Race

Real Housewives of Atlanta star Lisa Wu Hartwell gets a hair treatment at a "Curl Party" hosted by Carol's Daughter and theYBF.com in 2010.

National

A Black Cosmetic Company Sells, Or Sells Out?

2:50pm October 24, 2014

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Carol's Daughter was started to sell products for black women who wear their hair natural. But ever since L'Oréal bought the brand, folks are wondering if it can maintain the loyalty of its customers.

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Lacey Williams (from left), Mary Espinosa, Jaime Villegas, Armando Cruz Martinez and Elisa Benitez talk inside the offices of the Latin American Coalition in Charlotte, N.C. According to a 2011 Pew Hispanic report, the median age of Latinos in North Carol

In North Carolina, Latino Voters Could Decide Tight Senate Race

12:22pm October 24, 2014

by Michel Martin

Latinos make up 9 percent of the state's population and 2 percent of registered voters, and a new poll shows many are undecided. In Charlotte, Michel Martin learns more about their growing influence.

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Dontey Carter (from left), Mel Moffitt, Lenard Smith, Ned Alexander and Allen Frazier are all members of the Lost Voices group, formed after Michael Brown's death in August. They say they want to ensure justice for Michael Brown and other unarmed individu

National

With Ferguson Protests, 20-Somethings Become First-Time Activists

11:18am October 24, 2014

by Cheryl Corley

Near Ferguson, Mo., young people are taking the lead in protesting police brutality. Many say they had never considered activism before, but saw Michael Brown's shooting death as a call to action.

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Look, Mom, I Finally Made It To Broadway!

12:56pm October 22, 2014

by Michel Martin

NPR's Michel Martin will sit down with a panel of award-winning playwrights to ask about diversity in theater. Follow here or join us on Twitter on Friday at 7 p.m. ET, using #NPRMichel.

Michel Martin Recaps #BeyondFerguson

12:12pm October 22, 2014

Steve Inskeep talks to Michel Martin about the community conversation covering race and law enforcement that was held Thursday night in Ferguson, Mo. There was also a Twitter chat at #BeyondFerguson.

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Waverly Adcock, a sergeant and founder of the West Augusta Guard, prepares his company for inspection and battle at a Civil War re-enactment in Virginia. Sara Smith, whose great-great-grandfather was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, holds the Confeder

National

Six Words: 'Must We Forget Our Confederate Ancestors?'

9:30am October 22, 2014

by NPR Staff

The Confederate flag is a sign of bigotry to some. For others, says reporter Jesse Dukes, it symbolizes family heritage and defiance — but also what he calls a "willful innocence" about U.S. history.

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Debra Messing stars with Robert Klein in NBC's The Mysteries of Laura.

Arts

Winners And Losers Of The Fall TV Season Begin To Emerge

9:34am October 21, 2014

by Eric Deggans

One month into the TV season, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says diversity is winning and rom-coms are losing as new shows battle for viewers.

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Bryan Stevenson takes on cases to exonerate people wrongfully convicted. "One of the things that pains me is we have so tragically underestimated the trauma, the hardship we create in this country when we treat people unfairly, when we incarcerate them un

One Lawyer's Fight For Young Blacks And 'Just Mercy'

3:59pm October 20, 2014

When police pulled a gun on Bryan Stevenson as he was sitting quietly in his car in Atlanta, he knew he had to effect change. His memoir describes his attempts, including freeing men on death row.

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Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris) plays Lionel Higgins in Dear White People

Arts

Watching 'Dear White People' At Harvard

1:28pm October 20, 2014

by Shereen Marisol Meraji

Dear White People follows four black students at a prestigious, majority-white college, where racial tensions are threatening to bring chaos to campus. So why not catch a screening at Harvard?

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The Boston Herald published this cartoon earlier this month.

The Boston Herald's Missed 'Cartoongate' Lessons

10:38am October 20, 2014

by Eric Deggans

The newspaper's heartfelt column about a political cartoon that was widely criticized as racist raises a question: Did editors learn the right lessons from the uproar?