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March Madness meets Black History: Breaking down barriers and calling out the terrible game of racism

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Sarah Stier / Staff / Getty Images

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Both the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments generate tens of millions of dollars every year, thanks largely to Black student-athletes. According to Forbes“Black men make up 50% of the 68 teams in the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. More than one in three student-athletes (36%) in this year’s women’s tournament are black.”

This is a comparatively latest phenomenon, having been occurring for several many years college basketball was essentially an almost exclusively white sport. “Until the 1950s, black people playing on campus courts were rare exceptions.”

This legacy of exclusion had a long-lasting impact. It wasn’t until April 2, 1984, that John Thompson made history when he became the first black coach to win the NCAA984 Basketball Tournament. John Thompson made history when he became the first black coach to win the NCAA basketball tournament while coaching a team Georgetown Hoyas to victory.

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But it was bittersweet. As Thompson said ESPN“I may have been the first black person to be given the opportunity to compete for this award because you discriminated against thousands of my ancestors by depriving them of this opportunity.”

“So I felt compelled to define it, and I got a little criticism for saying it because a young guy came up to me and asked, ‘What’s it like, Coach Thompson, to be the first African-American…,’ and I said, “I feel offended by what you say.” But I explained to him because there are various men who’ve been deprived of this chance who would have won it well before me.” Thompson added.

On the women’s side, Kenny Brooks was the first Black head coach, leading Virginia Tech to their first-ever Final Four appearance last yr.

From the Utah women’s basketball team being the victim of racial hate crimes to the racist portrayal of LSU in the media, race has been a serious topic on this yr’s NCAA Tournament.

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AND Los Angeles Times the article, which has since been redacted, contained racist and sexist undertones that were likely directed at Black LSU women’s basketball players. Writer Ben Bolch described the Sweet 16 game between UCLA and LSU as a “reckoning” between good and evil and posed the query: “Do you favor America’s sweethearts or her perverted debutants? Milk and cookies or Louisiana hot sauce?

Hailey Van Lith, one of the white players on the team, talked to him New York Post Officecommenting, “We have a lot of black women on our team [and] Unfortunately, this prejudice still exists.”

“Many of the people writing these comments are racist towards my teammates. I’m in a singular situation, I’ll talk nonsense and I’ll get a special response than if an Angel spoke nonsense… Some of the words utilized in this text were very sad and depressing and I didn’t want us to try this read the article before [Sweet 16] because it isn’t appropriate to hearken to such things… Calling us “dirty debutants” has nothing to do with sports.” From Lit added.

Bolch apologized on the Internet where he did so he wrote: “Words matter. As a journalist, no one should know this more than me. But I failed miserably with my choice of words.”

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“In my column previewing the LSU-UCLA women’s basketball game, I tried to wisely frame one team’s attitude by using alliteration while failing to understand the deeply offensive connotations and associations. I also used metaphors that were not appropriate. Our society has had to deal with so many layers of misogyny, racism and negativity that I now understand why the words I used were wrong. It was not my intention to cause harm, but I now realize that I missed the mark terribly.”

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times removed the offensive language and issued a press release statement stating that it “does not meet the Times’ editorial standards.”

In one study, scientists analyzed March madness college basketball games and found that “stereotypes about skin color and race play a significant role in how announcers describe players during games.” According to a study published in the journal ” American journal of sociology“sport is not an institution immune to racism and, in fact, can play a significant role in shaping beliefs and interpretations about intellectual, physical abilities and performance.”

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Celebrity Coverage

Exhibition “Internal cartography: exhibition” Internal cartography “Basil Kincaid – Essence

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Basil Kincaid. Thanks to the kindness of Sutton.

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One of probably the most difficult tasks of life is to look within the mirror – not only to see the reflection, but to confront the elections that shape who we’re. This kind of deep self -control requires patience, courage and most of the time discomfort. For Basil Kincaid, exploration of yourself shouldn’t be a fleeting phase or philosophical entertainment – this can be a necessity. His latest exhibition, now visible in Library Street Collective in Detroit, is a striking meditation on the emotional and spiritual identity area.

Known for richly layered textile works, Kincaid moves beyond traditional forms, creating elements that function each a portrait and a process. Quilting, embroidery, drawing, digital rendering – these elements mix to create something that it calls “fiber optic vignettes” by which color and composition mix to assist the viewer and artists, with personal assessment.

Basil Kincaid analyzes the identity with the exhibition
Basil Kincaid. And it’s immediately within the evening, 2025

Works made between studies in St. Louis and Ghana shapes Kincaid’s constant movement in physical and psychological landscapes. He talks openly about how the placement not only affects his art, but in addition about how he sees himself and the way others can see him. “I look at how my life changes and perceiving me based on where I am,” he explained. “There are differences in how I perceive me [Missouri]If I only go on the street, compared to how I perceive me in the museum, giving me a speech – people look at me and experience me one way, and then direct experience changes their perception. “

This changing view drives many topics. Each piece begins with a drawing, passes through a series of digital manipulation in Photoshop, after which it’s embroidered and stretched like a canvas. Kincaid believes that these media are usually not so different, but as a part of the continuum. “The way the work is done presents questions about the place and how the sites affect the way of thinking, acting and creation,” explained the artist.

