In the six weeks since nationwide Black Lives Matter protests rose up after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, musicians have been reckoning with their own complicit role in the longstanding structural racism of the music industry. Those efforts have ranged from the largely symbolic (removing the word “urban” from radio …
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Weeks after music’s Blackout Tuesday, which sparked a plethora of heated, industry-wide conversations about systemic racism, companies and executives are still debating the use of the word “urban” in job titles, awards categories, and other facets of the music business. While not all organizations are in agreement about what to …
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Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson, penned an open letter to Senate leaders urging them to pass a COVID-19 relief bill that includes significant funding for the upcoming November elections. Knowles-Lawson wrote the letter in partnership with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ campaign, And I Still Vote. It’s addressed …
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Nile Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation announced the creation of its new Youth to the Front Fund, which will benefit activists and organizations fighting to end systemic racism. Per a press release, the YTTF Fund will specifically support and fund “under 30-year-old BIPOC [Black Indigenous People of Color] youth activists, …
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UPDATE (6/19): The International Slavery Museum has deduced that Penny Lane’s name is not connected to the slave trade. Liverpool’s Penny Lane — of Beatles fame — might be renamed, according to Steve Rotheram, Liverpool’s Metro Mayor. Last week, four road signs bearing the name were spray-painted over, according to …
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The Louisville, Ky. police department has voted unanimously to ban no-knock warrants in the wake of the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT who was killed in an unannounced police raid on her boyfriend’s apartment. The legislation, titled Breonna’s Law, will officially ban the practice of no-knock warrants, or …
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The section of 16th Street in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., is now officially called Black Lives Matter Plaza. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the news via Twitter Friday, sharing video as the sign was installed. Bowser also had the words “Black Lives Matter” painted on the street …
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UPDATE: The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled the death of George Floyd a homicide. It lists his cause of death as “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,” while adding Floyd “experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s).” It also states “other significant …
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Twitter placed a “glorifying violence” disclaimer Friday morning over a tweet in which President Trump referred to those protesting police brutality in Minnesota as “THUGS,” before concluding, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Users must click through the disclaimer to view the text of the tweet, and the liking, …
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John Malkovich appears in our latest installment of The First Time, timed to the May 29th premiere of the new Greg Daniels/Steve Carell series Space Force, in which hestars alongside Carell. The legendarily droll actor discusses his first Zoom happy hour, his first time singing folk gospel, teaching himself to …
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