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This Is What 100 Years Of Protests For Racial Justice Look Like In America


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25 Kitchen Products That’ll Help Make Food Taste Better

Today I learned that I’ve been cooking all wrong.


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A Woman On TikTok Was Shot In The Face With A Rubber Bullet While Protesting Peacefully

“I’m glad it was me because there was a pregnant woman within feet of me and a child.”


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Total Bellas Total Recap: Jockey Vibes

Previously on Total Bellas: a very fake reality show got very real about mental health for a while and Artem bought a ring.

Was There Anything About Wrestling On This Week’s Episode Of Total Bellas?

No, and it’s kind of weird because we see Daniel Bryan come home with short hair and a short beard and no one mentions this is because of a wrestling angle! It looks like he just came home with a haircut his wife wasn’t crazy about. There is no mention of The Fiend whatsoever, which in my opinion, was a huge mistake on the show’s part. If anyone should be part of both WWE kayfabe and Total franchise kayfabe, it should be The Fiend. Just Brie saying “I know you’ve been going through some stuff with The Fiend, but I have to tell you something” before breaking her pregnancy suspicions would have gone a long way.

Baby Number One (Of Two)

This week’s episode, “The Proposal,” is almost entirely about The Proposal (of marriage) (delivered by Artem Chigvintsev to Nikki Bella), but once that’s wrapped up, there’s a huge development for Brie and Bryan in the last ten minutes. Brie starts experiencing just about every symptom of pregnancy and when she tells Bryan about this, he mentions that they tried to get pregnant after their marriage-healing trip to Sedona. Turns out it worked!

Brie explains to the camera and to Nikki that this pregnancy happened when she and Bryan “let go of so much” and it’s a symbolic thing in that way, but she also acknowledges that the same reasons she was sure she didn’t want to have another kid earlier in the season are true. Will she and Bryan getting along better make it easier to take care of two kids by herself most of the time? This could be more drama waiting to happen – or not, because Bryan’s been talking (in real life) about winding down his full-time wrestling career, which would probably go a long way in solving almost every problem they’ve had this season.

Proposal Number One (Of One)

The rest of this week’s show is dedicated to the Bellas’ and Artem’s families in France on a trip that meshes business, a birthday for the twins (the big three-six), and The Proposal, and it makes for the best and easiest to watch episode of the season. It’s a vacation episode that takes the viewer’s brain on a vacation. The plot isn’t low stakes, but it’s very low tension because anyone watching the show knows that Nikki and Artem are, in fact, engaged now. More than a drama on its own, this feels like an episode-long resolution to most of the Nikki/Artem conflicts and some of the internal Bella family problems this season.

Other Nikki/Artem storylines have been hurt by Artem looking like he feels tortured by being on a reality show and like he might not actually like Nikki, but here his happiness is believable. I still suspect he might be in massive engagement ring debt, but it’s also easy to be happy for him. The dude is reunited with family he rarely sees, embraced by his future mother-in-law, and knocks it out of the park with an elaborate proposal setup that fits perfectly for his girlfriend who, earlier this season, got excited about the idea of a Louis Vuitton pool cover. The biggest takeaways from the episode are what Nikki Bella thinks is “jockey vibes,” that she can protect her champagne flute while falling down the stairs, and a feeling of good for you, Artem! Go forth and be happy!

Russian Old Man Of The Week

The presence of Artem’s family brings out the underlying real-life elements of the proposal storyline and makes it a lot more charming. The Bellas (the twins, Kathy, JJ, and Lauren) and the Chigvintsevs (Artem, Vladimir, Anna, and Anton) all want to make good impressions on each other because they’re going to be related pretty soon. This makes for the rare reality TV episode in which everyone is on their best behavior (and extra careful about it because of the language barrier.)

The Bellas play things up for the cameras less, and the Chigvintsevs not at all. Artem’s parents don’t seem to really know how reality TV works; Artem has to kind of direct them in the scene where he’s going to ask Kathy for permission to marry Nikki. Also, Artem’s dad, Vladimir, at one point gives the camera a nod of acknowledgment like he doesn’t realize they’re not supposed to acknowledge their presence. Even if he does, that fourth-wall-breaking moment is so good I get why it was left in.

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A New Postmates Feature Makes It Easier To Support Black-Owned Restaurants And Businesses

Postmates is making it easier to find and support black-owned restaurants and businesses on their app, thanks to a new search feature. In a recent press release announcing the new feature, the food delivery app also indicated their support for the nationwide protests calling for justice for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the countless other victims of police brutality.

