culture
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Community Adopts 45 Liberian Children
Lysa Terkeurst is a mother of three girls, but she made a decision that changed her life, her family and her community outside of Charlotte, N.C., the Huffington Post reports. Ten years ago, as she told the Today show, she went to see a choir made up of young boys from a Liberian orphanage. The…
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Oprah Gets an Honorary Degree From Harvard
Oprah Winfrey teared up on Thursday as she accepted an honorary degree from Harvard University, the Mail Online reports, just hours before she was scheduled to delivered the featured commencement speech for the graduating Class of 2013. Explaining the university’s selection of Winfrey as the speaker, Harvard President Drew Faust said, “Oprah’s journey from her…
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Cheerios Ad Brings Out All the Racists
Updated Friday, May 31, 12 p.m. EDT: The Huffington Post reports that the commercial generated such a strong racist reaction on YouTube that the comments section had to be closed. The ad had received more than 1,600 likes and more than 500 dislikes, as well as references to Nazis, “troglodytes” and “racial genocide.” Earlier: It’s…
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N–gers and Redskins: Same Thing?
Earlier this month, members of Congress sent a letter to the NFL’s Washington Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, to express their disapproval of the team’s name. In the same vein, CBS Sports columnist Mike Freeman has written a satire arguing that although there may not be a huge uproar over its racially loaded meaning, the name…
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Oprah: Crazy Like a Fox Executive
(The Root) — Maybe it’s time to throw in the towel, tap out and call it quits. Could it be that this entire time I’ve been lying to myself? That I am, in fact, one of Tyler Perry’s biggest fans and just didn’t know it? Nah. I still think the writer-director-producer makes a mockery of…
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Affordable Care Act: 'Colorblind' Policy and Bigoted Effects
The Atlantic‘s Ta-Nehisi Coates examines the implementation of the ACA and explains why the “lift all boats” policy often falls short. … I want to preface what I am about to say by pointing out the obvious — the ACA is a great thing. I suspect it will go down as the president’s greatest achievement…
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The Never-Ending War on Eric Holder
Writing at the Huffington Post, Earl Ofari Hutchinson says that the attorney general “is an all-purpose tool in the GOP’s relentless drive to mark Obama as a failed president.” There was nothing subtle about The Washington Times’ recent poll question: “Will Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. be forced to resign within the next six months?”…
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Am I Too Successful to Date?
In her xoJane piece chronicling her online dating adventures, India-Jewel muses about why she just might be a bad fit for Match.com. I need to come clean about something — I’m incredibly skeptical about this whole digital dating thing as it relates to me personally. I mean, I know it works, as I know several…
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14-Year-Old Tackled, Choked for Giving Police 'Dehumanizing Stare'
AlterNet is reporting on the story of a 14-year-old Florida boy who says he was feeding and playing with his 6-week-old puppy when he was pinned to the ground and choked by Miami-Dade police officers. His alleged crime: giving the officers “dehumanizing stares” and “clenching his fists.” We would have you guess the teen’s race,…
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The Economic Origins of Black Music Month
(The Root) — Since 1979, June has been designated as Black Music Month. The annual celebration was the result of a collaboration between songwriter and producer Kenneth Gamble, of Gamble and Huff, and broadcasters Ed Wright and Dyana Williams, who lobbied then-President Jimmy Carter for a month, like Country Music Month in October, that celebrated…