels, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz sat down Monday with CNN‘s Piers Morgan. Responding to a question from Morgan about postracial America in the age of Obama, Daniels said, “I think that people are angry that he’s president, and…

In a bruising profile of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New Yorker tackles his 12 years in office, describing him as “a plutocrat” who used his sizable wealth to remain in power. The article paints him as being out of touch, especially regarding minorities and low-income residents. His remarks on the subject of stop-and-frisk have sometimes…

(The Root) — “Gimme dem beats fool/It’s a full-time jack move.” —Ice Cube, “Jackin’ for Beats” (Kill at Will) In their 40 years of creating classic beats and rhymes, rap- and hip-hop-influenced R&B producers have always found inspiration from soul, funk and rock-and-roll musicians. Whether it is Ice Cube’s sampling of James Brown’s “Funky Drummer”…

A 26-year-old former intern filed a class action lawsuit on Tuesday in a federal court in New York City, saying that Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment and its parent company violated minimum wage laws, the Daily News reports. Rashida Salaam, 26, filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court, accusing Bad Boy and…