culture
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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…
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100 Years Later, Deltas Are Still a Force
(The Root) — 2013 concludes a century of innovation, trial and triumph for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., the largest black women’s organization in the country. Its consistent record of achievement has sealed the sisterhood’s place in the history books. And the women of Delta have only added more accomplishments to that roster in the…
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'Fruitvale Station' Star on Playing Oscar Grant
(The Root) — Fruitvale Station — a film chronicling the final day of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Oakland, Calif., native who was shot and killed by a transit-police officer on New Year’s Day in 2009 — opens on Friday. Originally slated for an October release, distributor the Weinstein Co. and Executive Producer Forest Whitaker’s…
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Saudi Princess Accused of Enslaving Kenyan and 4 Other Women
Saudi Arabian Princess Meshael Alayban has been arrested in Orange County, Calif., on charges of holding five women against their will and forcing them into labor. According to NBC Los Angeles, one of the women enslaved — a woman from Kenya — escaped from a three-story building and alerted authorities after her boss stole their…
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RGIII Weds Longtime Girlfriend
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III married longtime girlfriend Rebecca Liddicoat Saturday in Colorado, according to the Washington Post. Although he hasn’t released any information about the ceremony, the Post was able to search out a few details through social media. The groom: Wore a blinding white suit with white shirt, vest and tie. The…
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Detroit School District Tosses Black Books
Imagine living in a community with a 93 percent African-American population. Now imagine that all the black educational films, books and videos housed in a local high school library were just tossed in a Dumpster. If you live in Detroit’s Highland Park, this nightmare is a reality. According to the Atlantic Wire, Detroit’s Emergency Manager…
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Café Owner: Allergic to Black People? Don't Eat Here
Martha-Renee Kolleh, owner of a café in the overwhelmingly white town of Ossett in West Yorkshire, England, contends that a number of potential customers cross the threshold of her business and turn away upon discovering that she’s black, according to the BBC. Fed up with the unspoken bigotry and prejudice, she decided to confront the…