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Black Christmas: 25 Bingeworthy TV Shows and Movies to Get You In the Holiday Spirit
Every holiday season, the movies and TV specials that are rolled out are of no interest to me. Santa’s cheery white face dominates nearly every screen. I am reminded by every department store’s playlist that the shoppers around me are dreaming of a “White Christmas,” and even Charlie Brown is starting to act funny. Fortunately,…
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100 Things Not To Do #WhileBlack
#LivingWhileBlack is tough. It seems that just by living our black-ass lives and minding our black-ass business, we are subject to all types of nonsensical terror, ranging from unfounded 911 calls to death. It doesn’t matter if you are a billionaire, Bob Marley’s granddaughter, an NBA player, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, a pageant queen, or…
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Get in the Spirit With These 13 Black Horror Films This Halloween
Looking to get in the spirit of Halloween by having a scary movie marathon, but tired of the same old stuff? We know the formula: mix one black character that dies in the opening scene with a handful of Chads slashed by a masked murderer, then add one frantic Becky being chased through the woods,…
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Domestic Workers: The Women Who Raised America
For Women’s History Month, Jezebel and The Root are partnering for JezeRoot, a series that focuses on women of color, domestic workers and sex workers. Women They were women thenMy mama’s generationHusky of voice—Stout ofStep With fists as well asHandsHow they battered downDoorsAnd ironedStarched whiteShirtsHow they ledArmiesHeadragged GeneralsAcross minedFieldsBooby-trappedDitchesTo discover booksDesksA place for usHow they…
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Black Mirror: ‘Black Museum’ Reckons With America’s History of Commodifying Black Pain
Who could have imagined that Black Mirror, a British science fiction series, would conclude its fourth season with an analogy that reckons with America’s sordid past? In the episode “Black Museum,” which employs the same format as Black Mirror’s “White Christmas” episode, the anthology within an anthology gives us brief tours into the horrors of…
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Y’all Don’t Deserve Black Women
One thing is certain. Y’all don’t deserve black women. On Tuesday the Alabama Senate race took place. Roy Moore, a repugnant alleged serial child molester who believes that women should not have the right to vote, civil rights should be scrapped and slavery was lit, lost by a hair. Doug Jones, Moore’s opponent, was carried…
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These Blackity-Black Productions Will Be Coming to Your Screen in 2018
This year we have seen the magic that unfolds when black people have full control of their own art. From Get Out to Insecure, black writers, producers and directors have exemplified that the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. And they aren’t finished! I would recommend clearing your schedules, because 2018 is stacked with…
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A Guide to Fantasy and Science Fiction Made for Black People, by Black People
Last week, Marvel unveiled a line of Black Panther character posters that snatched the souls out of every living melanated human being. Black Panther (1966) was the first black superhero in mainstream American comics, later followed by characters such as Luke Cage (1972) and Black Lightning (1977). Although Marvel’s comics feature myriad characters varying in…
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Why Is Society Intent on Erasing Black People in Fantasy and Sci-fi’s Imaginary Worlds?
Over the weekend I binge-watched 3%, a dystopian sci-fi Netflix original set in Brazil. The plot was rife with quirks and unexpected turns, but the biggest surprise of all was that the diversity in the show reflected the diversity in Brazil. The cast featured myriad shades and races, absent the stereotypical casting, such as the…
