by J'na Jefferson on The Grapevine, shared by on (#548QF)
Multihyphenate Keke Palmer attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Hollywood on Tuesday, where she was recorded speaking calmly to a National Guardsman instructed to keep the peace.
by Jay Connor on The Grapevine, shared by Jay Connor on (#548MS)
In January, some of the biggest stars in music descended upon the Atlanta History Center to pay homage to the 30-year legacy of LaFace Records and its co-founders, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Antonio “L.A.” Reid. This black-tie affair, dubbed YouTube Music’s 2020 Leaders & Legends Ball, featured familiar names such…Read more...
by J'na Jefferson on The Grapevine, shared by on (#54815)
TikTok, the popular video creation app, apologized for a controversy over the weekend involving the Black Lives Matter movement and those who aim to spread awareness about the senseless murder of George Floyd.
Black trans people have long stood at the intersection of racist violence and gender violence. In the last month, Nina Pop, a black trans woman killed in early May, and Tony McDade, a black trans man fatally shot by Tallahassee police last week, have become names to rally around, symbolizing the need for specific…Read more...
White supremacists are at home baking cookies while antifa is organizing terror cells. The government is blacking out cell phone signals so you can’t riot. George Soros is paying negro crisis actors. Black people are trying to overthrow the government.
A week ago, Amy Cooper, a.k.a. “Central Park Karen,” went viral for all the wrong reasons after she called the police on a black man, claiming he was threatening her life while video footage showed she was in no danger. Cooper lost her job and her dog following the incident, which has served as a cautionary tale to…Read more...
He hadn’t even been dead a week. George Floyd, crushed under the weight of a Minneapolis police officer, hadn’t even been dead a week before at least one retailer found a way to profit from the pain coursing through America as cities literally burned with a rage simmering for 400 years.Read more...
by Damon Young on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Damon on (#547SH)
I tried very, very, very hard today to find a point of #BlackOutTuesday. Not a reason, mind you. There are many of those. It was created by two black women—Jamila Thomas (Senior Director of Marketing at Atlantic Records) and Brianna Agyemang (Senior Artist Campaign Manager at Platoon)—to “pause” the music industry.…Read more...
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by T on (#547SJ)
As we turn to the “celebrity awareness” chapter of this life book we call “Living In The Age Of Da Rona, Protests and More,” the black community (especially on social media) is becoming more aware of the obtusely insensitive ways in which celebrities (and brands) have been attempting to show their support during the…Read more...
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by T on (#547PX)
When the pilot of HBO’s Watchmen premiered in October 2019, the history of Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre was put on display and at the forefront of a premium cable network in a significant way. For many, it was the first time they had heard of the historically tragic event.Read more...
On Monday, The Root reported that 22-year-old James Scurlock was shot and killed by Jake Gardner, the white owner of two bars near the scene of the incident. Gardner was detained but not jailed while investigators looked into the shooting, and now, authorities have determined that it was a case of self-defense and…Read more...
by Panama Jackson on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Pa on (#547ME)
When I think of iconic music videos, several come to mind. Janet Jackson is responsible for several of them. While this series will probably get real loose with the definition of “iconic,” there is no need to qualify it with the video for the title track from Janet’s 1989 game-changing album, Rhythm Nation, officially…Read more...
Former Vice President Joe Biden is tired of Trump’s hateful and divisive speech. He’s tired of Trump speaking out of both sides of his mouth, and he, like much of America who doesn’t believe that McDonald’s is a sustainable and healthy diet, is just tired of watching Trump grandstand just to grandstand.
There are a lot of stories circulating about David McAtee, the 53-year-old black man shot and killed while Louisville Metro Police and the National Guard attempted to “disperse” a crowd who had gathered outside a Dino’s Food Mart in the early hours of Monday morning.Read more...
by J'na Jefferson on The Grapevine, shared by on (#547EC)
Someone had the bright idea to ask conservative radio shock jock Rush Limbaugh to have a candid conversation with the hosts of Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club—Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee and DJ Envy—about racism, white privilege and the Black Lives Matter movement. The nearly 30-minute chat took place on Monday,…Read more...
Nationwide protests calling for the valuing of black lives have filled our news feeds with stories of chaos and civil unrest as rioting and clashes between protesters and law enforcement continue. Now, dozens of cities across the country have imposed curfews and the National Guard has been deployed in over a dozen…Read more...
President Archie Bunker (but more racist and less likable) heard all our jokes about him hiding as police clashed with protesters Sunday night, so what did he do? He did the only respectable thing that a punk-ass president would do: he had peaceful protesters tear-gassed outside the White House so that he could walk…Read more...
On Monday, Terrence Floyd, the younger brother of George Floyd, did something that no one should ever have to do: He visited the site where his sibling lost his life at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.Read more...
