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I Am Probably the Worst Person to Write a Review of the New Movie Always a Bridesmaid, but I Did It Anyway
I’m not the target market. That’s usually what I say when a new movie or TV show comes out that may or may not be good but I know for a fact that I’m not the audience they’re shooting for. Nashville, a rousing drama about competing country music stars? The only country song I’ve listened…
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Biden Gets Impeachment, Castro Talks High Rents and Booker's Totally Spent: 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 11
The Root 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings take a one-week snapshot of the campaign season and imagine, using just that week, which candidate running for president would be best for black America. Most weeks, we (me, Dr. Jason Johnson, politics editor of The Root; Marcus Ferrell, former African-American outreach director for Bernie Sanders for America…
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Beto Ain't So Woke, Harris Wants That Smoke and Yang Can Take a Joke: 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 10
In the immortal words of Bill Duke in Menace II Society: “You know you done fucked up, right?” That’s about the only way we can describe most of the Democratic candidates in the Black Power Rankings for week 10. It’s as if half the candidates forgot that there are black people out here who they…
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Journey to the Center of the Urkel: A Black Nerd Summer Quest
I love a good quest. As the resident comic-book and science-fiction guy at The Root, my pop culture life has been inspired by quests—Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Lord of the Rings, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle—if it requires finding hidden treasure or discovering a lost world, I’m all over it.…
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Biden Brings the Pain, Warren Starts to Gain and Yang Makes It Rain: 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 9
We’re back! Yes, after a short break, The Root 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings are back just in time for the Hunger Games of the third Democratic debates and the post-Labor Day campaign push. When we last left our field of would-be Donald Trump challengers, there were still fifty-eleven candidates running. Now, thanks to additional…
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I Got Name-Checked in a Struggle Rap by a Bernie Bro. The 2020 Campaign Has Officially Started
Everybody has hip-hop dreams. For some, it’s showing up to the club in a stretch limo full of groupies and Cristal. For others, it’s being invited on stage by Childish Gambino to rap Chance the Rapper’s part for the chorus of “The Worst Guys.” Maybe it’s a pole-dancing lesson with Cardi B or being caught…
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Castro Punches His Ticket, Harris Starts to Fidget and Yang Starts to Kick It: 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 8
We made it. After eight full weeks of Twitter spats, campaign gossip, polls and memes, we’ve reached our first bye week of The Root’s Presidential Black Power Rankings. Not only have the power rankings been a rousing success, with people eagerly anticipating each week, the engagement we’ve engendered (which is a polite way to say…
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Castro Gives Trump a Slap, Harris Gets a New Rap, and Stacey Abrams Sets a VP Thirst Trap: The Root’s 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 7
“Smart white people know how to hire black people who actually KNOW black people.” Yours truly (Dr. Jason Johnson politics editor for the Root) and Marcus Ferrell, (former Black Outreach for Bernie Sanders in 2016) and the rest of the Power Rankings Committee came to this conclusion this week as we discussed which 2020 campaigns…
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Beto Goes Blue, Warren Wilts and Harris Goes O.G. AG: 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 6
Mass shootings hit in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas; the stock market crashes; and Toni Morrison passes away. Why is it that every week of the Donald Trump presidency feels like a depressing opening scroll in some post-apocalyptic ’80s movie? In last week’s power rankings, we noted that in times of crisis, the committee…
