EthnicMajority

(Game Politics) First Lady Michelle Obama recently gave a commencement address at Bowie State University encouraging more young African Americans to continue their education. She does so by throwing culture like videogames, television, and music under the bus.

"Be an example of excellence to the next generation," she said Friday at commencement ceremonies held at the nearby University of Maryland. "Today, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of 'separate but equal,' when it comes to getting an education, too many of our young people just can’t be bothered."

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(Ebony) Earlier this week, many of us were surprised to learn that Angelina Jolie made the brave choice to have a double mastectomy and then chose to share her story with the entire world via The New York Times. Her announcement ignited a flurry of conversations that have crossed racial and gender lines. Social media network communities were engaged in a dialogue and people were sharing experiences, knowledge, and words of support. The buzz helped many realize that it is a big deal for a 37 year old, high profile celebrity disclose why she made the difficult choice of removing not only one but two of her breasts. This exchange is important for all, but especially for the African-American community.

African-American women are two times more likely to die from breast cancer even though we are diagnosed less than White women.  African-American women are also more likely to get aggressive, fast growing, hard-to-treat breast cancers known as triple-negative cancers. This is different than the BRCA-related cancer that Jolie sought to avoid. However, despite the more aggressive cancers seen in African-American women, recent studies have shown that for all types of breast cancer, aggressive or not, survival rates among African-American women are lower.

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(Huffington Post) In an area known as one of the safest communities in the country, a hit list of African American students who would be "the first to die" was spray-painted in a high school bathroom.

The racist graffiti was at Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, Calif., a predominantly white community about 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The hit list is believed to have been painted during school hours Wednesday, KTLA reports in the video above.

Before that, graffiti reading "Go back 2 Africa" was found and removed off of the school walls on Sunday.

The hate crime made some parents wonder if it was safe for students to go to school, even though extra patrols will be there all week. “Does (my son) have to watch his back when he’s coming to school?” a parent asked CBS.

“(The suspects) win if our kids don’t come to school … they think they’re scared, they’re afraid," another parent said to the station.

In the video above, KTLA interviews parents whose children were on the hit list — many of whom went to campus immediately after hearing about the graffiti on Wednesday.

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(Business Insider) Teen clothing brand Wet Seal has reached a $7.5 million settlement over allegations that it horrendously discriminated against employees of color, because they didn't have the "white," "blue eye," "thin and blond" look the brand wanted, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Three former managers filed the lawsuit last year, accusing the nationwide retail chain of actively firing and denying raises and promotions to black workers. One plaintiff, former manager Kai Hawkins, said that her boss threatened to fire her unless she hired more white employees. Another, Nicole Codgell, claimed that she was fired the day after the company's senior vice president for store operations toured several outlets and sent an email to lower managers, "African American dominate — huge issue." 

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(The Root) — It's rarely a good idea to make a sweeping racial generalization — ever. But I'm taking a risk and making one now: Most black Americans don't care about royalty. To be more specific, most don't care about the British royal family — from Queen Elizabeth to Kate Middleton, and certainly not the visiting Prince Harry — that the rest of America seems obsessed with.

Now, before someone sends me an email, Facebook message or tweet to say, "But I care about the British royal family, Keli," let me say this: I'm not saying there is not a single black person who cares about them. I'm saying I've never met that person, and in all of the black people I have met in my life, I have never met another black person who has met that person.

Need proof besides my word? Take a look at this photo of female Capitol Hill staffers waiting to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry during his visit to the United States this week. Do you see any black women? Because I don't. (I realize that racial identity is a complex subject, so I apologize in advance to anyone in the photo who identifies as black.)

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(ABC News) All her life Debbie Lum, a second-generation Chinese-American filmmaker, has been hounded by men with "yellow fever" — usually, but not always, white men with a fetish for Asian women.

So she set out to expose the men who only see the stereotypical domestic, submissive and highly sexual creature, and not the person.

In her first feature-length film, "Seeking Asian Female," which airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET on PBS's "Independent Lens," Lum gets drawn into the complicated relationship of a 60-year-old white man and his 30-year-old mail-order bride.

Lum told ABCNews.com that she found the perfect subject after searching for men with yellow fever on Craig's list and other websites. Steven, a twice-divorced garage attendant at the San Francisco Airport, has been unabashedly trolling the website Asian Asia Friend Finder for five years looking for a Chinese bride.

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(Los Angeles Times) The Los Angeles Police Department opened an internal investigation into its response at an off-campus house party near USC amid complaints from some students that the department showed racial bias and used heavy-handed tactics.

The incident occurred early Saturday morning during an end-of-semester party at a house a few blocks from campus. A neighbor called police complaining about the noise. Police arrived, and the situation escalated with the arrival of dozens of more officers donning riot gear. Six people were arrested and one officer was injured. Two of those arrested were “treated for minor abrasions,” police said.

The clash roiled the USC campus Monday, prompting a student sit-in at the center of campus.

“They were acting like they were going to war with us,” said senior Jason Sneed, 23, a political science major. Sneed, who described the scene as chaotic and hostile, said he was handcuffed and thrown inside the back of a police car.

This incident comes after two violent events that shook the USC community and were followed by tighter security measures in the area. In April 2012, two graduate students were shot to death in a botched robbery less than a mile from campus. Last October, four people were shot, one of them injured critically, outside an on-campus Halloween party.

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(CNN) – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the high court's only African American jurist, opened up recently about his thoughts on race and the White House.

Asked if he ever expected to see an African American president in his lifetime, the conservative justice said he always knew "it would have to be a black president who was approved by the elites and the media, because anybody that they didn't agree with, they would take apart."

"And that will happen with virtually – you pick your person, any black person who says something that is not the prescribed things that they expect from a black person will be picked apart," he said in an April interview at Duquesne Law School in Pittsburgh, which aired on C-SPAN.

"You can pick anybody, don't pick me, pick anyone who has decided not to go along with it; there's a price to pay," he continued. "So, I always assumed it would be somebody the media had to agree with."

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(Christian Science Monitor) By nominating Charlotte, N.C.President Obama> adds some additional racial diversity to his administration, comes a step closer to completing his second term Cabinet, and moves a youthful African American politician into the national spotlight.

In a ceremony in the White House East Room Monday afternoon, Mr. Obama called Mayor Fox "one of the most effective mayors Charlotte has ever seen,” and detailed Foxx's transportation experience.

"Since Anthony took office, they have broken ground on a new street car project that is going to bring modern electric tram service to the downtown area, they have expanded the international airport, and they are extending the city’s light rail system," the president said. "All of that has not only helped to create new jobs, it has helped Charlotte become more attractive to business.

"So I know Anthony’s experience will make him an outstanding transportation secretary."

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(The Root) — Seventeen people were arrested on Monday during a nonviolent "pray-in" at the North Carolina General Assembly, which was held by the NAACP to call attention to the state's Republican-led assault against the civil rights of poor and minority voters. Ben Wrobel, a spokesman for the National NAACP, said that the men and women were arrested without incident during the two-and-a-half-hour event. 

The Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP State Conference, said during an afternoon conference call: "We come to this point today reflecting on the great moral tenets of the Scriptures, including love and justice. We are also guided and driven today by the great moral framework of our state constitution that was written 145 years ago by black and white men who were in search of a better way forward than the old past of racial division and slavery."

Barber referred to the General Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory's administration as right-wing extremists and "the George Wallaces of the 21st century" because of measures that negatively affect poor people and minorities. During its first 50 days in session, the legislature has made the following decisions:

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