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Salt-N-Pepa Are Still in Effect and Playing ‘Black Ass Game’
Salt-N-Pepa is the stuff of legend: They’ve got hits. They’ve won a Grammy award. Heck, even the Queen, Beyoncé, paid homage to them for Halloween. But, is their game dominoes or Spades? After 30-plus years in the music industry, trailblazing artists Salt-N-Pepa still have plenty of opinions. Ahead of the premiere of Ladies’ Night on…
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Amazing Grace Is a Cinematic Blessing and a Transcendental Spiritual Experience
Aretha Franklin was a national treasure. A gift. An icon. When Aretha Franklin passed, the world unequivocally lost one of the best voices of all time. With 18 Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—why wouldn’t we genuflect when one calls on the queen’s name?…
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Nikole Hannah-Jones Tells the Story of Investigative Journalist Ida B. Wells
New York Times Magazine staff writer Nikole Hannah-Jones considers Ida B. Wells her spiritual grandmother. “She is really the template on which I’ve tried to base my own journalistic career,” she tells The Root. The 2017 MacArthur Genius Grant fellow acknowledges that Wells was one of the original data reporters. Through her work, Ida B.…
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What Are Reparations and Why Are They a Hot Ticket Item in 2020? | Unpack That
Reparations for slavery is one of the hottest political topics on the 2020 campaign trail. But, who wants them? Who gets them? And why are they important? First things first: Reparations for slavery isn’t all about getting that bag. It’s part of it, for sure, but it’s also about acknowledging and reconciling a wrong. In…
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For Women’s History Month, Queen Latifah Honors Her Mother, Rita Owens
It takes a queen to teach a queen. If there was one woman who unequivocally made an impact on Queen Latifah’s life, it would be her mother, Rita Owens. “She taught me how to be the Queen. Anything you see in me that is womanly, feminine, powerful—that all came from her,” the multihyphenate told The…
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Icon, Unfiltered: Stephanie Mills Talks Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, and Why the Music Industry Doesn't Honor Black Artists
Stephanie Mills has got opinions. Lots of ‘em. The Grammy-award winning singer and actress best known for playing Dorothy in the original Broadway production of The Wiz is not one for holding her tongue. She’s now a woman of a certain age—read: She has no time for the BS. “I’m not apologizing about anything I…
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Alfre Woodard Proves the Party Don’t Stop after Motherhood in Netflix’s Juanita
Who said that life ends after giving birth? And furthermore, why are adult children so damned ungrateful to their mothers in the first place? I’m no mother, but if Beyoncé can head a clothing line, a production company and sit on top of an empire, all while having have three kids, then your kids can…
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For Women’s History Month, Misty Copeland Tells the Story of Trailblazing Ballerina Raven Wilkinson
“To be a black ballerina today … is extremely difficult. So I cannot imagine what it was like for Raven in the 1950s,” said Misty Copeland when reflecting on her friend, mentor and shero, Raven Wilkinson. In 1955, Wilkinson became one of the first black women to dance with a classical ballet company. Pursuing a…
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The Mane Attraction: For Queen Kelly Rowland, Her Hair Is Her Crown and Glory
“The first message that I honestly remember receiving about my hair was that it was hard to manage,” singer-songwriter Kelly Rowland told The Root. As a black woman who has hair that’s been referred to as “a rat’s nest,” I can relate. First question: Do rats even have nests?! Follow-up question: Why are you concerned…
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In an 'Insular, White, Calcified World,' Misty Copeland Centers Black Women
Every time I’ve been in a room with Misty Copeland, she has made it a point to acknowledge black women. I’m not referring to a warm smile, a greeting, or even the timeless black folk head-nod (y’all know what I’m talking about)—though I’d guess Copeland certainly does that, too. Beyond saying “hello,” she makes it…
