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These Therapist-Approved Tips Can Help Manage Your Anxiety Around the Coronavirus
“There is the temptation to kind of busy ourselves right now because we have all this free time, so to speak, which is not free time, you know. And so for people who are feeling pressure to kind of be extra creative right now or, you know, do some great work right now, I want…
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Confronting A Legacy, and Creating Her Own: Meet The First Black Rhodes, Truman, and Udall Scholar
Like many 21 year olds, Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru is on Twitter. And on Nov. 24, 2019, one of the University of Connecticut senior environmental studies major’s tweets went viral. No, Wawa didn’t absolutely body the latest TikTok dance craze, nor did she create a top-trending hashtag. Instead, she tweeted out news that would earn her…
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Matthew A. Cherry Shares Why Being Recognized at the 2020 NAACP Image Awards Means Just as Much to Him as the Oscars
Matthew A. Cherry is no stranger to award shows. The former NFL player, producer, director, Oscar winner, and my personal “tweet-it-and-receive-it” goals achiever spoke with The Root on the red carpet of this year’s NAACP Image Awards about the importance of showing love to black folks, attending Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Gold Party, and more in…
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Interviewing Ayanna Pressley About Her Alopecia Encouraged Me to Go Public With Mine
I didn’t expect to get choked up in front of Ayanna Pressley. But 17 minutes into our interview at The Root headquarters in New York City on Monday, as she began telling me one of her most personal hair stories by detailing her experience with alopecia, I blinked through tears and silently reflected on my…
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Exclusive: Rep. Ayanna Pressley Reveals Beautiful Bald Head and Discusses Alopecia for the First Time
Ayanna Pressley loves playing with her hair. Before she became a Massachusetts Congresswoman (and a high-profile member of “The Squad”), Pressley would experiment with different hairstyles and textures, getting a weave and even cutting her own hair. Lately, she’s been experimenting with lace-front wigs. “One I call ‘FLOTUS’ because it feels very Michelle Obama to…
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Why Some Black LGBTQIA+ Folks Are Done 'Coming Out'
‘Inviting in’ is a way to complicate what is normally thought about as ‘coming out.’ —David Johns text David Johns’ issue with how society frames “coming out” stories stems from who we expect to tell them—and who we don’t. “I would be OK with the idea of coming out if it meant that everyone was…
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An Intimate Look at How White Women Spent the Last 10 Years Doing the Most…and the Least
It’s that special time of the year where I only play Christmas carols and reflect on the previous 300-some odd days before. Fortunately for me, since 2019 is also the end of what’s been quite a decade, I’ve been reflecting a bit more ahead of the year 2020. And as the video team at The…
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What's Better Than One Billionaire? None: The Problem With Black People and Capitalism
“When you’re that vulnerable it doesn’t necessarily matter who the entrepreneur is who will exploit you. Like if you’re a prey, you’re prey.” —Aaron Ross Coleman text Capitalism is an interesting thing. In today’s day and age, it seems like there are two main camps when it comes to addressing the controversial economic system: team…
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Look Back At It: The 2010s Were Incredibly Black
As the world prepares to enter into a new decade, we’d be remiss if we didn’t revel in nostalgia about some of our favorite things from the last ten years. With that idea in mind, some of The Root’s talented (and hilarious) staff decided to share their hot takes on all things black from the…
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Black Excellence, Opulence, Decadence: Celebrating 10 Years of The Root 100
“How do you live out your black excellence?” I enjoyed listening to all of the interviewees’ responses to my question as I hosted the green carpet event for the 2019 Root 100 gala. Some furrowed their brows before answering, others took a beat, while my favorites shot back, “great question!” At events like The Root…
