Free Republic

Two D.C. high schools will remodel their curriculum with the intention to better prepare students for college and careers. Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and the Francis L. Cardozo Education Campus will be the first cohort of the DC+XQ, a partnership between D.C. Public Schools and the XQ Institute to “rethink and redesign all DCPS high schools,” a schools and XQ Institute news release said. The XQ Institute is an organization that develops programs aimed at improving high school education in the U.S. Dunbar and Cardozo will spend the current school year “prototyping and piloting elements of their school models,...

New England Patriots defensive end Michael Bennett invoked the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie “Black Panther” during his player intro on “Sunday Night Football.” During the introduction of the Patriots defensive starters, where players typically state their name and the college they went to, Bennett opted for a different idea. “Michael Bennett, Wakanda Forever!” Bennett shouted, crossing his arms to emulate the salute given by characters in the movie.

CNN)In a sea of users live-tweeting the Oscars last night, one account stood out: the CIA. Apparently, the agency is into movies -- especially "Black Panther." Throughout the night, the CIA Twitter feed explored the feasibility of the technology seen in the Marvel superhero flick. The agency also tested its followers' knowledge of metals, asking if they thought the fictional metal vibranium is real...

Screenwriter, director and “American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis wonders whether “Black Panther” deserves its Oscar nomination for Best Picture, and thinks Oscar voters are supporting it for the sake of diversity, not because it’s especially good. Ellis often speaks about the film industry in a way that doesn’t endear him to the Hollywood left. In 2012, he apologized to “Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow for suggesting that she had only won Oscars because she was “a hot woman.” He has also expressed amusement at widespread Hollywood revulsion toward President Trump, though he has stressed that he is not a...

The clothing chain Forever 21 said they were sorry for hiring a white model to sell its new “Black Panther” sweater, which has the words “Wakanda Forever” on the front. Of course, the film “Black Panther” broke ground, not only in the box office, but for being the first Black superhero movie to get major studio backing. The predominantly Black cast was also a different look for a superhero film, so many believed the person who modeled the sweater should’ve been Black....

Editor’s Note: This story contains spoilers for the film Black Panther. Black Panther’s Wakanda is a near-utopic vision of how a country could look; perhaps the best depiction of Afrofuturism ever captured on film. There were thriving and ideological-diverse cities surrounded by expansive and bucolic countrysides. There was modern technology perfectly weaved in to cultural tradition, a melding that was symbiotic instead of antagonistic. And while I didn’t see this happening during the movie, I’m sure Wakanda has amazing bottomless brunches. Unfortunately, a present-day attempt to recreate Wakanda would be unrealistic. Mainly because we’re roughly 20,000 years behind Wakandan tech....