culture
-
Racist Mountain Dew Ad: Everyone Involved Should Have Known Better
In a piece for Clutch magazine, Britni Danielle says that Tyler, the Creator’s online commercial — in which a battered white woman has to pick a suspect out of a lineup consisting of black men and a goat — peddles stereotypes that black men have been fighting for years. Dr. Boyce Watkins called the spot,…
-
Gay Athletes and the Generational Divide
(The Root) — A far as seals of approval go, a shout-out from the president of the United States during a nationally televised press conference has to be up there with a thumbs-up from Oprah or a pat on the back from Magic Johnson. And since announcing he was gay in a self-penned essay for…
-
On Blue Ivy's Hair: Leave That Baby Alone!
MyBrownBaby’s Denene Millner chastises those who have criticized the curls of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s 1-year-old. Four MyBrownBaby words about Blue Ivy’s hair: Leave. That. Baby. Alone … As if we didn’t just finish having this same stupid conversation about letting black girl hair be after folk tore Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas a new one…
-
Shade and Faith: How ESPN Buried the Jason Collins Story
Writing at Racialicious, Arturo R. García examines the lackluster treatment the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” gave to one of the biggest stories of the week. If you missed it, here’s what that “respectful discussion” about Collins public declaration of his sexuality — making him the first active gay player in one of the country’s more…
-
Pepsi Pulls Ad by Controversial Rapper
Those familiar with the music of Tyler, the Creator and his group Odd Future are more than familiar with the controversy caused by his lyrics and songs. Hate-ridden songs filled with homophobic slurs, misogyny and violence are common in his catalog, yet PepsiCo still called on him to lend a hand in creating unique advertisements…
-
Who Said Blacks Don't Support Immigration Reform?
(The Root) — In findings released Wednesday, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights presented poll results that the organization says counter myths about negative African-American attitudes toward immigration reform. The national poll of more than 800 African-American likely voters, conducted by Lake Research Partners, found 66 percent support for an immigration-reform proposal that…
-
After Chris Dorner, Other Fired Officers Step Forward
When former Los Angeles Police Department Officer Christopher Dorner went on his violent rampage — during which he killed his former attorney’s daughter and two police officers and injured three others, and which ended in his own death from a self-inflicted gun wound — his intent was to be a martyr for honest officers who…
-
Children's March 1963: A Defiant Moment
(The Root) — Defying your parents’ orders not to march in Birmingham, Ala., in the 1960s could have meant a whipping for teens. Defying the police commissioner’s order not to march protesting segregation could have meant attacks by dogs, blasts from fire hoses and a lockup in jail. Fifty years ago in the spring of…
-
Lil Wayne Apologizes to Emmett Till's Family
We’re not going to get all snarky over this apology just because we can’t figure out why Lil Wayne didn’t know better in the first place. And we are not going to scoff at his statement about how his ultimate goal is to “uplift rather than degrade our community” (OK, maybe just a teeny little…