culture
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Eric Holder Tackling Harsh Prison Sentences
The Washington Post reports that Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Monday that nonviolent drug offenders who are unaffiliated with gangs and large drug rings will not face charges that can result in harsh prison sentences. He acknowledges that the new policy is important because American prisons are overcrowded. Part of the overcrowding can be…
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Some of My Best Friends Are White
(The Root) — When the Lena Dunham-created show Girls became a hit for HBO, one of the complaints was the show’s lack of diversity despite being set in ethnically diverse New York City. Well, as it turned out, Dunham admitted (in a more eloquent way than I’m about to put it) that she didn’t write…
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Stop-and-Frisk Ruling: Lines That We Want on T-Shirts
(The Root) — In a decision today, a federal court deemed the New York City Police Department’s use of its stop-and-frisk tactic “indirect racial profiling” that allowed police officers to unfairly target blacks and Hispanics far more than whites. More to the point: U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said it was unconstitutional, accused city officials of…
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B. Scott Discusses BET Lawsuit
Media personality B. Scott, along with his attorney, Waukeen McCoy, appeared on Monday’s MSNBC Live to discuss his discrimination lawsuit against BET and its parent company, Viacom, with host Thomas Roberts. It was the first time he has spoken publicly about the lawsuit since filing last week. The claim comes after he was ordered to…
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Donnie McClurkin Misses Out on MLK Concert
Gospel artist Donnie McClurkin did not perform Saturday at a Washington, D.C., government-sponsored concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The Washington Post reports that gay-rights activists didn’t want McClurkin to perform because of his views on homosexuality. He has said that he dealt with homosexuality, but God brought him out from…
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Ruling: Stop-and-Frisk Practice Violates Rights
A federal judge has ruled that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department — under which mostly black and Hispanic people have been questioned by police — have violated the constitutional rights of New Yorkers, according to the New York Times. The decision calls for a federal monitor to oversee broad reform to the…
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Black Robbers Wore White Masks to Pull Off Crimes
Akeem Monsalvatge, Derrick Dunkley and Edward Byam were big fans of the heist movie The Town. They were so inspired by Ben Affleck’s film about a group of Boston townies who wear masks to pull off big-time robberies that the three Queens, N.Y., men attempted to live out the movie in real life — but…
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Author Kyra Davis: The Next 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?
In January, Kyra Davis released her erotica series, Just One Night, exclusively as e-books through Simon & Schuster’s digital imprint. Much as the Fifty Shades erotica series did last year, Davis’ trilogy (which features The Stranger, Exposed and Binding Agreement) has garnered a cultlike following. But that quiet success may soon go mainstream, according to…
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Fan Throws Banana at Adam Jones During MLB Game
Adam Jones, an All-Star outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles, revealed that a fan in the stands threw a banana at him during his team’s game against the San Francisco Giants, ESPN reports. Jones did not say anything about the incident in postgame interviews; rather, he took to Twitter. “I want to thank whatever slapd—- threw that…
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Historic Tribute to August Wilson
(The Root) — By the time August Wilson passed away in 2005, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright had completed a profound body of work that has left an indelible mark on black culture, American literature and Broadway. Now, in a historic event, his series of 10 plays, each chronicling a decade of the African-American experience during…