culture
-
Remembering Bravery in Birmingham
In a piece for the New Yorker, Charlayne Hunter-Gault chronicles the day in 1963 when children as young as 6 marched in Birmingham, Ala., to protest segregation. One of the Children’s Crusaders was Janice Wesley Kelsey, who was in the eleventh grade when she was arrested along with hundreds of other students. She spent four…
-
Learn the Name Mahershala Ali
(The Root) — When White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett spoofs your television show at the prestigious White House Correspondents’ Dinner, you know you’ve made it. For Mahershala Ali, who plays the wily Remy Danton on the Netflix series House of Cards, it’s been a long road. “I am beginning to reap the benefits of…
-
Major Pro Sports' Actual 1st Openly Gay Man
Jason Collins’ decision to make his sexual orientation public in a Sports Illustrated editorial has been fodder for seemingly endless analysis this week. That’s all still valid, but one assumption behind all the talk about progress, bravery and the origins and remnants of bigotry may be slightly off. According to The Atlantic, Collins isn’t the…
-
Not a Shocker: NRA Head Thinks Obama Is a 'Fake President'
Mediaite just dug up this June 2012 video of current National Rifle Association President Jim Porter calling Barack Obama a “fake president” whose entire administration is “anti-freedom.” That’s a lot. When did presidents we disagree with stop being just presidents we disagree with and start being “fake”? Oh, yeah — right around Inauguration Day 2009.…
-
Segregation: Bad for Weathy People and White People
The conventional wisdom is that racial and economic segregation is bad for poor people and minorities who are stuck in “inner city” pockets. But The Atlantic is reporting today on new research finding that segregated regions are actually bad news for everyone because they have both slower rates of income growth and property-value appreciation. The…
-
Putting Assata Shakur on FBI List ‘Reflects the Very Logic of Terrorism’
On Thursday, former Black Panther Assata Shakur became the first woman named to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. Today, Angela Davis and Shakur’s longtime attorney, Lennox Hinds, weigh in on Democracy Now to denounce the decision, with Davis saying that it “incorporates or reflects the very logic of terrorism” and is “designed to frighten…
-
April Jobs Numbers Out: Black Unemployment Stagnant
The Labor Department released its April jobs report today with the good news that the economy added 165,000 jobs last month, while unemployment dropped modestly to 7.5 percent. Those numbers beat expectations, according to a Reuters survey of economists. But some of the report’s details were less than uplifting: Despite the slight dip in…
-
When Men Put You in the Homegirl Zone
In a piece for Clutch magazine, Jamilah Lemieux muses about options for “cool girls” who are overlooked as romantic partners and blocked from the “dating lane.” I’ve known a lot of guys who have praised the ‘cool’ girls in their circles for their relatability, for being down-to-earth and a refreshing alternative to the pretentious, superficial…
-
Richard Pryor Created Laughter From Pain
(The Root) — Before there was Tracy Morgan, Dave Chappelle or Eddie Murphy, there was Richard Pryor, one of the greatest comedians to ever live. Now a new documentary about Pryor explores just how much he influenced those who came after him and how much of a toll his groundbreaking comedy took on his life.…
-
Jason Collins Is the Envy of Straight Men Everywhere
Sherman Alexie of The Stranger presents a self-deprecating explanation for envy of the NBA player. Once, in a private box at a Mariners game, a dude (married to a woman, who was five feet away) stealthily pushed his crotch against my blue-jeaned butt. That guy wore his closet like it was a pair of khaki…