culture

The gentrification taking place in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn inspired Chika Dunu to write a piece for Ebony lamenting the fact that her neighborhood has changed. She notes that the gentrification sends many negative messages to native Brooklynites. I am a Brooklyn native. Born and raised. I’m too young to have partied with…

(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. One of the most typical, revealing products of colonial Spanish culture was the casta painting. This Iberian term…

In a piece for The Atlantic, Andrew Cohen says that President Obama’s comments on the not-guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial reminded America of the disparities that minorities face in our country’s criminal-justice system. “It is a real calamity, in this country, for any man, guilty or not guilty, to be accused of crime,…

Like most of the black community, actor Omari Hardwick was deeply disturbed by the not-guilty verdict in George Zimmerman’s trial. He decided to channel his feelings into a poem and then reached out to his peers to help him present it in a video. The result is “Little Black Boy Wonder,” dedicated to Trayvon Martin.…

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 86 percent of African Americans “strongly disagree” with the not-guilty verdict in George Zimmerman’s trial. The Washington Post found that while the racial gap is “extremely wide” when it comes to reactions on the shooting of Trayvon Martin, most of the divide comes from differing points of…

J. Cole is the latest rapper to be coerced into a public apology for lyrics deemed offensive. Last week the Anti-Bullying Alliance created an online petition demanding that Cole and the rapper Drake apologize to those with autism for a lyric Cole rapped on his collaboration with Drake, “Jodeci Freestyle.” On the song, Cole says,…

For anyone wondering how often black college students are hooking up on campuses across America, Slate recently published some findings that could be seen as bad news or good news. According to the online magazine, hooking up — loosely defined as making out and/or having sex with a person with whom you’re not in a relationship…

(The Root) — There’s been a lot of talk about the lack of black student success at our nation’s colleges. Nationwide, the black college graduation rate is a dismal 42 percent. But what about schools that are graduating high rates of black students? For the last seven years, college-completion rates of black students at high-ranked…

East Cleveland police on Sunday publicly identified the suspect in the deaths of three women who were discovered wrapped in trash bags, the Associated Press reports. And no more bodies were discovered following a search by officers and volunteers, reports show. [East Cleveland Police Chief Ralph] Spotts says Sunday that 35-year-old registered sex offender Michael Madison…

At a time when America is supposed to be postracial, at Jezebel, Meher Ahmad, creates a list of what not to say for people trying to learn her ethnicity. But really, don’t bother asking, because we should be beyond such questions. If you haven’t been able to surmise from my little avatar photo off to the side…