culture
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Tamar Braxton Is Finally the Solo Star She’s Long Wanted to Be, so Why Is She Quitting?
Five years ago, Tamar Braxton appeared on Good Morning America to promote Tamar & Vince. It was a year after she became the breakout star of the breakout hit Braxton Family Values, and a year before the release of her album Love and War. She had a peppy smile plastered across her face throughout the…
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10 Things I Know All Black People Would Protest
Like many African Americans, I am boycotting the NFL this season. I’ve also permanently banned all R. Kelly music from my life. I also believe that some police are racist and allow that racism to decide how they are going to handle a situation involving African Americans before they’ve even encountered them. As such, I…
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#FanniesArmy: GirlTrek Organizes Thousands of Women to Walk on Fannie Lou Hamer’s 100th Birthday
GirlTrek, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of black women and girls, is gearing up to celebrate the life of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer on Friday, the 100th anniversary of Hamer’s birth. “Fannie Lou Hamer died too soon, and we want to celebrate her life in a big way,” GirlTrek…
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How to Whitewash a Mass Murderer
Before we begin, you should know what this is all about. Instead of waxing eloquently about how white men get to become sympathetic figures even after they commit the most heinous acts imaginable, we decided to show you. When Adam Lanza strolled into Sandy Hook Elementary strapped with guns and opened fire on 6- and…
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Las Vegas Is Only the Deadliest Shooting in US History Because Black Lives Aren’t Counted
News reporters and anchors have repeatedly referred to the recent tragedy in Las Vegas as the “worst mass shooting in U.S. history.” Like all things that are constantly repeated, the proclamation has become fact. In 2013 a report by the Congressional Research Service defined a public mass shooting (pdf) this way: incidents occurring in relatively…
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The So-Called Christians Defending Sweet Potato Saddam Are Begging to Be Jumped by Jesus
Last weekend the president of the United States turned his sights away from a humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory ravaged by Hurricane Maria, to a subject more in line with his interests: black football players daring to exercise their right to peaceful protest. During the following weekend, that spoiled, queso-colored white supremacist…
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My Life Is Dope and I Do Dope Shit: How I Ended Up Battle-Rapping Against Dave Chappelle
A year ago, when Raheem DeVaughn and I set out to create our new project, Footprints on the Moon, I never imagined the absurd experiences we would have. I was kindly escorted out of a Washington, D.C., club with R&B singer Christopher Williams, and heckled by El DeBarge and his entourage while performing in Anaheim,…
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We Were 8 Years in Power Moves Ta-Nehisi Coates to Top of Black America’s Draft Board
On Jan. 21, 2004, Comedy Central’s groundbreaking Chappelle’s Show debuted the iconic “Racial Draft” sketch. In it, comedian Dave Chappelle imagined a draft in which each race selected and traded individuals to represent the race. The Asians drafted the Wu-Tang Clan, and Jews picked Lenny Kravitz. The concept quickly became an inside joke that still…