Jay, Minaj, Willow — Illuminati rumors persist: Apparently people are really serious about this. At E! Online, Leslie Gornstein says, "There is a nexus between African-Americans, power and paranoia that has simmered for generations," and this is just its latest iteration. "Black culture in general has always had pervasive conspiracy theories," Columbia University professor Marc Lamont Hill at added. "There have always been questions and conspiracies about the structure and nature of power by African-Americans, and naturally those questions have made their way into hip-hop."
Southern voters weigh in on why Obama won in the first place: Slate's David Weigel collected thoughts on this issue, including, "He won because of the color of his skin. No doubt." Oh, and because of voter fraud.
How young is too young for a perm? Madame Noire's writer thinks 8 years old is pushing it.
First underground railroad ran slaves to south Florida: While most Americans are familiar with the Underground Railroad that helped Southern slaves escape north before the Civil War, the first clandestine path to freedom ran for more than a century in the opposite direction, the Huffignton Post reports. Stories of that lesser-known "railroad" will be shared June 20-24 at the National Underground Railroad Conference in St. Augustine, Fla.
Slavery’s last stronghold — Mauritania: Ten to 20 percent of people in the country live in slavery. Read CNN's account of their experiences and its assessment of what's allowed the horrifying condition to continue.
Twitter attacks Touré over Trayvon and Zimmerman jokes: Followers jumped all over him for being insensitive about the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin when he quipped about the shooter's name, "New slang! You're Zimmermanning Me = You're Killing Me." Touré explained, "Saying 'You're Zimmermanning me' to mean 'You're killing me' was not intended as a simple joke. It's tragicomedy, people. The blues. I tried to continue the attack on Zimmerman. Sorry if that got lost in a bad tweet."