culture

Lil Jon, the King of Crunk, is diversifying his platform, borrowing a page from hip-hop moguls such as Russell Simmons, Jay-Z and Diddy. Vibe magazine reports that Lil Jon has partnered with celebrity Zumba instructor Gina Grant and will play DJ for the new Zumba Nightclub Series that launched this week in Boston. According to…

Republican leaders planned their party’s political comeback at Thursday’s Republican National Committee spring meeting. Their strategy includes courting minority voters and updating their political operations, Time magazine reports. But there could be a major stumbling block: Hillary Clinton. One early primary state RNC member put it simply: “If she gets in, we’re toast.” To be…

Updated: April 12, 12:15 p.m. EDT: Police have not found anyone matching the description of the man with the gun, nor have they found a firearm on campus, according to the News & Record.  North Carolina A&T State University is on lockdown after a man was seen with a gun on campus, according to Greensboro,…

Michael Arceneaux, writing at Ebony, has a few things for the “I Hit It First” and “Accidental Racist” performers to consider before they head to the studio again. Dear Ray J: As proud as you are about your sexual adventures with Kim Kardashian, I think it’s time someone informed you that no sex is worth…

(The Root) — Is it irony or fate that the same week the film 42 is opening, rumblings are surfacing that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is creating a task force to examine why African Americans make up only 7.7 percent of MLB’s players? The biopic about how Jackie Robinson — the legendary player…

Updated Monday, May 13, 2013: Dr. Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder for severing the spinal cords of infants born during abortions, according to the Washington Post. He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar, who died from an overdose of drugs…

The Root DC’s Hamil R. Harris analyzes the results of a recent Urban League report.  While African Americans have made significant economic gains since the 1960s the definition of wealth and success remains a tale of the haves and the have nots when black achievement is compared to the success of whites. The National Urban League…

Lack of legal protections for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in two-thirds of the 50 states means that more people live in poverty because they don’t have the same rights as other Americans, Imara Jones writes at Colorlines. As the Supreme Court weighed arguments on same-sex marriage, Chief Justice John Roberts…