culture

Though many people worldwide were shocked at the not-guilty verdict handed down in the George Zimmerman trial, it’s just one of many Florida trials with verdicts that made us wonder, “What was that jury thinking?” Slate explores other cases in Florida that had frustrating outcomes. A lot of people are having a hard time accepting…

(The Root) — Though it’s compellingly argued and passionately felt, I disagree with the assessment of my colleague at The Root, Keli Goff, that President Barack Obama’s statement about Saturday’s George Zimmerman verdict was disappointing or somehow offensive. After all, everyone has a part to play in this tragedy, and Obama’s is unlike anyone else’s.…

In a piece on his website, white anti-racism activist Tim Wise gives a detailed description of how he explained America’s race relations to his 12-year-old daughter. Wise says that while his white child lives in a “nation set up for people just like her,” she feels the heartache of a system that fails minorities daily. To…

(The Root) — Last weekend the weather in Washington, D.C., was unpredictable. One minute the sun would be shining and the clouds kept at bay, and then suddenly that once-optimistic sky would tip over, pouring out all the rain. The same can be said of the shifting mood among the more than 50,000 members of…

If it grows in Florida, was made in Florida or makes money in Florida, then it is eligible to be included in a list of products and businesses that some Trayvon Martin supporters will boycott as a way to protest the not-guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman second-degree-murder trial. More specifically, creators of the “Boycott…

In the eyes of 5-year-old Jocelyn Rojas and her family, Temar Boggs is a hero. Temar and a friend rescued the little girl after she was snatched from in front of her Lancaster, Pa., home last Thursday. According to a CNN report, the two teens sprung into action once they heard that the little girl had gone missing two hours earlier. The two African-American boys took…

Since Saturday, many images have sprung up over the Internet in support of Trayvon Martin’s family. However, there’s one image that centers on a deeper message, and it’s having a big impact on social media. According to the Huffington Post, a powerful image of Martin Luther King Jr. wearing a hoodie has gone viral. Believed…

On Sunday, fashion heads were finally able to get their hands on the highly anticipated collaboration between Kanye West and French fashion brand A.P.C. in stores around the country and online, causing the label’s U.S. website to crash. Considering one of the prized items in the collection was a short-sleeve, heather-gray hoodie (pictured above), the…

Fruitvale Station will not be one of the top 10 titles listed in this past weekend’s box office, but when looked at on its own, the independent film, which debuted in seven theaters nationwide, had a remarkable opening. Deadline reports that the film, about the 2009 killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III by a transit…

Arguing that the state failed to prove a charge of second-degree murder against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin or that he acted recklessly beyond a reasonable doubt, the Atlantic‘s Ta-Nehisi Coates says the jury got it right in his acquittal. But, he said, “the message of this episode is unfortunate.” 1.)…