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Live Blog: The Root Goes to the BET Awards and Tries to Look Cool
Day, oh glorious day is here! Yes, tonight The Root is at the BET Awards trying not to be awkward! Our outfit selections are at the ready, and we assume BET is ready to kick off its biggest and best party, hosted by comedian Leslie Jones. Follow this space as I, Danielle Belton, The Root’s…
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Please Allow Us to Reintroduce Ourselves
Hello. We’re The Root. Once a gleam in a noted professor’s eye, nurtured and carefully tended to by a tireless warrior woman and a bevy of brilliant bosses, we have been through the fire and walk among you the unburnt, First of Our Names, Blog of Unapologetic Blackness, Snatcher of Wigs, Bane of Bigots, #TeamRoot,…
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The One Reaction Everyone Should Have to Donald Trump’s RNC Nomination Speech
Donald Trump is the GOP nominee. No more presumptive. He’s it. He’s the man. He’s the one the Republicans have quarterbacking their team this election season. On Thursday night, Trump gave a loud, boisterous, bleak speech in which he gladly accepted the Republican Party’s nomination of him for president. So this is real now. And…
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#WeWontBeSilent: 2 Things the DOJ Can Do Now to Stop Police Violence
Two more black men became a hashtag on Twitter last week: Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. It’s a modern marker of our times, of an unnatural death publicly witnessed through a cellphone-camera lens. They were both killed by police officers for dubious reasons: They owned guns in states where carrying guns publicly is legal, but…
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A Transformative Artist Known as Prince
Prince Rogers Nelson, a man who transcended musical genre and defied definition, was found dead in his Paisley Park complex in Minnesota on Thursday. He was 57. Irreplaceably unique, Prince was a flamboyant, innovative artist whose songs were as varied and layered as his beguiling persona, which captivated audiences and music critics alike for nearly…
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Can Big Girls Get in ‘Formation’ With Beyoncé’s Ivy Park?
During one of the many industry downturns that have plagued me, us and everyone in media since the advent of the Internet, I took a job folding clothes at a Macy’s in North St. Louis County, Mo. It did not pay anywhere near as much as my long-lost job as a newspaper reporter in Bakersfield,…
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‘It’s About Revolution’: Underground Gets Real About Escaping Slavery
Why another slavery narrative? One TV show cast is asking, “Why not?” That was the sentiment of the stars, writers and producers of the new slavery-based TV show Underground, premiering March 9 on WGN. The cast and crew, who were in Washington, D.C., last week to promote the series, spoke with The Root about the need…
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Kanye West Doesn’t Need Another Think Piece; He Needs Therapy
Kanye West doesn’t need what I’m about to write. Mostly because he’s not going to see it anyway. (Or read it. Or care.) But someone else who is going through a Kanye-esque moment might read it and finally get the help he or she needs, so here it goes. A long time ago, before I…
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Rep. John Lewis Wants to See Bernie Sanders’ Civil Rights Receipts
Rep. John Lewis, civil rights icon, lawmaker and Hillary Clinton supporter, intentionally or unintentionally called out Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ civil rights bona fides Thursday. Lewis, who was among several members of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Clinton’s presidential bid, was asked whether Sanders’ involvement in the civil rights movement swayed him. It did…
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Beyoncé Drops ‘Formation’ for the People, the Black People
Well, that was black. Cornbread and collard greens black. “Hot sauce in my bag” black. Southern black. Dirty South black. Your grandma telling you to go cut down a switch black. Did you know Beyoncé was black? If you didn’t know, if you thought she was some ethereal, raceless, colorless transformative nymph who could doo-wop pop…
