news
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WNBA’s Brittney Griner and Fiancee Glory Johnson Arrested After Reportedly Violent Domestic Dispute
WNBA players Brittney Griner and her fiancee, Glory Johnson, both 24, were arrested Wednesday for a domestic dispute that included allegations of assault. According to AZ Central, Griner, center for the Phoenix Mercury, and Johnson, a forward for the Tulsa Shock, were arrested “on suspicion of assault and disorderly conduct.” AZ Central notes that Griner…
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Michelle Obama to Deliver Tuskegee University Commencement Address
First lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Alabama’s Tuskegee University, one of the nation’s top HBCUs, next month, AL.com reports. According to the report, the address will be part of the first lady’s Reach Higher initiative, through which she aims to inspire every student to complete his or her education…
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FAMU Hazing-Death Trial of Last 3 Defendants Is Under Way
A Florida jury is hearing testimony in the trial of the last three former Florida A&M University band members charged in the hazing death of Robert Champion. The defendants—Benjamin McNamee, 24; Aaron Golson, 22; and Darryl Cearnel, 28—are being tried together, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Fifteen former members of the famed FAMU marching band were…
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Baltimore’s Mayor: Our ‘Citizens Deserve Answers’ in Freddie Gray’s Death
Freddie Gray was able to walk April 12 when he was handcuffed and put inside a Baltimore police van. Forty minutes later, his spine was broken. A week later, he was dead. The optics of those 40 minutes as a mathematical equation look somewhat familiar: White police officers plus black man plus 40 minutes in…
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Watch: Law-Enforcement Agent Destroys Phone of Bystander Recording Police Encounter
Recent videos of deadly police encounters with unarmed black men give credibility to what communities of color have complained about for years. The shocking reality on those videos is driving a nationwide movement. So it’s no wonder that many are alarmed by this video that surfaced Sunday on YouTube. It appears to show a law-enforcement…
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Obama’s Approval Rating Is Trending Up
More Americans are giving President Barack Obama a thumbs-up. In fact, the president’s approval rating climbed to 46.4 percent in the first three months of 2015—a 3-percentage-point increase from the previous quarter, USA Today reports. It was his best quarter since mid-2013, according to the Gallup poll. A separate CNN/ORC survey (pdf) found a similar…
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The Blue Wall of Silence Over Police Brutality Must Come Down
At the center of the discussion of the #blacklivesmatter movement is the issue of law enforcement’s relationship with communities of color. While there are myriad issues related to improving conditions for blacks in America, the most prevalent theme of late is how to bridge the gap between police and community in a way that begins…
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Freddie Gray’s Death Prompts Onslaught of Protests in Baltimore
The streets of Baltimore were flooded with residents Tuesday protesting the police force in the name of Freddie Gray, the young man who died from a severe spinal injury while in police custody, the Daily Mail reports. Also Tuesday, the Justice Department announced its own civil rights investigation into Gray’s death as police officials released…
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Ben Affleck Admits to Asking That Ancestor’s Slave-Owning Past Be Hidden, Says He Was ‘Embarrassed’
Ben Affleck isn’t quite apologizing for not wanting his ancestor’s slave-owning past to be revealed on the PBS genealogy show Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr., but he did admit that finding out was “embarrassing.” Leaked emails between the show’s executive producer (and The Root co-founder), Henry Louis Gates Jr., and top Sony…
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Watch: 102-Year-Old Former Chorus-Line Dancer’s Reaction to Seeing Herself Dancing for the 1st Time
A 102-year-old woman was able to relive her heyday as a chorus-line dancer during the Harlem Renaissance when, with the help of Jazz on Film, she was able to see footage of herself dancing for the first time, BuzzFeed reports. In the video posted on YouTube Monday, Mark Cantor of Jazz on Films collected “soundies” and…