culture
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How 'Accidental Racist' Is Actually Just Racist
Writing at the Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates explains why the lyrics to Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s duet are laughable, and why the very selection of LL as a collaborator was problematic. This new duet between Brad Paisley and LL Cool J, “Accidental Racist,” is getting beaten up pretty badly on the intertubes. I confess…
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Margaret Thatcher: A Bold, Decisive Leader
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson says that Thatcher lived by her own definition of what it meant to be a woman, and that has to be called feminism — whether or not she would have liked it. Thatcher was a towering but polarizing figure. Many aspects of her legacy — the transformation of Britain into…
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How Roger Ebert Embraced Black Beauty
(The Root) — While the world continues to mourn the loss of film critic Roger Ebert, who died last week at the age of 70, and celebrate his love of film, many also have been introduced to his other great love: his wife, Chaz. Though we have become a culture that increasingly celebrates women not…
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Jay-Z Is More Interesting as a Mogul Than as a Rapper
The Root DC‘s Clinton Yates says that he can’t wait to see what Shawn Carter puts his mind to when he finally sets the mic down for good. As a lifelong hip-hop fan, there are certain things that come with having been born in the 80s, being a kid in the 90s and as they…
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Not What We Meant by Racial Harmony
(The Root) — Country singer Brad Paisley’s new CD is titled Wheelhouse, but if there’s any subject firmly not in his, it’s race relations. “I think it’s music’s turn to have the conversation,” explained Paisley on Ellen after his first single, “Accidental Racist,” was released online Monday to the polar opposite of rave reviews. The…
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Africa's 1st Traditional Gay Wedding?
If this isn’t the first same-sex traditional wedding on the African continent — which is what many are calling it — it’s certainly novel enough to be attracting a lot of attention. The Huffington Post reports that Tshepo Cameron Modisane and Thoba Calvin Sithol, both 27, were married in the town of KwaDukuza in KwaZulu-Natal,…
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Kanye Sued for 'Gold Digger' Lyrics
The son and daughter of David Pryor are suing Kanye West and his label for what they say was an unauthorized sampling of their dad’s Thunder & Lightning song, “Bumpin’ Bus Stop,” in West’s 2005 hit single “Gold Digger.” They’re using the legal system for a little gold digging of their own, demanding a jury…
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MHP on Obama's BRAIN Initiative
On Sunday’s Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC, the host and her guests analyzed President Obama’s proposed Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, or BRAIN, initiative. The discussion includes what Perry calls the “space-versus-civil rights paradigm” and the perception that when we put money toward one effort, we’ll miss other, more urgent issues. Visit NBCNews.com for…
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Prom and Prejudice: 5 Facts
(The Root) — A group of teens in Rochelle, Ga., are fighting to break a very bad local tradition of holding privately funded segregated proms for the students of Wilcox County High School. Yes, that would be a white prom for white kids and a black prom for black kids. As crazy as it seems…
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Yes, Black Women Can Get Along
(The Root) — On Monday night’s episode of The Gossip Game, the Source magazine editor Kim Osorio shared with her husband that she was planning a roundtable with the show’s cast to discuss hip-hop. She hoped that, unlike at previous gatherings with all the ladies, everyone would be on her best behavior and ready to…