culture
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A Festival for Foodies and Music Lovers
(The Root) — Corn. That’s one of my earliest and fondest memories of the Taste of Chicago, where you can buy big, juicy corn on cob on a stick and douse it with lemon pepper or any flavoring of your choice. You see, it reminds me of spending summers at my grandparents’ house in the…
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Harvard's 1st Black Dean Steps Down
Evelynn Hammonds, the first African-American and first female dean of Harvard College, has announced that she will step down from her post on July 1, AtlantaBlackStar.com reports. The news comes in the wake of a student-cheating scandal during which administrators searched the email accounts of resident deans for the source of leaks to the student…
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Could First Lady End Hollywood Colorism?
(The Root) — Recently I had the pleasure of moderating a conversation hosted by New York Women in Film and Television and the Fox Broadcasting Co. on the issue of diversity in Hollywood, particularly in terms of casting. The panel included some of the industry’s leaders on the subject, among them film executive Zola Mashariki,…
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TLC Creator Snubbed in Biopic?
According to an excerpt from the June 2013 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine about the upcoming VH1 biopic Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story, the group’s creator, Ian Burke, is feeling more sad than crazy, sexy or cool when it comes to the made-for-TV movie. Why? It pretty much leaves him out altogether. In exchange…
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Philadelphia's New Summer Tradition
(The Root) — Everyone knew that 2012’s Made in America Festival would be great. It was curated by rapper and business mogul JayZ, who promised to bring more than 30 of music’s best acts to Philadelphia during Labor Day weekend of 2012, the music festival’s inaugural year. Attendees were allowed to enter the highly guarded…
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AFRAM: Family Fun in a Changing City
(The Root) — My fondness for street fairs and cultural festivals goes back to my childhood growing up in Baltimore. The mix of people, food and arts and entertainment is an atmosphere I thrive on. Each summer my mother took me to every ethnic festival we could get to on public transportation, and one of…
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Butt-Dialing Pizza Man's Racist Songs
The CEO of Papa John’s has apologized to a Sanford, Fla., customer after a deliveryman accidentally dialed the man’s voice mail after dropping off an order and left a singing voice mail consisting largely of n-word remixes of The Barber of Seville and Rhythm Heritage’s “Theme From SWAT,” Mediaite reports. The apology came after a…
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Va. Governor to Restore Nonviolent Offenders' Voting Rights
On Tuesday a task force commissioned by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli found no legal basis for either the governor or the General Assembly to automatically restore the voting rights of former convicted felons, but the governor found a way to do it anyway, Colorlines‘ Brentin Mock reports. Gov. Bob McDonnell announced that he would…
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Why Nothing's Like Playing Mas at Caribana
(The Root) — Underneath a sun-drenched blue sky, the noises of the steel pan pierce the air, their jubilant sounds forcing us into hip-swaying and rump-shaking as we trek down Lake Shore Boulevard in a blissful state. Everyone is under the influence of the infectious rhythm that the Caribbean music carries, while others find themselves…
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A Feast for the Senses, Every Year in Seattle
(The Root) — As Seattle emerges from the rains of winter and spring and heads into the somewhat less rainy months of summer, we citizens of Rain City shed the fleeces, roll down the windows and try to remember where we put the sunscreen. It’s festival weather, and one staple of the season is Festival…