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Dances of the Diaspora: ‘If You Can Walk, You Can Dance’
In Africa, dancing is a way of life. And for Senegal native Maguette Camara, dance has become a part of his essence. West Africa is a vast region of countries that create a robust culture—from music to fashion, food and beyond. West African dance, accompanied by a djembe drum, is a fixture within the culture…
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Henry Louis Gates Jr. on 50 Years of Black Progress and the Perils That Still Exist
“I now know what Frederick Douglass felt like in 1876 when Reconstruction came to an end,” says Henry Louis Gates Jr., referring to the recent election and the end of the Obama presidency. He continues, “This clearly for some people is the end of the Second Reconstruction.” The renowned professor and documentarian (and chairman of…
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Watch: Anna Deavere Smith on Injustice and Her New 1-Woman Show
Created, written and performed by the multitalented Anna Deavere Smith, Notes From the Field is a one-woman show that compiles over 250 interviews exploring the school-to-prison pipeline and its effect within communities of color in the United States. “Everyone knows about justice. Probably from the time that you could talk, when you were 2 years…
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Charged: The DA vs. Black America and the Mass-Incarceration Movement
For Emmy-nominated producer Shoshana Guy, interrogating mass incarceration and criminal-justice reform is a calling. Under the auspices of BET, her forthcoming documentary does just that. Charged: The DA vs. Black America explores the way in which the United States criminally charges black and brown people, and the societal factors that tend to drive these people disproportionately…
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Watch: ‘Name That Trap Song’ With Atlanta's Brian Tyree Henry
Just because Brian Tyree Henry plays Paper Boi, a budding rapper in the FX series Atlanta, doesn’t mean that he actually knows trap music IRL. Atlanta, whose 10-episode season ends Tuesday (and which has been renewed for a second season), has done a phenomenal job depicting the vastness of the black experience, including the role of rap…
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Watch: Brian Tyree Henry Is All About That Paper Boi
Brian Tyree Henry is Atlanta’s Paper Boi. The Morehouse man and Yale Drama alum had his big break on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning play The Book of Mormon. And now he’s in homes across the nation as one of the stars of Donald Glover’s unapologetically black comedy, Atlanta. Henry’s character, Alfred—also known as Paper Boi on the show—is…
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Born Into This: Romeo Miller on Failure, Success and Entrepreneurship
Believe it or not, Romeo Miller’s first job as a child was selling yo-yos and Pokémon trading cards. Yep, the actor-rapper-producer formerly known as Lil’ Romeo (who is also a child of hip-hop royalty) had a lil’ hustle growing up. Go figure. Now, decades later, Miller is at the helm of a hip-hop empire and…
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10 Ways You Know You’re Afro-Latinx
Oh, to be Afro-Latinx in the United States. Being Afro-Latinx is a unique experience that has led many to define their own identities. Not “black” enough for some, not “Latino” enough for others. But, then again, who cares? We are a beautiful and diverse people of the African Diaspora. Either you identify as Afro-Latinx by way…
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Watch: Ava DuVernay on Mass Incarceration, White Fear and Black Joy
White fear exists. It has been manufactured, encouraged and proliferated through the centuries. From it spawned a damning system based on inequality: the prison-industrial complex. “The reason that we have mass incarceration is because of white fear,” Ava DuVernay told The Root. DuVernay is a prolific director, and her latest project is 13th. The sobering documentary…
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The Roots Picnic Leaves Philly to Rock NY
The Roots Picnic in New York City was like a buttoned-up Afropunk, but with white people. On Oct. 1-2, the legendary Roots crew mesmerized New York City’s Bryant Park with the music festival known as the Roots Picnic. The event, which typically takes place in Philadelphia, is quite the institution to music fans. Despite the…
