culture

College basketball players often feel honored to showcase their skill in competitions like March Madness, but Dr. Boyce Watkins writes on Black Blue Dog that from a university professor’s perspective, the money made on the backs of students who should be focusing on their education is unfair and harmful. As a Finance Professor, educator and…

Ebony‘s Michael Arceneaux writes that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s support of the controversial police practice of “stop and frisk,” while he fights against sugary drinks and cigarettes, rings hollow.  For someone who wants to make sure people don’t smoke, waste energy, shoot each other with military-style firearms, or eat a bagel that’s way too…

(The Root) — Remix culture is thriving on YouTube, and a curious form of music manipulation is growing in popularity thanks to the site. There is a current interest in showing off the studio technique of time stretching, or lengthening a song — think of it as a kind of reverse chopped and screwed, though…

A Brunswick, Ga., woman is mourning her 13-month-old son after he was shot during a robbery on Thursday, reports NBC News. Two teen suspects were arrested in connection with the shooting on Friday. The mother, Sherry West, told FOX affiliate WAWS-TV that she was pushing her 13-month-old son, Antonio, in his stroller in Brunswick, Ga.,…

(The Root) – Purple Rain crushed Krush Groove in round 1, but how will it do up against the Dorothy Dandridge classic Carmen Jones in round 2? And how will a 1970s high school tale, Cooley High, do against a late ’80s HBCU-themed musical like School Daze? It’s all up to you — so vote…

(The Root) — The movies in this category made it to round 2 against some tough, Oscar-nominated competition — Lady Sings the Blues, A Soldier’s Story and Precious were all booted in round 1. But there’s no time to mourn if your favorites didn’t make the cut. Now it’s time to put in your vote…

(The Root) — Will The Best Man best Waiting to Exhale? Will Brown Sugar upset Love Jones? And how do you like Boomerang’s chances against Sidney Poitier’s classic Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? The choice is yours, readers of The Root. Vote below for the films you think deserve to advance to the March Movie…

(The Root) – There was some very close competition in round 1 in the action category — The Last Dragon barely beat Blade, and Training Day came from behind at the last minute to best Bad Boys. Are the round 2 matchups just as tough? Vote for your favorites below. When you’re done, be sure…

Toni Morrison visited West Point on Friday where she read from her latest novel, Home, The book is the story of a black man named Frank Money, a Korean War veteran trying to re-assimilate into American society while struggling with PTSD, reports the New York Times. In a telephone interview beforehand, she explained that she…

Carol Gray, the mother of slain teen Kimani Gray, was inconsolable at her son’s wake, held on Friday in Brooklyn, N.Y., reports the Daily News. Carol Gray was unable to contain her emotions as she saw her child lying motionless inside a coffin dressed in a black suit and bow tie, mourners said. She had…