culture
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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…
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Native Americans and Basketball: 6 Facts
Tonight, sisters Jude and Shoni Schimmel and and their University of Louisville teammates will compete with the University of Connecticut in college basketball’s biggest game. By now, most fans know the two athletes belong to the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla. But the relationship between the sport and Native communities doesn’t begin or end with the…
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Study: 1 in 4 Black Students Suspended
Two reports released on Monday contain more data — and more bad news — about the racial disparities in punitive school discipline measures that many believe are just the first stop on the “school-to-prison pipeline,” the Huffington Post reports. According to the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the UCLA Civil Rights Project, 24 percent…
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Is 'Malcolm X' the Best Black Film of All Time?
(The Root) — In the end, Coming to America didn’t stand a chance. Malcolm X, Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed biopic, beat the beloved Eddie Murphy comedy with nearly 70 percent of the vote to win our March Movie Madness challenge, which started out last month with 64 films that voters slowly whittled down to one.…
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In Defense of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Cuba Trip
It’s time to end restrictions on Americans’ travel to the country, France François argues in a piece for Ebony. I never thought I’d mention Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and geopolitics in the same sentence. But the superstar couple is causing quite a stir by celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary in Havana, Cuba — a country that has been…
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Rutgers Firing: Happily Ever After?
NFL Players Association President Domonique Foxworth explains in a piece for the Huffington Post why he won’t join “the cacophony of Rice haters” after the video of Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice’s treatment of players got him fired. Every sports fan was outraged by the video of former Rutgers men’s head basketball coach Mike Rice…
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How America Built the Racial Wealth Gap
(The Root) — The cynic might say that except for a small number of exceptional figures like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey or Michael Jordan, America is not much interested in truly full inclusion for African Americans. Any fair assessment must concede that the black road to full citizenship in America has been marked by a…