#Really!? - From the hilarious to the heartbreaking, these are the stories that demanded our attention this year. By Kenrya Rankin(Photos from Left: 247PAPS.TV/Splash News/Corbis, Sandra Bland via Facebook)
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We had to #AskRachel if she was serious. - If someone had told us at the top of the year that June would gift us with a White woman who had been pretending to be Black while leading the NAACP, teaching African-American studies classes and doing weaves, we would have told them to shut up. Then Rachel Dolezal appeared on the scene and the world was never the same. #AskRachel, indeed. (Photo: 247PAPS.TV / Splash News)
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The world demanded #JusticeForSandraBland. - When 28-year-old Sandra Bland turned up dead in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell, the world wanted to know what happened to her. When we saw the dashcam footage of her arrest, we realized that our men aren’t the only ones falling to police violence. (Photo: Sandra Bland via Facebook)
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We stepped all the way back from “Olivia.” - From seemingly agreeing with the racist notion that the first lady looks like an ape to saying she would never hire someone named “Watermelondrea,” Raven Symoné showed her tail so much that even her own daddy admitted that “she says some dumb s**t.”(Photo: ABC)
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Trigger fingers turned to Twitter fingers. - Listen. We are still not quite sure what rapper Meek Mill thought he would accomplish when he tweeted that Drake doesn't write his own music, but we are sure that he was subsequently dragged: by the Internet, by all the people in the world who possess zero chill and, especially, by Drake, who calmly released the freestyle “Back to Back” and demolished Meek’s career (and got nominated for a Grammy for his trouble). (Photos from Left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella, Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Power 105.1's Powerhouse 2015)
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Protestors pushed back against the Baltimore police. - After 25-year-old Freddie Gray suffered a severed spinal cord from a BPD “rough ride,” citizens took to the streets in what were actually widely peaceful protests (but don't tell mainstream media that). (Photo: Freddie Gray Memorial via Facebook)
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Folks decided they didn’t want Serena to be great. - After Sports Illustrated named tennis badass Serena Williams its 2015 Sportsperson of the year, a certain corner of the population argued that they should have honored Triple Crown winner American Pharoah instead. Yup folks, a horse. We’re done. (Photo: Yu Tsai for Sports Illustrated; December 21, 2015)
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We said goodbye to Bobbi Kristina. - We were shocked when we heard that Whitney and Bobby’s 22-year-old baby girl was discovered unresponsive in a bathtub like her mother before her. We were heartbroken when she was laid to rest six months later. (Photo: Fred Prouser/Reuters/Landov)
(Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)
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The #AssaultAtSpringValley proved our kids aren’t even safe at school. - When Columbia, South Carolina, school resource officer Ben Fields threw a teenage girl to the floor for taking out her cell phone in class, we were reminded of the persistence of the school to prison pipeline for Black and brown students. (Photo: MSNBC)
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Donald Trump opened his mouth. - From the moment he called Mexican immigrants “rapists” to the time he said he would “ban all Muslims” from entering the United States and everything in between, the Republican presidential hopeful has shocked and awed us with his capacity for hate. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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We saw Laquan McDonald’s execution. - Though then-Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke killed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014, it wasn’t until November that we finally saw the dashcam video and learned that not only did he shoot him a staggering 16 times, but the officers lied about the circumstances leading up to his death. The city revolted, Van Dyke was indicted and protestors are calling for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign for his role in covering up the crime. (Photo: Cook County Sheriff's Office via AP Photo)
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The Cosby Show took on new meaning. - Love it or hate it, but Ebony’s November 2015 cover literally shattered our memories of the iconic show and forced us to reconcile its place in our lives with the revelation that Bill Cosby is an alleged serial sexual predator. (Photo: Ebony Magazine)
Photo: Ebony Magazine
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We cried together. - On June 17, 2015, 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Storm Roof allegedly opened fire in Emanuel AME Church, killing nine Black people, including the pastor. The nation mourned. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)