culture
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Nelson Mandela Responding to Treatment
South Africa’s 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela, is responding to medical treatment after “a few difficult days” in the hospital, the country’s president, Jacob Zuma, told Parliament on Wednesday. He said that he was happy with Mandela’s progress, adding, “We urge South Africans and the international community to continue to keep President Mandela and the…
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Some People Missed the Whole Trayvon Martin Thing
Last year’s shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin at the hands of self-appointed neighborhood-watch coordinator George Zimmerman set off an in-depth national conversation about race and justice — one that it would be easy to assume most Americans followed closely and formed opinions about. Not so. At least not according to the Orlando…
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Kanye Is the Opposite of 'Anti-Celebrity'
(The Root) — Articles like this one probably annoy Kanye West. Attempts to analyze the litany of quotables that tumble out of his mouth during any given interview are nothing but white noise to the hip-hop star, who in a recent sit-down with the New York Times, dubbed himself an “anti-celebrity” — and also the…
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Affirmations by Kanye: 8 Most Egotistical Quotes
Say what you will about Kanye West (and many people, including all of Twitter and President Obama, will join you), but the man loves himself. Here are some highlights from his, um, very confident recent interview with the New York Times. Look in the mirror and repeat some variations of these as affirmations if you’re…
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Why Hiding a Jury Won't Help Zimmerman Trial
In a piece for Slate, Emily Bazelon explains why sequestering a jury, especially in such a high-profile case, does not work. She bases her argument on Supreme Court rulings and suggests that allowing jurors to live at home and read what they want won’t affect their final decision. In fact, it will help them be…
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Not Everyone Can Go Natural
Teronda Seymore explains in Clutch magazine why her idea to go natural backfired horribly. By being afraid of “the big chop” and not cutting off her relaxer before transitioning, she ruined what was supposed to be a personal journey — and her tresses. It craved that creamy crack. I was relieved to find some under…
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N-Word, Rap and Black Friends: Awkward?
(The Root) — “I’m a 34-year-old white male. Me and most of the guys I work with and play in a basketball league with listen to the same music: hip-hop (old and new) and rap. Of course some songs have the n-word in them. I’m one of the only nonblack guys in the group, which…
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Trayvon Martin: On Trial?
It will be Trayvon Martin who will be judged in the trial, writes Eric Mann in ColorLines, not his murderer. Mann compares Trayvon’s character assassination to his own experience with anti-police-brutality campaigns during the 1960s. When I worked in the Newark Community Union Project in 1966-1968 in the city’s black south and central wards, we…
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50 Years After George Wallace's Stand
(The Root) — Fifteen years after Vivian Malone and James Hood successfully enrolled at the University of Alabama, I had my first day of classes in August of 1978 at the “Capstone of Higher Education” — the state’s flagship. On June 11, 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, an iconic segregationist, stood in the door…
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Medgar Evers' Life and Legacy: 10 Facts
(The Root) — On June 12, 1963, Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens’ Council, shot 37-year-old NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers in the back outside his Jackson, Miss., home, killing him — and making a legend out of a man who was already a courageous soldier in the fight for civil…