culture
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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…
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Gwen Ifill: Making News of Her Own
(The Root) — In 1999, journalist Gwen Ifill, then a congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, told the New York Times that she was “part terrified, part excited as you always are when you try something new.” She was talking about her new post as moderator of PBS’ Washington Week in Review. Now nearly…
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Obama Rodeo Clown at Missouri Fair Draws Protest
A crowd attending a rodeo show at the Missouri State Fair this weekend whooped and hollered as the announcer called for a clown wearing an Obama mask “to get gored,” according to the Raw Story. “I felt like I was at a Klan rally,” Missouri State Fair goer Perry Beam told Raw Story, his outrage…
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What Would MLK Tweet? Post on Facebook?
If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, would he tweet and post on Facebook? Robert M. Franklin, former president of Morehouse College, where King was an alum, raises the question at CNN as the nation prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a…