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The Jheri Curl Turns 40: A Look at the Most Iconic, Insulted and Revered Hair Craze Ever
The last time I saw someone wear a Jheri curl with a straight face was in the summer of 2015. In June of that year, retired NBA point guard Baron Davis appeared on ESPN’s First Take sporting a high-and-tight take on the activator swirl. His was in the big-Luther tradition of being “not quite right”;…
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Opinion: Not Every US Troop Shoots People Indiscriminately and Drinks Their Blood
All military action should be questioned and the military is not always on the right side of history, but the meme that all US troops are out for blood and will kill people without remorse is a bit over the top as well. So sayeth Oliver Willis When it comes to war and the military,…
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Don't Tax the Kool-Aid!
Mentholated cigarettes may have avoided the FDA’s axe last week, when all other flavored smokes were banned outright. But another African American favorite—sugary drinks—is increasingly a subject of legislative interest. Though New York State has tabled discussions about “sin taxing” (just the name is problematic) sugar-heavy drinks like soda and Kool Aid, the New York…
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Is President Obama Really Going to Grovel in Copenhagen?
The president heads to Europe today—not to bargain for an international treaty on climate change, or to join the heated Swiss negotiations on Iranian nuclear ambitions, but to beg and plead on behalf Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid. There had been some speculation about who might go fight for the president’s adopted hometown (last week, Michelle…
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Mr. President, Your Wife Is Awesome, So…
Why not let her handle this Chicago Olympics thing? Like you, the First Lady is smart, charismatic and tough. If there’s any shrinking violet part of her, we have yet to see it—except for maybe when she lets you be taller than she is. Unlike you, she won’t be blamed into perpetuity for the fate…
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UPDATE: Nike Will Give Vick Free Stuff, That's About It
UPDATE: According to The Grio, Nike has no endorsement deal in place with Vick. From the AP: Nike says it does not have a “contractual relationship” with Michael Vick, a day after the quarterback’s agent announced a deal with the manufacturer. In a statement released Thursday morning, Nike says it has “agreed to supply product…
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VIDEO: Newark Mayor Cory Booker Puts Conan O'Brien on 'No Fly' List
Newark mayor Cory Booker most certainly puts on for his city. Booker, a political rising star whose profile has risen significantly via the recent release of Newark documentary ‘Brick City’, wasted little time in returning fire at Conan O’Brien, who recently took a swipe at Newark during a ‘Tonight Show’ monologue. We know the brotha…
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Harry Potter Author Overlooked for Presidential Medal of Freedom
Entertainment blogger Geoff Boucher over at the L.A. Times has brought something to my attention. J.K. Rowlings, the prolific scribe of the Harry Potter franchise, was overlooked for a Presidential Medal of Freedom by the Bush crew for encouraging witchcraft in her books. Geoff Boucher picked up the news from former speechwriter Matthew Latimer’s new…
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Cory Booker’s (Media) Deal With the Devil
Newark Mayor Cory Booker was furious about the 8,000-word Esquire magazine profile of him and his beloved city. “I exploded,” he says in the new documentary, Brick City, “with just, rage, when I read it.” The 2008 article described Booker’s heroic quest to awaken the “city of zombies” and the “Goddamn Zulus” residing in Jersey. Indeed,…
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Health Care Public Option: One Down, Three to Go
Andrea King Collier is a blogger for The Root. Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee said no to a version of the public option portion of health care reform. News headlines declared the vote a surprise KO punch to the public option. Dig a little deeper and find this vote was only a surprise to those…