Louisville, like many American cities this last week, was the site of multiple protests against police brutality. The city was marching for both George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old EMT was killed after Louisville police entered her home with a “no-knock” warrant and opened fire.
by Damon Young on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Damon on (#546HB)
Jason Whitlock, the Tomi Lahren of Clarence Thomases, is reportedly out at Fox Sports, after they couldn’t come to an agreement on a new contract.Read more...
This weekend, as I watched COVID-19’s racial disparities blow a 104,600-point lead to extrajudicial police killings, I pondered the effectiveness of nonviolent protest versus “riots.” I imagined strategies that might deter police brutality. I even considered if chaos was a good thing. But, of all the things that…Read more...
Dozens of Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout on Monday to send a message to CEO Mark Zuckerberg as well as y’all’s president that they are not OK with giving the latter a platform to threaten or incite violence against protestors.Read more...
This weekend, protests were held nationwide protesting police violence in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police. Unfortunately, another black life has been added to the list of those taken by law enforcement.
According to the Hennepin County, Minn. criminal complaint, On May 25, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. As Floyd desperately pleaded for his life, Chauvin continued to kneel. Floyd drifted into unconsciousness and Chauvin did not remove his knee…Read more...
by Chaya M Milchtein on The Inventory, shared by Gabe on (#546HC)
Have you scrolled on Instagram lately only to be accosted with photos of beautiful loaves of bread? Home cooks from all over the world have taken to using their spare time during this pandemic to bake bread. This caused flour and yeast shortages across much of the US.
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by T on (#546BP)
As you may or may not know, on Tuesday, June 2, many people within the black community will be observing Blackout Tuesday (an evolution from T’von Green’s “Blackout Day” movement), for which the music industry has confirmed support by ceasing all business operations on that day in honor of the black community and to…Read more...
An independent autopsy ordered by the family of George Floyd finds the 46-year-old man was killed by “homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.”Read more...
The U.S. is world-renowned for its short memory—whether it’s our fraught history of uprisings, fighting pandemics, or racist presidents. But if there is one development in 2020 that is truly unique, it’s that this country has never experienced a massive racial uprising on this scale as we’re simultaneously fighting a…Read more...
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by T on (#54698)
During these times of trials and tribulation, some people especially turn to sources of inspiration. With Apple TV+’s upcoming docuseries Dear..., hopefully, audiences can get a little bit of that.Read more...
At a time when volatile and emotional protests are popping up all over the country behind a black man dying due to what is widely seen as excessive use of police force, you would think that cops at these protests would exercise caution regarding their own uses of force on black demonstrators. Yet, several documented …Read more...
by Maiysha Kai on The Glow Up, shared by Maiysha Kai on (#5466S)
Although we’ve become well accustomed to them as a fixture of the 21st century, the concept of the “influencer”—and the value of the influence itself—remain dubious. But while some YouTube stars were seemingly participating in the more opportunistic aspects of last week’s uprisings, one of our favorite beauty content…Read more...
by J'na Jefferson on The Grapevine, shared by on (#5466T)
Jay-Z reportedly called the governor of Minnesota in order to demand that all four officers who were involved in the death of George Floyd be brought to justice. He explained the conversation in a statement sent out by Roc Nation.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers has inspired millions throughout the world to take action. Protesters have flooded the streets, celebrities have railed against racial injustice—or gotten themselves canceled—and even companies like YouTube have committed themselves to the cause.…Read more...
The month of May has been taxing. It began with growing awareness about the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and ended with a video of a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, killing him. The week following Floyd’s death has been tumultuous, with tensions rising and police violently trying to…Read more...
by J'na Jefferson on The Grapevine, shared by on (#54642)
Music industry giants such as Warner Music, Sony, and Interscope Records, as well as artists and celebrities within the space, are joining together in solidarity with the black community in response to the death of George Floyd last week.
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Glow Up, shared by Ton on (#54643)
When a moment as significant as the George Floyd protests evolve into what has been dubbed the “Fed-Up-rising,” people are bound to have an opinion about it. On the flip side, those very opinions are open to critique, especially in an era where frustration, desperation, anger and sadness has bubbled under the surface…Read more...
by Panama Jackson on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Pa on (#54617)
It’s June 2020, and while I imagine this year looks nothing like anybody assumed it might—and as time keeps on slippin’ into the future—I hope that we somehow come out better on the other side of it than we started. That’s a very, very reserved optimism, by the way. Be that as it may, June in America is Black Music…Read more...
As the death of George Floyd continues to inspire both peaceful and not-so-peaceful protests all over the country, a Saturday demonstration in Omaha, Neb., resulted in the death of another black man after he was allegedly shot by a white bar owner.Read more...
Former NBA star J.R. Smith was one of many NBA players who peacefully protested this weekend in the name of George Floyd, but he had some explaining to do after footage surfaced of him engaging in a violent confrontation with another protester.Read more...