Happy Black History Month, everyone! Here’s how you can help shut down the ignorant haters, just like John Boyega, or celebrate with the rest of the internet.
National News
Just in case you didn’t know, arrests have been made in the Oregon Militia situation.
The U.S. Department of Justice and city of Ferguson have come to an agreement over the restructuring of the city’s justice system.
This week, President Obama made his first official visit to an American mosque.
Buzzfeed has a really in depth piece on how Indian immigrants are targeted and detained in the U.S.
NPR looks at the growth of a Chinese teen population in California schools.
Public Advocate Letitia James is suing the New York City Education Department for inadequate disability services for students.
The New York Times has a video on first generation college students in Ivy League schools and how they create a path for themselves and their families.
Serial fans, Adnan Syed’s will be in court this week as a judge has reopened the case.
Monica Loera is the first transwoman killed this year.
Barbie is getting more diverse (!!!) but what does that say about how feminism has impacted the mainstream and has become commodified?
We have an Asian-American Gerber Baby!
Just like the Oscars, book publishing is not very diverse.
#OscarsSoWhite & Hollywood
More black actors won SAG awards this year than were even nominated at the Oscars, including Idris Elba, Udo Azuba, and Viola Davis, who reminded us that diversity is not just a trendy topic.
Twitter took #OscarsSoWhite to a new level and tried to #MakeAMovieWhiter.
Stephanie Allain, Alan Yang, and Justin Simien talk about being people of color in Hollywood.
Variety magazine calls out the entire industry with their latest cover story.
Epix will be airing a documentary on the gender gap in Hollywood featuring Mira Nair, America Ferrara, and Mo’nique among others.
Charlie Hunnam is playing a Mexican drug lord and Joseph Fiennes is playing Michael Jackson because there is no role in Hollywood that can’t be played by a white British man. Here are some better suggestions from Pajiba.
Here’s a video from Screencrush featuring every time white people played people of color.
ONTD has 2016 releases starring or created by people of color, just in case next year’s Oscars continues this whitewashing trend.
Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar series will have all black women directors because DuVernay fucking gets it. Speaking of DuVernay’s here’s another version of the Bechdel test we should use more.
Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation breaks records and sells for $17.5 million after its Sundance premiere.
Tony Kushner is helping Denzel Washington adapt August Wilson’s Fences.
Here’s the first look of Amma Asante’s A United Kingdom with David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike.
Diego Luna, Maya Rudolph, and Danny Glover promoted their movie Mr. Pig at Sundance.
The teaser trailer for Taiki Waititi’s new movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople is here.
Archie Panjabi is leading the cast of a new pilot for ABC, The Jury.
Bryan Fuller’s American Gods adaptation has cast its Shadow.
CBS has picked up the pilot for the TV-adaptation of Training Day with race-swapped leads.
The 24 reboot has its lead in Straight Outta Compton’s Corey Hawkins, which Freckle and I did not see coming.
Hamilton is touring!
Music
Russell Simmons and Aretha Franklin join many others in donating water, money, and hotel rooms to those affected by the Flint water crisis.
Kanye, Wiz Khalifa, and Amber Rose had a heated Twitter exchange as the former promoted his new album Swish Waves.
Coldplay and Beyonce released a video for “Hymn for the Weekend” and it’s full of cultural appropriation, and also just boring tropes of “mystical India.”
Rihanna’s ANTI was released last week, which got Rolling Stone in some trouble for calling first single “Work” a tropical house song and not… dancehall, which it is.
Zayn Malik finally has new music and it’s just as generically poppy as expected.
We end on the best story ever: Neil deGrasse Tyson and B.O.B’s bizarre feud over whether the earth is flat.
