culture
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MLB Commissioner Wants More Black Baseball Players
On Tuesday, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced the creation of a 17-member task force to study the decline of African Americans in the game, according to the New York Times. The first meeting was held on Wednesday in Milwaukee and was chaired by Detroit Tigers President and General Manager Dave Dombrowski. “I don’t…
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Colorism: Archaic, a Hot Mess and Worse for Dark-Skinned Women
In a reflection on the recent flap about India.Arie’s alleged skin bleaching, Essence‘s Janelle Harris says that complexion craziness is tough on everyone but especially painful for darker black women — and it’s our collective responsibility to put a stop to it. … We also have an often undertapped power as Black women to call out…
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Being Celibate Is Wearing Me Down
(The Root) — “I’ve been celibate for almost five years. Yeah, I know — ‘Man down! Code 10!’ I am trying to wait until I am married to have sex again. Lord knows I am. But it’s becoming extremely hard. My male and female friends tell me to just ‘get it in,’ but I follow…
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Street Harassment: Catcalling Rape Culture
At Ebony, Zerlina Maxwell speaks to Anti-Street Harassment Week founder Holly Kearl about the fight to allow women to walk down the street safely and in peace. This week is the 2nd annual International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Founded by Holly Kearl, International Anti-Street Harassment week has the goal of bringing awareness and energy to the movement…
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No Country for Black Teens
Writing at the Huffington Post, NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous says the belief that African-American teenagers are inherently more likely to be criminals is ingrained in our society. One year later, the Trayvon Martin tragedy still stings — and some people are still throwing salt on the open wound. Last week George Zimmerman’s brother, Robert…
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On Gun Violence and Opportunity, First Lady Gets Personal
(The Root) — First lady Michelle Obama traveled to Chicago on Wednesday to deliver a speech on gun violence. In it, she didn’t just promote her husband’s proposed legislative reforms. She also got personal — and emotional — as she drew parallels between her life and the life of 16-year-old Hadiya Pendelton, who was shot…
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Rand Paul Must Think Blacks Have Amnesia
(The Root) — So now we know the basis of Kentucky’s libertarian Sen. Rand Paul’s strategy for expanding the Republican Party’s appeal to African Americans: amnesia. That’s the only conclusion I can reach after watching the C-SPAN broadcast of Paul’s 52-minute appearance today at Howard University. He deserves credit for appearing before a potentially hostile…
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Howard U to Rand Paul: We Know Our History. And Yours
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made a speech to Howard University students on Wednesday, delivering remarks that his staff said were designed to focus on “the importance of outreach to younger voters, as well as minority groups.” But according to accounts from members of the audience, some of the content of this particular outreach effort didn’t…
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When a Spanking Becomes Abuse
(The Root) — Thanks to a shocking new video, many Americans got a troubling reminder of why we still need National Child Abuse Prevention Month, which is designated in April to raise awareness of the issue. Last week, footage surfaced of Ohio father Greg Horn mercilessly beating his two adolescent daughters, allegedly as punishment for…