culture
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NYC Principal Accused of Calling Black Teachers Racial Slurs
In Queens, N.Y., Minerva Zanca, principal of Pan American International High School, has been accused of calling several black teachers “gorillas” and talking about their “nappy hair” and “big lips,” according to the Huffington Post. The teachers have filed complaints with the Department of Education Office of Equal Opportunity. Members of the New York City…
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Poll: Gawker Wrong to Show Trayvon's Body?
If you thought you couldn’t be any more sickened than you already were at the idea that George Zimmerman might actually get away with going out of his way to stalk and then kill an unarmed black teenager who was guilty of nothing more than, well, being an unarmed black teenager, don’t go to Gawker…
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South Florida Preps for Zimmerman Verdict
Police in South Florida have partnered with local pastors in case violence erupts after a verdict is rendered in George Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial in the shooting death of the unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, according to CBS Miami. From the pulpit of the Peaceful Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Miami-Dade Police Director JD Patterson preached peace Thursday…
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Is Family Legend About a Slave Ship True?
“My maternal family comes from the Georgia Lowcountry — Savannah and a few of the surrounding Gullah islands. The family story that has been passed down to me is that some of our ancestors came in on a contraband ship, and when it was in danger of being caught, some of the enslaved people in…
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When White Students Fail, Action Is Taken
A recent study determined that the performance of white students, not black students, moves the needle on education reform, according to the Huffington Post. The report, titled “The Political Foundation of the Black-White Education Gap,” shows how low a priority it is for politicians to pass legislation that would close the achievement gap between white…
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Ava DuVernay Picked to Direct MLK Movie 'Selma'
Ava DuVernay, the independent film director known for her two critically acclaimed dramas, 2011’s I Will Follow and 2012’s Middle of Nowhere, has been chosen to direct the Martin Luther King Jr. feature drama Selma, according to Deadline. DuVernay was chosen by Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company to take over after the film’s original director, Lee…
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'Fruitvale Station': Portrait of a Life Cut Short
Fruitvale Station, a new film that reconstructs the last 24 hours of the life of Oscar Grant III — an unarmed black man who was gunned down by a white police officer on a subway platform in 2009 in Oakland, Calif. — is a trenchant examination of police brutality against people of color in the…
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Trayvon Martin: How Does Justice Look?
In a piece at The Nation, Mychal Denzel Smith writes that imprisonment for George Zimmerman wouldn’t be fair punishment or even justice for Trayvon Martin. The system is broken, and Zimmerman would be just one more person languishing behind bars. The pursuit of justice “needs to be more proactive,” he says. The murder trial of…
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Should Jay-Z Become an NFL Agent?
Already an agent for athletes in the NBA and MLB, Jay-Z is working on obtaining his NFL certification, but Fox Sports‘ Jason Whitlock argues sarcastically that the rapper has built a music empire by creating “self-destructive and seductive” rhymes and should stay in his lane. Pete Rozelle, Paul Tagliabue, Roger Goodell and the league’s television…