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Check Out These Actors and Directors Working the Big Screen This Fall
Happy October, folks! A few hours into the month, and things are shaping up nicely for black filmgoers. One of the most buzzed-about releases is Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation, the harrowing film about Nat Turner’s rebellion, focusing on themes of freedom and resistance. But if you’re not into Parker, the rumors surrounding him or…
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Raíces Latinas: Conversations With My Grandmother
“No te olvides que tienes raíces Latinas.” (“Do not forget you have Latin roots.”) My grandmother, or “Abuelita” (as I refer to her), often said this to me. This time, she was seated in her reclining chair. Through her silver-rimmed bifocals, I saw her penetrating eyes. “Of course not, Abuelita,” I said with a cooing…
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#CharlotteProtest: 10 Emotionally Charged Photos That Capture the Moment
It is a trying time to be black in America. We are a people deeply steeped in the tradition of protest. And in Charlotte, N.C., unrest continues for the third day—a direct response to the fatal shooting by police of two black men: Keith Lamont Scott, a disabled man shot in Charlotte while reportedly reading in his car,…
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NYFW 2016: The Fab 5
It is fashion week in the big city! It is a time for fashionistas, and celebrities, to see and be seen—come through, front-row fashion week seats! By now you’ve heard that the Yeezy season 4 show has come and gone (though not so well); we’re rooting for you, Ye. There’s always next year. All jokes…
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The First Lady Stays Fly: Our Favorite Magazine Covers
Let’s face it: We’re FLOTUS stans. We’re completely taken by her beauty, grace and intelligence, so when Michelle Obama speaks, we listen. Attentively. And seeing the first lady pictured on scores of magazine covers is no different. Our response is pretty consistent: Awe. Every. Single. Time. Through the years, the first lady has graced magazine…
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Atlanta and the Black Millennial Experience—in GIFs
So by now you’ve heard of Donald Glover’s Atlanta and its Southern blackness. The series premiered on FX Tuesday and was Glover’s TV directorial debut. We’re here for it. The 32-year-old cleverly explores issues like parenthood, relationships, police brutality and sexuality in a comedic light. The situations faced by the Atlanta cast are super relatable to…
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Watch: George Clinton Says, ‘We’ve Always Been Afropunk’
George Clinton is not one to funk with. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has spent most of his life performing. First inspired by Frankie Lymon, Clinton got his start in the 1950s. And his iconic band, Parliament Funkadelic, came to prominence nearly two decades later. At the time, Clinton created his own…
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The DNC Is Over, but the Memes Continue
History was made at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and the internet had no chill. To say that Hillary Clinton, as the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major political party, has broken barriers might be a gross understatement. And for four nights, social media watched, listened and tweeted. Thank…
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Wyclef Jean: Only Idiots Would Be Saying, ‘Why Do Black Lives Matter?’
Given the racial tension in the nation (and the world) and the ongoing Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter debate, outspoken performer Wyclef Jean has a few choice words: “Only idiots would be saying, ‘Why do black lives matter?’” The Root sat down with the Grammy Award-winning artist and producer at Ozy Fusion Fest. Jean…
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Issa Rae: ‘We Need to Remember That Black People Are Human’
What a time to be black in America. “Obviously all lives matter, but black lives are the ones that are at risk right now,” said actress, director and writer Issa Rae. “Black lives are constantly being attacked.” Rae has vociferously spoken out against the violence toward, and disregard for, black people in America. Recently she…
