culture
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New Orleans' Weekend of Smiling Faces
(The Root) — There was only one reason five guys journeyed to New Orleans on a Fourth of July weekend five years ago: women. Black women. All shades, shapes and sizes of ladies from all over the world were going to be in Nola for the annual Essence Music Festival. To my four friends and…
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Urban School Reform Isn't Truly About Kids
A piece by Leslie T. Fenwick in the Washington Post makes the case that blacks don’t control the critical economic levers shaping school reform. She also explains why that’s a problem. The truth can be used to tell a lie. The truth is that black parents’ frustration with the quality of public schools is at…
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White Writer, Black Characters: Bad Idea?
(The Root) — “I’m a well-known writer of women’s fiction. I want to incorporate black characters into my books. How does a white woman write black women correctly? For example, is it disrespectful to have a black woman have a bit of a thing for white men? What’s the best way to introduce a black…
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Reflections on 'Scandal' and Interracial Romance
Angela Onwuachi-Willig explains at the Huffington Post why the relationship at the center of the drama is personal for her, and a reminder of how far we have to go. My reaction to Scandal is, on one level, personal. As a black woman who has been married to my white husband for 17 years and,…
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Will and Jaden Smith's Interview About Everything
In an interview with Vulture pegged to their postapocalyptic drama After Earth, Will and Jaden Smith touch on everything from seeing patterns in life (Will says he’s a student of them, and Jayden seems to be, too) to who’s the biggest star in the family (Willow) to lessons learned about “the intricacies of global finance.”…
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Charges Filed in Infant Shooting Death
Police filed charges on Monday in connection with the March shooting death of 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins, who was killed while sitting on her father’s lap in a minivan on Chicago’s South Side. THe Huffington Post reports that 33-year-old Koman Willis was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. He reportedly turned himself…
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This Christian Couple Says a Sexless Marriage Is Holier
‘What is the point of marriage if you’re not having sex with your spouse? In a piece at BlackAmericaWeb, Michael H. Cottman ponders a couple’s commitment to abstinence after wedlock. I thought the reasoning for marriage, in part, was to spend quality time with your soul mate, which also includes monogamous sexual intimacy. But Jon and…
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Where's Black Outrage for Mark Carson?
(The Root) — When James Byrd, a black man, was dragged to his death in Texas in 1998 by a group of men later identified as having white-supremacist tendencies, African Americans were outraged. Most Americans were. That same year, another horrifying hate crime captured the attention of the nation, when gay student Matthew Shepard was…
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Veterans Deserve Better on Memorial Day
In his Washington Post column about Memorial Day, Colbert I. King reflects on what the country owes veterans, especially in light of the disrespect shown in Washington, D.C., to the recent observance of the Bureau of Colored Troops’ 150th anniversary. The observance of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Bureau of Colored Troops…
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Right-Wing Reflex: Blame Obama First
In his column at the Chicago Tribune, Clarence Page reprimands the GOP for pointing fingers at President Barack Obama in the IRS scandal, saying that they’re doing so because they don’t know who’s really to blame. … But the big question occupying Capitol Hill is, who is to blame? House Speaker John Boehner’s remarks on…