Your Random-Ass Roundup: Somebody’s Watching Me.

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Turns out, Berry’s boy was right after all. [...]

Your Random-Ass Roundup: And You Say Chi City.

The Windy City tries to resuscitate the poor, black neighborhoods left vacant by the housing crisis — but at what cost? Before they rose to prominence in Canada’s largest city, the Ford family —  which includes embattled Mayor Rob Ford — was deeply immersed in the illegal drug scene, according to an investigation by the Globe [...]

Ray Lewis and Murder, They Wrote.

 

Ray Lewis entered the NFL in tears, mourning the death of his slain friend and roommate Marlin Barnes on draft day.

Ray Lewis left the NFL in a spasm of joy Sunday, a two-time Super Bowl champion at the conclusion of the final game of his 17-season career.

In between, Lewis went from [...]

Your Random-Ass Roundup: The Petraeus Affair Now Involves Olivia Pope. (Seriously.)

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Congratulations, America: this Petraeus mess has now officially morphed into an episode of Scandal. [...]

Super-Predators, ‘Wilding,’ and the Central Park Five.

By Guest Contributor MK, cross-posted from Prison Culture with permission. On April 19, 1989, a young woman who was jogging through Central Park in New York City was found badly beaten. She had also been raped.

I have written briefly about the case before in comparing it to Scottsboro. However, I want to return to [...]

Satan Worshippers.

The West Memphis Three — three young men convicted of murdering and mutilating three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993 — were released today after they struck a deal with a judge that allowed them to maintain their innocence. The case came on the national radar after a couple of documentaries questioned their [...]

Rodrick Dantzler Is Dead.

(Cross-posted from slb.)

Rodrick Shonte Danzler is dead. And so is his 12-year-old daughter and the six other people he killed Thursday.

I didn’t become aware of the massacre or begin to watch the live footage until his five-hour hostage standoff was well underway. Apparently, Dantzler’s killing rampage [...]

Phylicia Barnes and the Black Girl’s Burden.

Phylicia Barnes

(cross-posted from slb)

I was home for the holidays when Phylicia Barnes went missing. My immediate family—all women, now four generations deep, with the birth of my daughter—huddled around the small kitchen TV, listening to local news anchors explain the facts surrounding Barnes’ disappearance: black high school honors [...]