culture
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Meet '30 Leaders in the Fight for Black Men'
The Daily Beast has presented a list of “30 Leaders in the Fight for Black Men,” pulled together by President Obama’s former spiritual adviser (and The Root 100 honoree) Joshua DuBois. They include politicians, activists, writers and athletes — from the NAACP’s Ben Jealous to The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade.…
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Deen's Racism: More Than a Twitter Joke
(The Root) — So it turns out that Paula Deen — who, with her buttery Southern charm, cozied up to us by way of the tube — was really just a bigot who could burn. Deen went hard. After being slapped with a lawsuit charging racism, she acknowledged in a deposition that she “of course”…
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Crazy Talk: Ohio School Bans Afro Puffs and Braids?
Hopefully this isn’t true. It’s being reported today that a school in Ohio has banned, well, just about 75 percent of reasonable hairstyles for school-age African-American girls with natural hair. No “Afro puffs” (the style that results when your hair isn’t straight and you pull it back) and no “small twisted braids.” If this really…
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A Slave's Legacy Lives On in World War II
The following is an excerpt from Freedom Papers: An Atlantic Odyssey in the Age of Emancipation, a book about an 18th-century slave, Rosalie, and her amazing descendants. The coronation of George VI as king of England provided the ostensible motive for the Associated Negro Press to send the journalist Fay M. Jackson from Los Angeles…
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Sneaky Practices That Cheat Fast-Food Workers
At Colorlines, Seth Freed Wessler uncovers illegal employment practices at many fast-food restaurants, and the underpaid workers who suffer the consequences. The U.S. Department of Labor found a couple years ago that 40 percent of fast food outposts in the country fail to consistently pay their employees a minimum wage or overtime. And a recent study from New York…
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The NBA Finals' Most Annoying Viewers
Before Thursday night’s big game, Very Smart Brothas’ Damon Young offered some very direct words of advice to basketball novices, including must-know facts and essential etiquette. … 1. Shut the f*ck up There’s nothing wrong with being an NBA novice. Basketball isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so it’s perfectly understandable if you just don’t happen…
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Reports: Rapper Lil Snupe Dead
Multiple sources are reporting that 18-year-old rapper Lil Snupe of Meek Mill’s Dream Chasers Records has died after being shot earlier this week. A writer for AllHipHop.com wrote this morning, “Now, I am hearing that he has been found dead. I don’t have a lot of details, but I heard he was shot by some…
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911 Call Allowed in Zimmerman Trial
Saturday, June 22, 12:13 p.m. EDT: On Saturday morning, Judge Debra Nelson ruled that while the audiotape of the 911 call can be played during the upcoming trial, which begins on Monday, the findings of audio will not be admissable. CBS News reports that this decision will likely shorten the proceedings by one week. Thursday, June 20,…
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Pelosi Blasts Proposed $20.5 Billion Food Stamp Cuts
On Wednesday the House of Representatives killed an amendment by Rep. James McGovern that would have eliminated planned food stamp cuts in the GOP’s five-year farm bill, replacing the cuts with reductions to big agriculture subsidies. The bill currently includes $20.5 billion in food stamp cuts over the next 10 years (a number that could…