culture

In an interview with WKYC, Charles Ramsey, the Cleveland man who rose to fame after discovering three women who had been missing since their teens, disputes a report by the Daily Mail that he is broke and homeless. He told the station why he moved out of his apartment near suspected kidnapper Ariel Castro and…

Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees — more than 1,000 of them teachers — as a result of a $1 billion budget deficit, officials said on Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis accused school officials of lying “to parents, employees and the public about keeping…

In the days after George Zimmerman was acquitted on second-degree-murder and manslaughter charges for his killing of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, it was revealed that Zimmerman would receive back all of his property that was held during the trial, including the gun he used. But now, according to the Orlando Sentinel, the FBI has requested…

Kerry Washington became only the second black woman to receive a Primetime Emmy nomination in the category of lead actress in a drama series for her role as Olivia Pope in the hit television series Scandal. According to Shadow and Act, the nomination is also the first for Washington herself, but the more important significance is how…

MSNBC‘s Adam Serwer examines the gulf between Rachel Jeantel and juror B37 in George Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial, concluding that their “perceptions of the case and the two men involved” mirrors the racial divide in America. Rachel Jeantel’s face lit up when describing how she and Trayvon Martin would sometimes talk on the phone all day.…

Author Walter Mosley addresses George Zimmerman’s acquittal at the Daily Beast by relating a powerful and lasting lesson on racism that he received as a teen from his father in 1969, which was that “living in the land of the free doesn’t make you free.” I remember when I was 17 years old, in 1969; three…

(The Root) — Just two days after a jury acquitted George Zimmerman, Jacksonville, Fla., lawyer Cory Strolla stood in the Florida State Court hallway and spoke to a huddle of reporters. “I worry they’re going to say, ‘We lost Zimmerman, so let’s get Michael Dunn,’ ” Strolla said, referring to Florida State Attorney Angela Corey.…

At Colorlines, Brentin Mock writes that the only good news about Florida’s colorblind trial against George Zimmerman is that it now allows the U.S. Department of Justice, which has broader resources and authority, to build a stronger case against the former neighborhood-watch captain without excluding race. Veteran civil rights attorneys and advocates are convinced that…

Although the New York City Police Department policy of “stop and frisk” disproportionately affects black men, in an opinion piece for the Washington Post, Richard Cohen argues in favor of such practices because they protect the general public. Cohen says that since most shooting suspects in New York City are black men — 78 percent…

The Associated Press is reporting that on Thursday, Detroit became the largest city in the U.S. to file for bankruptcy, after the state-appointed emergency manager filed for Chapter 9 protection. The filing, which had been feared for months, put the city on an uncertain path that could mean laying off municipal employees, selling off assets,…