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The Kincaid hybrid method can also be a deliberate rejection of the hierarchy, which has long devalued some materials or procedures. “Drawing is often seen as a lower form,” he noted. “But for me it is so fundamental.” This sentiment extends to fiber optic art, which it insists, deserves to be treated with the identical seriousness and depth as any so -called art. In the hands of Bazylia, jacquard loom – binary weaving system from 1800 – becomes a robust metaphor for early calculations, structure, history.

Basil Kincaid analyzes the identity with the exhibition
Basil Kincaid. Deep within the bush, trained by the desert, 2025. Embroidery on canvas.

“It can be argued that the progress in fiber optic art technology has led to a kind of social change in the way we think it allows the possibility of processing and all other things we experience and on dependencies,” said Kincaid. “It seems to me that we exist on this type of diagram of Venna reality, by which everyone has a digital cybernetic avatar or multiply on various social applications; you create this simulakra yourself to present. When you create your image of yourself, which you think about to be perfect and put it on this thought space, it also affects the best way you consider yourself, and which you could be positive or negative based on the way you react on conditions Socialty or you set them in other places with them.

Although it’s deeply rooted in innovation, its basis is what Kincaid calls “emotional defragmentation”. Like a pc sorting its files for more efficient startup, Kincaid changes through personal memories – each joyful and difficult – and again again. “The most difficult is to face errors; but instead of dividing these memories, it treats them as integral. Black shapes point out many works, symbolizing absence, but weight.” When you are trying to ignore bad memory, you’ll finally forget many memories round her, which may be good ” – he added.

In this breakthrough effort, the viewer doesn’t observe Kincaid’s journey – they’re invited to their very own. “I wanted this work to be a less telling story, and more about this process of hiking and reflection; experience in the desert,” he said. This openness implies that the exhibition seems less like a “art show”, and more like an internal pilgrimage with a guide.

Literary influence – something newer within the creative practice of basil – also goes through this work. Russell’s heritage gave a language to a few of the complexity with which Kincaid struggled around a mess and existence. Octavia Butler also left an indication – not only by telling stories, but through its fierce artistic discipline. “She had a clear determination that was not room for excuses,” Kincaid wondered. “It forced me to dig even deeper and give me another layer of myself.”

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Basil Kincaid analyzes the identity with the exhibition
Basil Kincaid. Finc presence, 2025. Floor embroidery.

And that is what it offers: Pureless layer of considering, process and self -esteem. The exhibition shouldn’t be intended to connect identity, but to maintain space for its contradictions. At a time when we regularly feel forced to pack and perform ourselves – digitally, socially, culturally – kincaid relies on this. Instead, the artist sets a series of labor, which is as wealthy in intellectually as he’s honest.

“Art is to be a place of freedom,” said Kincaid. And at this exhibition this freedom pulsates every thread, every shadow and each map derived from the meeting of life.

It is visible until May 21, 2025 at Library Street Collective.

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Pepa and daughter Treach Weds “Gorning up hip hop” in a small ceremony in Las Vegas

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Pepa and daughter Treach Weds

Earl Gibson III/Getty Images for V TV

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Recently, bells for the daughter of rappers Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Anthony’s “Treach” Criss rang. Egypt Criss, a 23-year-old star of Wetv, married her star, rapper and long-time Beau Samuel “Sam Mattick” Wright during a small ceremony at Little Vegas Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 31. Guests are the parents of Egypt, Pepa and Treach-and Rapper Layza Thugs-N-Harmony.

The couple got engaged in 2019 and finally rolled up in the passage after Pandemia stopped the plans to bind the node in December 2020. Despite the delays, it was price waiting for Egypt.

“Sam and I couldn’t be happier,” she said AND! News. “According to Pedro Calderon de la Barca … When love is not madness, it is not love.”

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If you’re wondering what she understands by “madness”, the couple was in the middle of a lot of drama, and the celebs and viewers are critical of their relationship and Wright motifs to be together with her. She collapsed over this loved one, classified critics in social media, and even physically fought to guard Wright. They stood with them due to all this, and now they’re a husband and wife.

“I want to thank everyone for beautiful congratulatory wishes 🙏, I am full of love and joy,” she wrote on Instagram. “In addition, so grateful to God for combining us in a holy marriage and grateful for starting a beautiful journey with a great support system and know that our love can do us through anything.”

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Viola Davis on power, parenting and playing president in “G20” – essence

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In Viola Davis, Danielle Sutton is transformed into the US presidential president – chaos pushing leader when the terrorists deny the G20 summit. As the primary president presented in such a thriller of a high stake motion, the Sutton’s mission is evident: to survive, protect world leaders, and most significantly, secure your kids. But for Davis, the movie is greater than just a movie chill – it’s deeply personal.

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“I have a teenager at home,” says Davis, referring to her daughter Genesis. “It was a nucleus of the character. So many women juggled them with dreams and motherhood and are always in a direct conflict. It was Danielle’s arch.”

The film produced by Davis and her husband Julius Tennon under the Juvee Productions banner is just not only stuffed with motion, but wealthy in emotional nuance. One of probably the most influential scenes for Davis was that her character resembles saving a toddler through the war – an emotional trigger rooted in motherly instinct and sensitivity. “You are still human, even if you are the leader of the free world,” he says. “In this way you deal with these heroic uncertainty.”

In addition to explosion and espionage, it’s also a robust representation of a robust, united black family. “This is our heritage in Juvee,” confirms Davis. “We want to be in history. Our imagination is unlimited.” Directed by Patricia Riggen and the forged, including Anthony Anderson and Marsa Martin, this film is a great combination of motion and emotions for viewers around the globe.

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