culture
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An Image of Inclusion or Colonialism?
(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Within the multitude of pages contained within an early modern prayer book is found a powerful image of inclusion,…
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Who Was the Real Jackie Robinson?
Colorlines‘ Jamilah King points out that the baseball legend’s fight for racial justice was always tempered by a degree of pessimism about the realities faced by black people in America. Almost 66 years to the day that Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut, the new biopic, “42,” offers an opportunity to examine the racial…
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CNN Diversity: A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words
(The Root) — In the wake of Roland Martin’s firing and CNN’s announcement of new hire Jake Tapper as “the face” of the network, there’s been plenty of conversation about the network’s diversity (or lack thereof). But sometimes a picture — like this “Allow us to reintroduce ourselves” ad — is worth a thousand words.
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Racist Reactions to Jamie Foxx's Trayvon Shirt
The shirt Jamie Foxx wore to Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards displayed the phrase “kNOw Justice” above photos of Trayvon Martin and the children killed in the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. The reference to victims of gun violence was certainly designed to attract attention and start conversation, but probably not of this variety. Public Shaming has…
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MHP: Tax Day and the Gender Pay Gap
On her MSNBC show on Sunday, host Melissa Harris-Perry dedicated a segment to a Tax Day-inspired discussion of the gender pay gap, highlighting statistics on unequal pay and the additional strain that the gap puts on minority women: Just one example: “Seventy-seven is how many cents women working full-time currently make for every dollar men…
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Paris Jackson's Plans for Neverland
Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris, is only 15 years old, but she already has plans for a project to honor her father’s legacy and help sick and underprivileged kids in the process. Essence reports that she wants to restore Jackson’s Neverland Ranch when she becomes an adult. In the meantime, she’ll make her film debut in…
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Kermit Gosnell: Who's to Blame for Weak National Coverage?
The facts emerging from the case of abortionist and alleged murderer Dr. Kermit Gosnell are horrifying. Slate‘s David Weigel looks at how the national media gave the tragedy such shoddy coverage. Republicans weren’t talking about it either; they were talking about that Planned Parenthood video, because taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood is an active political…
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Can a Hungry Child Learn Well? Probably Not
Imagine how hunger affects your progress at work; now imagine being 7 years old, hungry every day and haunted by the fact that how you do on a math test could determine whether your family gets dinner next week. Legislation proposed by two congressmen last week would make such a scenario all too real, and…
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Kevin Hart Held for Drunk Driving, Tweets Response
Funny man Kevin Hart was arrested early Sunday morning in Los Angeles on suspicion of drunken driving. Hours later, he made light of the situation on Twitter. When the cop asked me to take the sobriety test I said “WHY WASTE OUR TIME…I’M DRUNK MAN” …..#TrueStory On some real shit….drinking & driving is not a…
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Watch This: DMX on 'Iyanla: Fix My Life'
After numerous commercials depicting rapper DMX cursing at OWN’s Iyanla: Fix My Life host Iyanla Vanzant — and her stopping him in his tracks — the highly anticipated episode aired on Saturday. Just before its debut, Vanzant spoke to Essence about the show’s direction and lessons. ESSENCE.com: What made you choose DMX? IYANLA VANZANT: His…