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Melissa Harris-Perry on Life, Death and Penalties
On Sunday, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry tackled the difficult ethical and policy issues associated with the death penalty. The U.S. ranks fifth in the world in executions behind Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, which is No. 1. Harris-Perry talked with a mother whose son is on death row and Barry Scheck of the Innocence…
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Denzel and Will Smith in 'Uptown Saturday Night'?
If a Hollywood director has his way, Denzel Washington and Will Smith could reprise the roles of Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier in the 1974 classic comedy, Uptown Saturday Night, according to Deadline.com. The two are merely on director Adam McKay’s wish list, and plenty remains to be worked out before filming begins, Deadline reports.…
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Obama Roasts White House Press
President Barack Obama rocked the mic at Saturday night’s 98th annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C. Starting out with an offstage bit lampooning his hot-mic gaffe during the nuclear summit in South Korea, the president skewered recent media flaps, from the Secret Service scandal with prostitutes to lavish spending by the Government…
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Toni Morrison to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Award-winning novelist Toni Morrison is among 13 people slated to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, at a White House ceremony in late spring, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: Other recipients will include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan, former…
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Plus-Size Model Mia Amber Davis' Widower Files Suit
The widower of plus-size model Mia Amber Davis, known for her cameo in the movie Road Trip, her work with Ashley Stewart as the face of Jill Scott’s Butterfly Bra and her role as creative editor-at-large for Plus Model magazine, has filed a suit against her doctors, TMZ reports. Davis, who died last year of…
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First Lady Michelle Obama's White House Fantasy
While the White House is chock-full of more creature comforts than anyone can imagine, including a chef-equipped kitchen, a home gym, a flower shop and even a dental office, first lady Michelle Obama told a group of children during an event for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day that she’d like to walk…
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GOP Targets Food Stamps to Save Military Spending
According to the Huffington Post, the latest House Republican plan to reconcile the budget and preserve defense spending calls for even sharper cuts to programs designed to help the poor at a time when Americans are still trying to recover from a wobbly economy. The Huffington Post reports: In a memo (PDF) sent to members…
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911 Tape Played as Jennifer Hudson Weeps
Updated 9:20 p.m. EDT: Julia Hudson capped off an emotional day of testimony in Courtroom 500. Her sister, Jennifer, who sat next to her fiancé, David Otunga, in the courtroom, wept quietly as prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call her sister made after discovering their mother’s body on the living room floor. At…
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Why Chicago Schools Brought Back Gym
When Kyler Sumter was a student at Edgar Allan Poe Classical Elementary on Chicago’s South Side, it was one of the few schools in the city’s sprawling system to offer physical education classes. During classes, Kyler would do situps, pushups and jumping jacks and play traditional relay games like dodgeball and steal the bacon, she…
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Tulsa Shooter Known by Some Local Blacks
One of the bodies was found not far from the house where Damario Solomon-Simmons grew up in north Tulsa, Okla. His elderly mother still lives there. He shudders when he thinks that it could have been her or another relative in the close-knit neighborhood that was the scene of a deadly shooting spree last week.…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
