Actor James Gandolfini Dies Suddenly While On Vacation
The 51-year-old actor died on Wednesday in Rome. Reports attribute his death to a heart attack. Gandolfini had been a character actor for years before he was given a chance to read for Tony Soprano in...
View ArticleAn Ever-Changing L.A. Links Walter Mosley To His Midcentury P.I.
Walter Mosley fooled us: We thought he'd killed off Easy Rawlins, the protagonist of his much-loved series. But it turned out Mosley just needed a break from the work — a long break. Six years later,...
View ArticleWith Fla. Verdict, Is Protective Clothing Still Required?
"I'm ashamed at how long it took me to realize why so many people in my family have been consumed with looking church-ready when they step out the door regardless of time or day."That Facebook quote...
View ArticleNational Reaction To The Zimmerman Verdict: 'What Next?'
The acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin is reverberating far beyond Florida. On Sunday, President Obama acknowledged the strong passions the verdict has incited. He...
View ArticleBlack Americans Welcome Obama's Entry To Race Discussion
As soon as he made his remarks on race Friday, President Obama was part of an intense conversation around the nation.In dozens of cities across the country on Saturday, protesters held coordinated...
View ArticleUnivision Clips 'Tweety's' Wings
If you drive anywhere in greater Los Angeles, you know that you spend a significant amount of time staring at the bumper of the car ahead of you. And you may have noticed that a lot of those bumpers...
View ArticleKey Witness Against Emmett Till's Killers Led A Quiet Life
Willie Louis may be one of the most celebrated but least-known figures in a pivotal point in American history: He testified against the men accused of kidnapping and murdering 14-year-old Emmett Till....
View ArticleAmusement Parks And Jim Crow: MLK's Son Remembers
In this three-part series, Karen Grigsby Bates talks with children of Medgar Evers, Viola Liuzzo and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to see how they've coped with the burden and privilege of their...
View ArticleKilled For Taking Part In 'Everybody's Fight'
For the past few months, NPR has been commemorating the monumental summer of 1963 by looking at watershed moments in the civil rights movement. In this three-part series, Karen Grigsby Bates talks with...
View ArticleMedgar Evers' Son Honors Civil Rights Icon In His Own Way
James Van Dyke Evers was only 3 when his father, Medgar, was assassinated in the driveway of the family's home in Jackson, Miss., in June 1963.A sniper shot Medgar Evers in the back as he returned from...
View ArticleKiese Laymon's Overdue Success Proves Publishers Can Change
Writer Kiese Laymon has had the kind of year every first-time author dreams of: two books published to critical acclaim. But none of that came easily. The title of his most recent book, an essay...
View ArticleWhile Unsung in '63, Women Weren't Just 'Background Singers'
On that sweltering August day in 1963, almost a quarter-million people thronged the National Mall, from the Washington Monument to the columned marble box that is the Lincoln Memorial.
View ArticleHarlem On Their Minds: Life In America's Black Capital
The poet Langston Hughes liked to wryly describe the Harlem Renaissance — the years from just after World War I until the Depression when black literature and art flourished, fed by an awakening racial...
View ArticleAt Fashion Week, Color Pops And Models Call For Diversity
Color continued to be a big deal on the New York runways during Fashion Week this week, but almost all the color was represented by the clothes being showcased in the new collections and not the models...
View ArticleActors With Disabilities In Big Roles? 'We Don't Have A Chance'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BliTQcK3tA0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYTnldzk9nchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhpWeJObkI8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXl-krlLoxg
View ArticleUndocumented Immigrants In Calif. Will Benefit From New Laws
The federal government remains shut down over a budget stalemate, but California's Gov. Jerry Brown decided not to wait for Congress to make decisions on the Gordian knot that is U.S. immigration...
View ArticleAsian-Americans To Evangelicals: We're Not Your Punch Line
"We the undersigned, are distressed about the continuing divide that persists in the North American evangelical church in the area of racial harmony."That's the first line of a four-page open letter to...
View ArticleAmy Tan Weaves Family Mystery Into 'Valley Of Amazement'
Amy Tan was 200 pages into a new novel when she attended a large exhibition on Shanghai life in the early 1900s. While there, she bought a book she thought might help her as she researched details on...
View ArticleAn Appreciation: 'Essence' Cover Girl Barbara Cheeseborough
If you were black and female and grew up in the '70s, you were used to looking at pretty white women on the covers of major fashion and beauty magazines. If you wanted to borrow their look, you had to...
View ArticleMexican-American Vets Ignited Kennedy's Latino Support
Most politicians recognize the importance of the Latino vote, but John F. Kennedy might have been the first presidential candidate to actively court it. Viva Kennedy clubs started by former...
View Article