Black Lives Matter
Bloc Party’s Kele Questions British Stereotypes in New Song “Melanin”: Stream
Bloc Party founder Kele Okereke has shared a new single called “Melanin”. It was originally supposed to be released on his solo album 2042 last year, but he removed it from the tracklist when he couldn’t get the sample cleared in time. Under his first-name-only moniker Kele, he dives into the idea of race and education in Britain — or, more specifically, how those subjects are barely taught at all. “I believe that if we truly want to dismantle the racial division in this country, then it starts with the education system,” said Kele in a statement. As such, “Melanin” seeks to right this wrong, namely by calling for a more accurate syllabus that tells the truth about the country’s colonial past. “I’m glad that we get to share the track now, at a time that it seems more pertinent than ever,” ...
Racist President Trump Flips His Lacefront Over Black Lives Matter Street Painting
Source: NurPhoto / Getty President Donald Trump has a nationwide pandemic and a crumbling economy on his hands during an election year, but he’s focusing on matters that show his true colors. Via Twitter, the former business mogul went on a covertly racist rant and misframed the Black Lives Matter movement after railing against the painting of the slogan on a New York street. We won’t dignify President Trump’s rant by linking to the tweet but since he never deletes the trash he posts, we’ll share it below. The rant was in response to a Black Lives Matter sign to be painted alongside Fifth Avenue near Trump Plaza, prompting the following on Wednesday (July 1). From Trump’s Twitter: NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, ye...
Racist Internet Trolls Try To Take Out Atlanta’s Slutty Vegan But The Community Steps Up With Support
Source: BreAnna Holmes / Angie Ange In The Morning Atlanta stepped up in a major way to help iconic Black-owned Burger establishment Slutty Vegan after it was the target of a negative food review campaign from racist Internet trolls. During the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Slutty Vegan provided free meals to first responders, including police officers. To stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protests that swept across the country after the news of victims like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were killed at the hands of police the burger restaurant announced that they would no longer provide free meals to police officers. The news incensed “Blue Lives Matter” internet trolls who began flooding business pages such as Yelp and Google with negative one-star reviews. In response,...
Richelieu Dennis Steps Down As CEO of ESSENCE Amidst Investigation
Source: Rich Polk / Getty CEO of ESSENCE Communications Richelieu Dennis has stepped down from his position amidst allegations of sexual misconduct. On Wednesday (Jun 30) the iconic publication released a statement revealing that Dennis has reportedly “stepped down” as CEO while the magazine conducts its independent internal investigation over the claims written in an anonymous essay posted over the weekend, adding that Caroline Wanga will be acting as interim CEO while they undergo the process. “It is of critical importance to us that there is no doubt or question about who we are, what we represent, and what we believe in,” the statement said. “Yesterday, in step one, we addressed the accusations made in an anonymous blog post, as well as our ongoing transition in rebuilding th...
NBA Will Paint ‘Black Lives Matter’ On Courts When Play Resumes: Report
Source: Michael A. McCoy / Getty When the NBA restarts, the league will definitely make sure to remind viewers that ‘Black Lives Matter.’ According to reports, the NBA will paint ‘Black Lives Matter’ on NBA courts when the action tips off at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World in Orlando. The NBA’s players have been very outspoken following the death of George Floyd while he was in police custody. Some players led by Kyrie Irving and Avery Bradley were worried that playing basketball would be a distraction to fight for social justice. Viewers can expect to see ‘Black Lives Matter’ “inside the sidelines of all three arenas at Disney World in Orlando, ESPN reported Monday.” USA Today further reports ‘Black Lives Matter’ will be on two sides of each court, in front of the b...
Anonymous Essay Slams ESSENCE Mag For Alleged Sexual Misconduct, Unfair Business Practices Towards Black Women
Source: Rich Polk / Getty Essence Magazine is coming under fire as it celebrates its 50th year anniversary for allegedly mistreating its Black women employees—only this time it’s supposedly at the hands of other Black women. On Sunday (Jun 28) in an anonymous essay posted to the Medium, the author-listed only as “Black Female Anonymous”-discloses unfair business practices used by the iconic Black publication including sexual misconduct and harassment, unfair pay, and abuse of power by senior staff. “We present ourselves under the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, intimidation, and the maligning of our media careers,” they wrote. “We demand the immediate resignation of Chief Executive Officer Richelieu Dennis, Essence Ventures board member and former Essence Communic...
Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello to Play Ringo Starr’s 80th Birthday Party
Paul McCartney (photo by MJ Kim), Ringo Starr (photo by Philip Cosores), and Sheryl Crow (photo by Ben Kaye) You say it’s your birthday? It’s Ringo Starr’s birthday, too… and he’s doing it up big. The Beatles drummer will celebrate turning 80 years old this year with “Ringo’s Big Birthday Show”, a special livestream event featuring musical performances by everyone from Paul McCartney to Sheryl Crow. Don’t get jealous; you’re invited, too! In addition to the aforementioned artists, “Ringo’s Big Birthday Show” will feature The Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, Ben Harper, Gary Clark Jr., and Sheila E. The broadcast will kick off on July 7th at 5:00 p.m. PDT via Ringo Starr’s YouTube channel. It’s free to watch, but donations are encouraged and will be split between Black Lives Matter, The David Ly...
Simon Pegg Tells Black Lives Matter Haters to “Shut the Fuck Up”
This past month has been filled with Black Lives Matter marches and protests against police brutality that have gained massive support as well as ignorant criticisms. In a new interview, Shaun of the Dead actor Simon Pegg made his position abundantly clear, saying that he supports Black Lives Matter and that anyone complaining about them “should just shut the fuck up.” In an interview with The Observer, Pegg shed some light on the diversity initiatives being undertaken by Stolen Pictures, the production company he co-founded with Nick Frost. Pegg spoke about the changes coming to Stolen Pictures — particularly how he’s been scheduling meetings to better connect Black actors, writers, and directors to the resources and opportunities they need — and why he’s fed up with h...
272 NYPD Officers File For Retirement After Black Lives Matter Protests
Source: Noam Galai / Getty It’s beginning to look like the whole “To Protects and Serve” motto of police departments across America is more of a self-serving phrase for their egos than a proverb meant to reassure Americans of their tax-paying responsibilities. A few weeks after 170 Atlanta police officers called in sick in response to their brothers in blue being charged in the death of Rayshard Brooks, The New York Post is reporting that members of the NYPD have staged a similar “protest” in response to the anti-police brutality demonstrations that have taken place in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. According to the report a whopping 272 uniformed police officers in New York City have filed for retirement from May 25th through June 24th compared to the 183 officers who filed their...
NYC Mayor To Have “Black Lives Matter” Painted In Front of Trump Tower, Racist-In-Chief Big Mad
Source: Johnny Louis – WENN / WENN What’s the best way to troll a racist real estate “tycoon” turned Divider-In-Chief? Why, you paint “Black Lives Matter” in front of his 58 floor skyscraper of course! According to the New York Daily News, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has greenlit the painting of “Black Lives Matter” in giant yellow letters in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Ave between 56th and 57th streets in Midtown Manhattan and Cheeto Jesus is cursing the heavens for the move. After news of the sign being painted in front of his property broke, Donald Trump took to Twitter to blast the move but instead of admitting that it bothered him personally he projected his anger unto the officers of the NYPD. Early yesterday morning Trump tweeted, “Told that @NYCMayor Bill de Blasio wants t...
White Supremacists Yelling N-Word Set Black Woman On Fire In Wisconsin
Source: Twitter / Twitter While Black people are fighting for equality all over the globe, reports of hate crimes and suspicious murders of young Black people are on the rise. The latest incident has left a Wisconsin community saying enough is enough. On Wednesday (Jun 24), Althea Bernstein, a Black woman in Madison, Wisconsin, sustained second and third-degree burns after she was allegedly set on fire by white men yelling racial slurs while at a stoplight. The 18-year-old EMT, who is studying to be a paramedic and firefighter, says she was on her way to her brother’s house at around 1 am on Wednesday morning when the incident occurred. Bernstein stated that she saw four white men, one of whom used a spray bottle to shoot liquid onto her face and neck. Someone then allegedly threw a f...
Jenny Slate Will No Longer Voice “Missy” on Netflix’s ‘Big Mouth’
Source: David Crotty / Getty As the reckoning for businesses across the country continues to happen, some actors in Hollywood are jumping ahead of the curve by playing their part in ensuring that roles and characters based on people of color are actually played by people of color. On Tuesday (Jun 24), voice actress Jenny Slate took to Instagram to announce that she would no longer be the voice of “Missy” the Black character on Netflix’s animated series Big Mouth, before adding that her decision was based on the fact that the role should be voiced by a Black person. “At the start of the show, I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play Missy because her mom is Jewish and White — as am I. But Missy is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by ...
