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Fla. Inmate Accused of ‘Faking It’ Before Dying From Police-Dog Bite
In a case shamefully similar to that of Gynnya McMillan, who died at a Kentucky juvenile detention center, and Jason Echeverrias, who perished at Rikers Island jail in New York City, yet another young person is dead because of gross correctional indifference. This time a young man in a Florida jail died of an infection from a…
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President Obama Commutes Sentences of 42 More Inmates
The White House announced Friday that President Barack Obama has granted clemency to 42 individuals. About half of the individuals whose sentences were commuted were serving life sentences, most for drug charges. The president has long been critical of overly harsh penalties for nonviolent drug offenses and an advocate for criminal-justice reform Obama has now commuted…
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A Black Woman, Pearlena Igbokwe, Named Head of Universal Television
Pearlena Igbokwe is now the president of Universal Television, the production arm of the NBC television network, Shadow and Act reports. On Friday the president of NBC Entertainment, Jennifer Salke, made the announcement. “Pearlena’s remarkable track record in drama programming at NBC over the last few years made it clear that she was the ideal…
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Michelle Obama Speaks on the Richness of Diversity in Final Commencement Address as First Lady
Michelle Obama gave her very last commencement speech as first lady at the 170th commencement of the City College of New York in Harlem on Friday. Though the skies were gray and light rain splattered caps and gowns, the mood on 133rd Street and Convent Avenue remained upbeat and festive, and of course, by the…
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Madonna Claps Back at BET for Its Dig After Her Prince Tribute
With bated breath we all waited for Madonna to do a befitting tribute to Prince Rogers Nelson, her “contemporary,” at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. But even before the Material Girl hit the stage, there were (legitimate) gripes that black women, whom the recently departed pop icon championed his entire life, were excluded from the…
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Native American Activist and Prisoner Leonard Peltier Asks Obama for Clemency
In 1977 Native American activist Leonard Peltier was put behind bars, where he has remained in federal custody ever since, for the murder of two FBI agents. But he hasn’t given up on being released: A petition for clemency was sent to the White House in late March, according to the New York Daily News.…
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No, Big Boi, Maple Syrup Cannot Cure Cancer—and Yes, You Sound Like a Sexist
Atlien rapper Big Boi, one-half of seminal rap duo Outkast, took a bit of dragging on Twitter this weekend after he posted a meme on “baby mamas” that smacked of sexist gibberish. And then he retweeted a post that said, “Maple syrup can kill cancer.” But let’s start with the real dumbness first. The first tweet,…
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Missing Ivy League Student Tells Why She ‘Disappeared’
Nayla Kidd, the Columbia University sophomore whose disappearance during finals at Columbia University went viral and scared mothers everywhere, was found by police more than two weeks after she seemingly vanished into thin air. It turned out that Kidd, who hails from Lexington, Ky., and was majoring in engineering and social science at the school,…
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Endangered Gorilla Killed After Boy Falls Into Pen at Cincinnati Zoo
A 4-year-old boy was hospitalized Saturday after climbing into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and falling about 10 feet into a moat that surrounded the habitat. A 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed to protect the boy. USA Today reports that Cincinnati police and emergency crews responded to a report of a child…
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Ghana to Ban Skin-Bleaching Products in August
Colorism, which privileges lighter skin over darker, is an issue that not affects not only African Americans but pretty much all people of color around the world. From India to Brazil to Belize, one of the ways in which colorism rears its ugly head is in skin bleaching. We have all seen photos of celebrities…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
