4 d. ago ‘A safe haven from racial violence’: Sinners shows the importance of juke joints

Ryan Coogler’s smash hit horror focuses on the opening of a juke joint, a one-time mainstay in Black southern cultureIn Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, the Smokestack twins – a gangster pair played by Michael B Jordan – return to their Mississippi Delta home town to open a juke joint and make a fast buck, only to wind up hunkered inside when danger literally comes knocking. But the juke joint is more than a safe space from vampires; for Black people during segregation, it was an escape from the horrors of the so-called “separate-but-equal” US economy. “The juke joint represents, as the film suggests, this multifaceted connection to the foundation of Black experience,” says William Ferris, a University of North Carolina history professor who has made documenting blues music and southern culture his life’s work. “It’s a safe haven from racial violence.”During the late 19th and early 20th century the juke joint was a southern social institution, the place to drink and unwind over live music. T...

Events

4 d. ago Does your child identify as a cat? There’s a man in Texas who can help | Arwa Mahdawi

Are schools really providing litter trays for kids whose pronouns are Puss and Purr? Or is state representative Stan Gerdes just stoking the culture war with his proposed FURRIES Act?Move over, Wagatha Christie: Furlock Holmes is investigating “non-human behaviour” in Texas schools. A Republican state representative called Stan Gerdes recently filed a bill called the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Educational Spaces (FURRIES) Act, which would ban schoolkids from acting like animals. No hissing during history, no meowing during maths, and absolutely no relieving yourself in a litter box during lunch break, according to the FURRIES Act.Are animal impersonations a serious issue in Texas’s schools? Gerdes insists so, noting in a press release that he had heard reports of a “furry-related incident” in at least one school. When pressed on the issue, however, he was unable to provide any actual evidence of schools providing litter boxes for students who identify as fel...

Politics

7 d. ago Atticus Baldwin calls for more autistic representation in Hollywood

EXCLUSIVE The God’s Gang star discusses the need for more opportunities for autistic performers in film and television, calling for greater diversity and understanding in casting

Politics

1 week ago 'I was Fred West's solicitor, finding skeleton with black hair under patio was only the beginning'

Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story will be released on Netflix later this month with some key people speaking for the first time

Events

2 w. ago Syria's Kurds call for a democratic state that protects their ethnic rights

Representatives of Kurdish groups in Syria are calling for a democratic state that gives the country’s Kurds their ethnic rights after the fall of Bashar Assad

Politics

2 w. ago Abusive thug strangled girlfriend and 'set fire to her hair' in violent relationship

'Danger to the public' Ryan Black, 40, set his girlfriend's hair on fire and accused her of cheating on him during a violent relationship where he left her unconscious

Events

3 w. ago 'Black hair deserves a place': Dove calls for representation of Black hair in emoji library

Dove have partnered with youth empowerment organisation Rise365 and action group Crown Coalition to launch a campaign calling for better representation of Black hair in the Emoji library

Politics