“We stand with those that need their voices heard and demands met. We’re committed to using our platform to effectively drive change, and change starts at home,” reads the statement, announcing a number of steps that Postmates is taking to support police reform such as joining the ACLU’s call for an independent review of the facts, donating to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and signing on as an ally of Black Tech for Black Lives, a collective of Black tech entrepreneurs, investors, creators, and workers calling for social change and an end to police violence.

The new feature allows you to find a growing list of black businesses in your immediate area by simply typing “black-owned” in the Postmates search bar. In an era when delivery apps are being heavily criticized for egregious fees, Postmates will also be waiving all delivery fees from each restaurant in the “black-owned” category for an unspecified period.

Postmates

“This is just the beginning of the changes we are planning to make. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement, our restaurant partners, our Postmates Fleet, and each of you across the country,” the statement continues.

Postmates has also created an email address for people to reach out to on behalf of the businesses that are still being overlooked and unserved by delivery platforms, asking people to write their suggestions to [email protected].

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Arca And Shygirl Unite For ‘Unconditional’ With Proceeds Benefitting Black Lives Matter

UK singer/DJ Shygirl has teamed up with experimental producer Arca for a softspoken anthem. The duo shared “Unconditional,” with 100 percent of the funds being divided between the charity organizations Black Lives Matter and Inquest UK.

Sharing the song on social media, Shygirl said that they weren’t originally planning on a release, but hopes the song “brings some emotional relief to at least one other person somewhere, as I have felt solace and strength in music always.”

Shygirl held a similar sentiment in a statement posted alongside the track on Bandcamp:

“I felt overwhelmed this week. Inundated with imagery and news that triggered emotions I was not immediately ready to deal with. I found myself reaching for a lifeline, a brief moment of reprieve to steady me before I inevitably returned to the news, the deep dive of personal reflection and to the protest.

Protesting reminded me that I wasn’t alone. The possibility that others might feel the way I do, even in the slightest, made me want to speak up and reach out, to provide something. I find both solace and power in music, so it’s in this that I have a resource to share. With the aim to build emotional strength and connections in this time of awakening, reflection and protest.

I wrote the lyrics to this song a while ago, originally thinking of love, family, betrayal and ultimately strength in adversity. It was only this week that I thought of this song again with everything going on. The emotion of the song still rang true but this time in a wider way, a bigger family, a deeper betrayal, a greater need for love.

It felt right to share this now and I hope it means something to you.”

The track marks another collaboration between Shygirl and Arca. The duo recently united for “Watch” from Arca’s forthcoming record Kick I, which also boasts features from Björk and Rosalía.

Listen to “Unconditional” above.

Kick I is out 6/26 via XL. Pre-order it here.

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‘Selma’ Is Available To Stream For Free, And The Film’s Star Is Revealing Why Some Oscar Voters Rejected It

Selma, Ava DuVernay’s historical-drama about the Selma to Montgomery marches to equal voting rights led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was one of the best reviewed films of 2014, but it was only nominated for two Oscars. True, one of them was Best Picture (which it lost to, ugh, Birdman), but David Oyelowo failing to pick up a nomination for his performance as MLK is still shocking. The actor believes he knows why that is, though.

Selma was released into theaters a few months after Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, was put into a chokehold by a member of the New York Police Department and died. “That was the last time we were in a place of ‘I Can’t Breathe.’ I remember at the premiere of Selma us wearing I Can’t Breathe’ t-shirts in protest,” Oyelowo told ScreenDaily. “Members of the Academy called in to the studio and our producers saying, ‘How dare they do that? Why are they stirring s-h-i-t?’ and ‘We are not going to vote for that film because we do not think it is their place to be doing that.’ It’s part of why that film didn’t get everything that people think it should’ve got and it birthed #OscarsSoWhite. They used their privilege to deny a film on the basis of what they valued in the world.” DuVernay agrees with Oyelowo, tweeting, “True Story.”

DuVernay also shared on social media that Selma is now available on all digital platforms for free. “Paramount Pictures is offering SELMA for free rental on all US digital platforms for June, starting today,” she tweeted. “We’ve gotta understand where we’ve been to strategize where we’re going. History helps us create the blueprint. Onward.”

