feb. 23

Links we love today: Rap fanfic, the real @horse_ebooks, summer-y Polaroids andmore

Here are the links we loved today:

9 surprising banned books; 15 best quotes from David Wain’s Reddit AMA.

A Converse-sponsored jam, “DoYaThing,” from James Murphy, Andre 3000 and Gorillaz:

Here’s some rap industry fanfic for your reading pleasure.

End of an era: Adrian Chen tracks down the man behind legendary Twitter account @horse_books.

Tumblr’s taking aim at pro-anorexia and ‘self-harm’ blogs; Sleepy + drunk = increased creativity? Science!

Wayne Dyer’s tips on coping with unemployment.

The haunting Health remix of Crystal Castles’ “Suffocation” that’ll get stuck in your head all night:

Distract yourself with these awesome (weird?) iPhone cases.

The nominees for the 2012 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction are out!

Some gorgeous, fuzzy beach polaroids for this unseasonably warm winter day.

New Beirut video, “Vagabond,” is black-and-white beautiful:

I’m not saying you should watch the video for Paris Hilton’s new single, “Drunk Text,” but I am saying the spoken word disco jam will blow your mind with mediocrity:

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”