• How 27 Years in Prison Prepared Me for the Coronavirus

    How 27 Years in Prison Prepared Me for the Coronavirus

    Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletter or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter. When I need to go to my local supermarket, I suit up with latex gloves I got from Target and…

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  • Earl G. Graves Sr., Black Enterprise Founder, Dies at 85

    Earl G. Graves Sr., Black Enterprise Founder, Dies at 85

    The founder and publisher of Black Enterprise, Earl Gilbert Graves Sr., was an internationally recognized authority on black-owned businesses, a guru for African-American entrepreneurs and a tireless advocate for black business and consumer power. Sadly, Graves died Monday night at the age of 85 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s, according to his son, current…

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  • Census 2020 Is Happening Right Now. Here's Why It Matters to the Black Community

    “Three-fifths. That’s all we were counted for. We were voiceless.” That’s how a recent Fair Count ad began. Of course, the advertisement referenced the 1787 Three-Fifths Compromise, which recommended counting three out of every five slaves as people when determining political representation. Sure, we’ve come a long way, but just how far, exactly? The Urban…

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  • The Glow Up 50: Meet the Pioneers of Style

    Check out our inaugural celebration of the black tastemakers, trendsetters and innovators elevating the world of style.

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  • TGU50: Beauty

    It’s no secret that The Root loves a list; annually we produce the highly anticipated Root 100, introduce the world to the Young Futurists, and most recently, celebrated the best and blackest of pop culture with the first annual “Skippies.” So, naturally, The Glow Up wanted to get in on the action; why not also…

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  • TGU50: Fashion

    The category is: Fashion. From the streets to the runways, our style has long influenced international style. Luminaries like Virgil Abloh, Olivier Rousteing, Tracy Reese, Law Roach and crossover queen Rihanna have all had a transformative impact on how the world views black style, but there are far more making major style statements as they…

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  • TGU50: Influence

    The category is: Influence. Who’s got the juice? Like it or not, we live in an influencer-centric culture. But true influence is more than followers or likes; it’s shaping culture, opening minds and raising the bar. Our ten TGU50 Influence honorees do just that, making major breakthroughs in beauty, fashion, and artistic expression—or in Rihanna’s…

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  • TGU50: Image

    The category is: Image. We often say “representation matters,” but few truly take the time to investigate and appreciate those who do who the work of making that representation possible, gatekeepers be damned. In fact, just like Madam C.J. Walker, the legendary subject of Netflix’s highly anticipated Self Made (premiering March 20), our ten inaugural…

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  • TGU50: Hair

    The category is: Hair. When it comes to black hair, it’s never “just hair.” As the ongoing fight for the freedom to wear our natural hair when, where and how we choose via the C.R.O.W.N. Act indicates, our hair is rarely allowed to simply be our crowning glory; it’s as political as it is personal.…

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  • The Racial Wealth Gap Is Dizzying. Its Best Solution, Less So

    The racial wealth gap is larger today than it was when The United States passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The average white family currently holds about 10 times the wealth of a black one, and the average income from the labor of white families stands at about two times that of black ones…

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