culture

In the New York Times, columnist Charles M. Blow parses John McCain’s statement regarding the latest immigration bill, saying the senator was really discussing the meeting of race and politics. Senator John McCain, a member of the Gang of Eight that drafted the original legislation, spoke of his support of the amendment to Fox News…

The title of Kanye West’s newest album, Yeezus, isn’t blasphemous, writes Ebony A. Utley on the Huffington Post; it’s creative. Yeezus is not blasphemous. Oppressed people, including many rappers, have a historical affinity for the Jesus, who was misunderstood much like they are. Jesus had haters. Jesus was unfairly judged. Jesus was under state surveillance.…

After Food Network announced that they would not renew Paula Deen’s television contract at the end of the month following her n-word firestorm, the chef’s fans took to Facebook in defense of their star, writes the Huffington Post. Some even began a Facebook page of their own, called “We Support Paula Deen,” but their comments were…

If your mind was blown by Food Network star Paula Deen’s admission that the n-word is a big part of her vocabulary, then The Daily Show offered some much-needed jokes. On Thursday, lifestyle correspondent Jessica Williams suggested that Deen’s racist outbursts could be countered with a new drug. Watch below: Watch more at The Daily Show.

Whitney Teal, writing in Clutch magazine, urges women of all sizes to rock a bikini this summer. In a list of five reasons, she addresses issues such as body image and ignoring haters.  2) Because Even If You Don’t Believe #1, You Don’t Owe Us Beauty. Let’s say, theoretically, that I’m wrong: Your body is not beautiful.…

E.W. Jackson’s recent controversial comments against his own race and government programs are a ploy to gain white voters, writes Jamelle Bouie in the Daily Beast. His most recent statement concerns his disdain for the anti-poverty programs passed by President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. During a rally in Newport News, Virginia—just a few miles…

In the Huffington Post, Grammy winner P.J. Morton takes a look at the depth and importance of black music, with its “untold stories.” It’s the kind of depth found in the music of legends like Stevie Wonder, who happens to be my greatest musical influences. Stevie is the one musician who made me want to…

(The Root) — First lady Michelle Obama is credited with turning relatively unknown designers into superstars, the most famous being Jason Wu, who became a household name after she selected his dress to wear to her husband’s first inaugural ball. But she has also helped America rediscover superstars. In 2010 she wore a pantsuit by Stephen Burrows,…

(The Root) — Meet the jury of George Zimmerman’s peers: no men and just one person who shares his Latino ethnicity. After nine days of painstaking screenings from a jury pool of 500, six women have been seated to hear the second-degree murder trial against Zimmerman, the neighborhood-watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon…