culture

More people are being jailed for crimes they committed because of mental illness. And many of them are destined to cycle in and out of the criminal-justice system without getting the help they need because of a reduction in treatment facilities. According to The Economist, it costs much more to jail a mentally ill person…

In a piece for the Huffington Post, Antwaun Sargent tackles why the CNN anchor’s statements about black men are so stinging. Sargent explains that Don Lemon’s words only perpetuate the stereotypes that white America already has about black men.  I have by Don Lemon’s estimation done all the right things. I am a 24 year…

Julius Chambers, a Charlotte, N.C., civil rights attorney who successfully brought eight cases before the Supreme Court, died Friday at age 76, the Associated Press reports. Chambers, a former director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, was chancellor of North Carolina Central University from 1993 to 2001. He is survived by…

After years of waiting, about 18,000 U.S. farmers are set to receive payments from the Department of Agriculture as part of a $1.2 billion discrimination settlement with the department, the Clarion Ledger reports. Attorneys for the farmers were expected to submit papers to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., regarding final payment on Friday.…

U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Muslim world will be closed at least through the end of the week, the State Department said Sunday, citing “an abundance of caution,” the Associated Press reports. On Friday, the Obama administration announced the closings over the weekend, and officials issued a global travel alert, warning that…

America’s political arena started to become polarized nearly 25 years ago, after conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh syndicated his act, L.Z. Granderson writes at CNN. It also marks the time when Republicans began carrying the talk-show host’s literal and emotional baggage. If you want to know why there’s little cooperation in Washington these days, I’d…

Mychal Denzel Smith writes a penetrating piece at the Nation about black women activists, through the prism of Sybrina Fulton and her life after George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting death of her 17-year-old son, Trayvon Martin. In the country’s effort to “address the problem of anti-black racism, we neglect to consider the experiences of…

While it’s important for all women to take precautionary measures to avoid attacks, not enough men are being trained not to rape in the first place, Christiana Mbakwe writes in a piece at XOJane that tackles rape culture in America. Like many woman, I’ve bought into the fallacy that by adhering to a list of…

On her MSNBC show on Saturday, Melissa Harris-Perry slammed Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, for refusing to allow a former guest to testify about anti-poverty programs. She penned a letter to the congressman explaining that Washington need a safety net to fight poverty. Dear Congressman Ryan, It’s me, Melissa. Look,…

President Barack Obama turns 52 today and is spending part of the day at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, the Associated Press reports. The White House said little about how he’s celebrating. He played golf Saturday with friends from his days in Hawaii and Chicago. Some of them joined him at Camp David.…