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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Kicks Off Its Holiday Season With Solange and Jazz
Singer, songwriter and activist Solange Knowles has another notch on her belt: honorary chairwoman of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. And after having a “fan girl” moment (as Solange referred to it) with dance royalty Judith Jamison, the Seat at the Table artist addressed the New York City Center audience, who came to witness…
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Dances of the Diaspora: Tap Dance, an Original American Art Form Rooted in Slavery
For Chloé and Maud Arnold, tap dancing is life. For these sisters and entrepreneurs, who have been tap dancing since childhood, the art form has given them a lucrative career—they are founders of the D.C. Tap Festival, film producers and more. Whenever Chloé and Maud have the opportunity, the Washington, D.C., natives, who were mentored by Debbie Allen, spread…
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Watch: The Root Staff Tries Healthy Holiday Hacks
The Root staff is hacking the holidays, but in a great way. In honor of Thanksgiving, a day where we give thanks and stuff our faces (hopefully in that order), The Root staff decided to try some “healthy hacks” (read: healthful substitutes for Thanksgiving dinner). Khaleeqa Rouse of Paparoxi.com provided the grub: black-eyed peas, kale…
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Symone Sanders: 'Black Women Have Been Holding Up the Mantle for America Since We Can Remember'
Symone Sanders is a force to be reckoned with, which is why she was named to The Root 100, our annual list of the most influential African Americans ages 25-45. The 26-year-old was formerly the national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and was No. 65 on our list. Like her ex-boss, Symone Sanders has…
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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…
