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Respect or Respectability Politics? A Houston Principal Sparks Controversy With a Parental Dress Code [Updated]
Over the past year, The Root and The Glow Up have reported on any number of restrictive school dress codes. Recently in Houston, a local high school principal has sparked controversy with its new rules for parents. As the Houston Chronicle reported, in an April 9th letter to parents (pdf), Carlotta Outley Brown of James…
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Philly, Get Ready … VSB and The Glow Up Are 'Taking Charge'!
What do you do when you reach a plateau in life—or your career? How do get over it and move forward? How do you take charge? These are questions most of us will have to answer during the course of our lives, and ones we’ll be addressing at the next Toyota-sponsored VSB x The Glow…
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Sustainability Starts at Home: Buy Black and Go Green at All-Natural Marketplace BLK + GRN
Monday marked the 49th annual celebration of Earth Day—have you considered the sustainability of your lifestyle? If you’re like most of us, your carbon footprint may currently be falling low on the list of your many concerns—you know, behind family, work, relationships, politics, etc., etc., etc… And where does health and self-care rank on that…
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Finding Beauty in the Battle: GSK and NARS Team Up at Sephora to Support Lupus Sufferers
It’s unpredictable, insidious, and currently incurable: Lupus affects approximately 1.5 million Americans, 90 percent of whom are women aged 15 to 44, with black women three times more likely to be affected than their white counterparts, according to the CDC—and reportedly, more severely. The chronic autoimmune disease can affect almost any organ in the body,…
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'To Be Young, Queer, and Black': Janelle Monae Gets Revealing with Lizzo for Them.
Coachella kicked off again on Friday with one of our favorite shapeshifters, Janelle Monae, in a headlining spot. In the past decade, the multitalented artist has been, at turns, the ArchAndroid, an Electric Lady, a no longer-Hidden Figure, and, most recently, a brilliant and Dirty Computer. “The beauty of art is that it reveals itself…
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Playing the Gentrification Game: In Ike Holter's Lottery Day, the Audience Wins
Gentrification continues to redistrict the boundaries of traditionally black and brown neighborhoods in urban cities across America—inevitably, pushing longtime residents and their stories to the fringes in favor of glossier, more palatable facades and narratives. Those stories have been the focus of playwright Ike Holter’s stunning seven-play “Rightlynd Saga,” focusing on the inhabitants of Chicago’s…
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Applauding Our Own: The Black Design Collective Honors Ruth E. Carter
She’s been a force in the field of costume design for over three decades, but Ruth E. Carter is very much in her prime—and finally getting the recognition she deserves. In addition to her 2019 Oscar win and double awards for Black Panther and Lifetime Achievement from the Costume Designers’ Guild, the visionary designer’s next…
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Do You 'Know Your Girls'? New FDA Guidelines and an Influencer Campaign Encourage Black Women to Prioritize Breast Health
Fun fact: As I write this, I’m awaiting the results of my first mammogram. It’s an awkward, somewhat anxiety-inducing, but nevertheless necessary rite of passage for most women over 40, and one I was admittedly slightly (slightly) overdue for. That’s right: I allowed the rest of my busy life to become a higher priority than…
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Redefining the Role: LaTanya Richardson Jackson Finds a Well-Deserved Spotlight in Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird
Many know her as one-half of one of Hollywood’s most enduring marriages, but LaTanya Richardson Jackson (wife of Samuel L. Jackson), is an acting powerhouse in her own right. Just ask the audiences currently experiencing her talent nightly in Broadway’s acclaimed production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Scripted by award-winning writer, producer and director Aaron…
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Privacy, Please: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Opt for a Non-Traditional Birth Announcement and Oprah Defends the Duchess
When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcome their first child later this month, don’t expect the traditional photo-op on the hospital steps of St. Mary’s, where Kate Middleton gave birth to all three of her children in the hospital’s private Lindo Wing. In fact, People reports that in yet another break with royal tradition,…