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Fans Crack ‘Percy Jackson’ Jokes At Rylo Rodriguez’s ‘Goat In Human Form’ Cover

Rap fans online are unleashing a chimera of jokes on Mobile, Alabama rapper Rylo Rodriguez for his new album cover thanks to one fan’s timely retweet and some questionable photoshop that may be taking the title a bit too literally. Rodriguez teased Goat In Human Form, his third full-length project, on Instagram Monday, posting its cover and suggesting that it’ll be released sometime this month. However, once the cover — which depicts Rylo as a mythological creature, with his torso turning into the body of an actual goat — migrated to Twitter, the great roast commenced in flamboyant fashion.

“Nah this the worst album cover I’ve ever seen,” wrote the Twitter user who posted it to his timeline. Making matters worse, the Twitter preview managed to cut the cover at Rylo’s waist, making it all the more enticing for observers to click through and determine just what made the cover so bad. Naturally, the tweet went viral, bringing with it a wave of gags, many focusing on the young adult fiction series Percy Jackson And The Olympians, which revolves around Greek mythology and includes a satyr (half-man, half-goat) character named Grover Underwood.

It didn’t take long for the parallels to inspire comparisons to Grover, while some other observers began posting other covers with odd photoshop jobs or questionable goat references. Other jokes invoked the faun (another name for satyr) Mr. Tumnus from The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe and the centaur character Motaro from the Mortal Kombat video game series. Hopefully Rylo’s got a good sense of humor, but even if the jokes sting a little, he has to appreciate all the free promotion he’s getting for his upcoming project.

Check out more fan responses below.

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Ice Cube Dismantles The ‘Black-On-Black Crime’ Argument And Continues To Support Protests

Ice Cube is using his Twitter account as a platform to combat misconceptions. The rapper has already been outspoken about police violence, including the recent video circulating that depicts an elderly man who was injured by Buffalo, New York police. Now, Ice Cube has taken to social media to dispel a problematic argument. Speaking about the ongoing demonstrations, the rapper addresses an argument used to demonize Black Lives Matter protests and shift the focus away from police brutality: “What about black-on-black crime?”

As protests against police brutality continue across the country, videos on Twitter circulate of officers using tear gas to disperse crowds. As pointed out by many publications, including The Cut, tear gas is classified as a chemical weapon and is banned in war, but technically legal for police to use on civilians. Ice Cube brought up this discrepancy on Twitter, saying that “Gassing American citizens is actually illegal.” One of the rapper’s followers responded, “So is theft and vandalism,” and Ice Cube shot back with, “So is killing BLACK PEOPLE.” The rapper then used the response as an opportunity to shed light on the “black-on-black crime” argument.

Outlining the general argument, Ice Cube wrote: “People always say Blacks kill Blacks more then the police.” The rapper then turned the argument on its head, pointing out that when Black people are violent against each other, it results in jail time. However, oftentimes when police are violent against Black people, there is no jail time. “THIS IS WHY PEOPLE ARE IN THE STREETS,” he said.

Later, Ice Cube reminded his followers why it’s important to keep pressure on elected officials: “I understand that people want to get back to normal. But normal is toxic for us. Keep your knee on these politicians and keep them working in our collective interest. Continue to post, inform and complain.”

Find Ice Cube’s tweets above.

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Rosalía Gives A Sorrowful Performance Of A Mexican Folk Song, ‘La Llorona,’ During A Livestream

Today, Rosalía has given her fans something that is both old and new: She has covered the traditional Mexican folk song “La Llorona” for the first time.

Rosalia sings on the song (translated from Spanish), “Alas, Llorona, Llorona / Llorona, bring me to the river / Cover me with your shawl, Llorona / Because I am dying of cold.”

In Mexican folklore, La Llorona is the ghost of a woman who kidnaps children and drowns them. The story goes that her husband loved their two sons and not her, so when she caught him with another woman, she drowned the children in a river and then drowned herself. She was denied entry into heaven until she found the souls of her sons, so now she cries and drowns children in the same river in which she drowned her sons. A Linda Cardellini-starring film based on the story, The Curse Of La Llorona, was released last year.

The performance actually took place a few days ago, as part of Se Agradece, a livestream music festival. Trebel, a music streaming platform and one of the event’s organizers, described the event in an Instagram post as (translated via Google) “a concert where music and solidarity become oneself.” The post continues, “For years we have taken the applause on stage, now we have to recognize all those heroes who are outside risking their lives to save ours.” Aside from Rosalía, the event also featured Maluma, Luis Fonsi, J Balvin, and many others.

Watch Rosalía perform “La Llorona” above.