culture

Brittney Cooper tackles racism, weightism and stereotypes in a gut-wrenching blog post at Salon. During a flight home over the holiday, the woman seated next to her was still texting — rapidly — after the call had gone out to turn off cellphones. Cooper glanced over and caught the last few words of the text: “On the…

He loves the Fourth of July, writes The Root contributor Edward Wyckoff Williams in a blog post at Salon, but what is independence if full freedom still doesn’t exist for everyone in this nation? Comedian Chris Rock sparked a debate a year ago today, when he tweeted: “Happy white people’s independence day! The slaves weren’t free…

(The Root) — When I heard the news that morning, it whacked me in the chest like the kickback of a sudden and screeching stop. On Wednesday, June 26, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. No longer would a legally married, same-sex couple be denied federal benefits…

(The Root) — After calling nearly three dozen witnesses over nine days leading up to the dramatic moment when Trayvon Martin’s mother took the stand, the prosecution on Friday rested its second-degree-murder case against George Zimmerman.  Did the state prove Zimmerman’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? That seems as improbable as parts of his account…

Friday, July 5, 5:22 p.m. EDT: Judge Debra Nelson has dismissed the defense’s request for acquittal in George Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial. Prosecutors argued against acquittal, saying, “One of them is dead and one of them is a liar.” The defense then called its first witness, Zimmerman’s mother, who identified the scream on the 911 call as…

The Labor Department released its June jobs report today with news that the economy added 195,000 jobs last month, while the national unemployment rate held steady at 7.6 percent. The good news is that the numbers were higher than the 165,000 a Bloomberg survey of economists had estimated. But some of the report’s numbers give pause:…

Fast-food workers feel overworked and underpaid, according to a piece at the New York Times, but the news is that several of these low-wage workers in the New York metropolitan area are not afraid to speak up about their experiences in an effort to push for change. Last week a City Council fact-finding panel listened…

Last year New York City reported its lowest homicide rate since the Police Department started tracking it 50 years ago. Officials say the city’s stop-and-frisk policy has played a large role. It allows officers to stop and search anyone they believe is suspicious. But an editorial in the Washington Post suggests that if changes aren’t…

July 5, 1975, is a noteworthy day in the annals of black sports. It was when Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win Wimbledon, according to Sports Mole, which reports that it was all the more incredible that the 31-year-old Ashe was up against 22-year-old Jimmy Connors, the title holder at the time.…

Blogging at For Harriett, Tyler Young writes that BET’s Being Mary Jane will likely become a hit because the character’s story is familiar to so many women of color, who are trying to do their best while confronting life’s challenges. … I am not sure who’s been peeping inside my window at night but it has got to…