• Sussex Royal Watch Goes Live: Meghan and Harry Are Now on the 'Gram!

    Sussex Royal Watch Goes Live: Meghan and Harry Are Now on the 'Gram!

    Yeah, yeah, we know. You don’t understand all this fascination with Meghan Markle marrying into the British royal family, and she’s biracial and therefore somehow not worthy of The Root’s blackety-black attention, and elitism, and colonialism, and…You can go now and let people enjoy things, like seeing whether or not her first child is a…

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  • It's Equal Pay Day. Do You Know Where Your Paycheck Is?

    Good news, ladies! We’ve finally caught up! That is, if you consider working until this date to earn the average amount our white, non-Hispanic male peers did in 2018 “catching up.” And while according to 2016 data from the Pew Research Center, white women still out-earn most men of color, if you happen to be…

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  • She's a Star: Lupita Nyong'o Debuts the Cover of Her 1st Children's Book, Sulwe

    She's a Star: Lupita Nyong'o Debuts the Cover of Her 1st Children's Book, Sulwe

    She plays a terrifying pair of maternal figures in Us, but Lupita Nyong’o’s next role is made for kids. After announcing last year that she’d be penning a children’s book named Sulwe, which deals with the issue of colorism, on Monday, Nyong’o gave a first look at the book’s cover, illustrated by Vashti Harrison and…

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  • On Tuesday, We Wear Red: How to Make a Silent Statement of Solidarity this Equal Pay Day

    As a pay gap remains persistent for women—and even more so for most women of color—making a fashion statement may feel as if it should be the furthest thing from our minds. But as millions of women (and hopefully, not only women) rally against pay inequality on Tuesday, April 2, we’ll be seeing red—lots of…

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  • Just the Way We Are: Inclusive New Options Are Changing the Face of Stock Photos

    Just the Way We Are: Inclusive New Options Are Changing the Face of Stock Photos

    There’s a little known but running joke among The Root staff about the catalogs of stock photos we need to do our jobs; inevitably, they manage to be simultaneously inadequate and offensive in their representation of marginalized communities. For instance, a search for “black women and money” may also bring up images of prostitution, while…

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  • To New Orleans with Love: Professional Black Girl Launches Season 2!

    Who dat? Oh, she’s just a Professional Black Girl, back home in New Orleans for Season 2! Following a successful 2018 crowdfunding campaign that surpassed its $25,000 goal in two days, educator, activist, creator and curator of Professional Black Girl, Dr. Yaba Blay, returned to her hometown with her groundbreaking video series “created to celebrate…

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  • 'The Blackest Red Carpet': The NAACP Image Awards Celebrated Its 50th Year in Style

    The only thing we love more than a blackety-black gathering is one where we’re dressed to the nines—and in its 50th year, the NAACP Image Awards did not disappoint. The Root’s entertainment writer, Tonja Stidhum was on site this year and rightly called it “the blackest red carpet.” We’re inclined to agree—and always welcome an…

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  • How to Get Away With…Flying? Viola Davis Takes Her 1st Skydive

    “As a smart woman once said, ‘Courage is fear said with prayers,’” Viola Davis wrote on an Instagram post on Thursday. Yes, it is—especially when jumping from a plane 12,000 feet above ground with a 100 mile-per-hour drop. But the Oscar-winning actress didn’t let pesky little things like fear or physics stop her from taking…

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  • Hair Flick: Quinta B and Freddie Ransome Give Us the Cinematic Hair Tutorials We've Been Missing

    We love a good natural hair tutorial. But after awhile, they all kind of look the same. I mean, there are only so many ways you can film a twist-out, amirite? Wrong. Two of BuzzFeed’s breakout stars, writer-comedian Quinta Brunson and Freddie Ransome (of unscripted series, Ladylike) have teamed up to put a “cinematic twist”…

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  • Is Anywhere Safe? Brittany Packnett and Symone Sanders Attacked in Airlines Lounge [Updated]

    You know, activists deserve vacations, too. (Possibly even more so than most.) So, as activist-educator Brittany Packnett and political pundit Symone Sanders wrapped up an otherwise blissful trip to Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday evening (where they were guests of the International Fund for Animal Welfare), they were no doubt bracing themselves for a return to…

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