-
Harlem’s Fashion Row Celebrates 10 Years While I Contemplate Whether I’m Over- or Underdressed
First off, I didn’t realize check-in was at 7, not 8:30. It was just the beginning of a series of disasters that led to my living out one of my nightmares: showing up late for … anything. I abhor being late. I have recurring nightmares about it, and normally I’m the spy who shows up…
-
Here’s a Cookie
Wow. I guess a hit dog will holler. When I wrote this on Sunday regarding the gaggle of white people online who turned the carnage of Charlottesville, Va., into a contest to prove they’re not terrible, I was surprised that so many white people would interpret this to mean I was talking about all white…
-
Watch ‘Unite the Right’ Rally Organizer Jason Kessler Run for His Life
I guess organizing a gathering of hateful bigots where a person was murdered is a … bad thing? Huh? Who knew! If the guy behind the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. (who, for some fool reason, attempted to hold a press conference Sunday), didn’t know, the crowd of “indict for murder!” protesters who…
-
Maybe Now Isn’t the Time, Guys
If you’re tempted to point out that you’re one of the good ones right now … please don’t. If you are upset that people of color are upset that their lives and beliefs are under assault by a resurgent, resilient, citronella-candle-filled white supremacist movement, empowered by a White House that can’t call a racist a…
-
Dear Family, Please Move Out of Mo., Love, Danielle
Last month the NAACP issued its first-ever travel advisory for a state—a whole entire state—for people of color. That state was my home state, the place of my birth and home to the people I love most in the world: Missouri. The advisory was shocking in that it wasn’t for other states much more historically…
-
Counterpoint: Oh, C’mon! Spider-Man: Homecoming (and Its Diversity) Were Just Great, Jason
Jason Johnson, our political editor at The Root and an in-real-life close and personal friend of mine, wrote this last Friday about the new Spider-Man movie: Spider-Man: Homecoming is a fun movie, but not one that will stick with you for long. It’s significantly better on the diversity front than whitewashed Doctor Strange, or the…
-
From Fear to Fortitude: One Woman’s Fight for Black Boys a Year Later
This time last year, I was curled up in a ball on my bed, in tears and feeling frustrated, angry and afraid. I was suffering from a condition I coined called “MOBB disorder,” the seemingly irrational fear of a mom of a black boy that he will be unfairly stopped, harassed, brutalized or killed by…
-
The Root Is Gaining 2 Very Smart Brothas
True story: I’ve known the founders of VSB, aka the blog Very Smart Brothas, for a minute. They are my friends, fellow black-blog pioneers who hopped into the game in 2008 and revolutionized and remixed it to the degree that their greatness had to be acknowledged. And that greatness is coming to The Root. VSB…
-
Boomerang at 25 Isn’t Just a ’90s Eddie Murphy Flick; It’s a World We Want to Live In
It is a Friday night on the set of 1992’s romantic comedy Boomerang. In between shooting takes for the now classic Thanksgiving-dinner scene, Eddie Murphy and cast trade jokes about what would happen if Mr. and Mrs. Jackson (John Witherspoon and BeBe Drake) had sex in the bathroom of his character Marcus’s luxurious New York…
-
I’m Just Here for the Ribs
I love any excuse for a cookout. My father is from Texas, lives in St. Louis (two places famous for ribs), and was raised on barbecue. He probably has St. Louis’ own Maull’s BBQ sauce in his veins instead of blood. During the spring and summer, he typically hauls out the grill for a series…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
