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‘Lullabies to Lies’: The Release Date of Samantha Markle’s Tell-All Coincides With Meghan’s Due Date
If this doesn’t make you more thankful for your family this Thanksgiving, I extend my sincerest condolences. Apparently, the Markle family hasn’t gotten the memo that Her Royal Highness Meghan is living her best life and ain’t goin’ back and forth with them anymore—or maybe they have, since at least one member is still making…
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Love, Peace and Soul (and a Little Faith): The 2018 Soul Train Awards Was a Night of '90s Nostalgia
All eyes and (marketing strategies) may be on millennials and Gen Z, but despite artists from those generations leading the pack in nominations, by all appearances, it was “grown folks music” that dominated the 2018 Soul Train Awards. For those of us of a certain age, Saturday night’s annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas was…
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At 93, Cicely Tyson Gets Her 1st Oscar—and Danai Gurira Gets Mistaken for Viola Davis?
It was an honor more than 45 years in the making, but Cicely Tyson finally took home an Oscar on Sunday night at the 10th annual Governors Awards in Hollywood, Ca. Voted on by the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Governors Awards were created to grant honorary…
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March of Dimes Reports Premature Births Remain on the Rise—Especially Among Women of Color
The 2018 Premature Birth Report Card from March of Dimes revealed some frightening information ahead of World Prematurity Day, which is Saturday, Nov. 17. In 2017, the U.S. preterm birth rate increased for the third consecutive year, despite progress made in several areas. If those findings don’t rattle you, consider that this means: Within the…
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Viola Davis Only Lasting 2 Days of a 28-Day Cleanse Is All of Us
We are now firmly in the holiday season—or, as I like to call it, “food-pocalypse,” because it is the suspension of all rationale. Specifically, each Halloween to New Year’s Eve is the time of year that I, like most, give up trying to be virtuous and succumb to the lure of holiday parties, happy hours…
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Michelle Obama's Memoir Is Becoming an Instant Bestseller
Well, we can’t say we didn’t see this coming: Only four days after its Nov. 13 release, Penguin Random House announced on Friday that our forever first lady Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, sold more than 725,000 units in all formats and editions in the United States and Canada on the first day of its publication…
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Fun Fact: Angela Bassett Narrating a Wildlife Doc Is Exactly the Freaky You Need in Your Friday
She looks incredible in a bikini at age 60, can spontaneously perform Shakespearean monologues, and has played both Tina Turner and the Queen Mother in Marvel’s first black superhero blockbuster. But Angela Bassett’s latest role may be our favorite. National Geographic Channel somehow enlisted the star to narrate its nature documentary The Flood, and, frankly,…
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Love Her? Wear Her. Michelle Obama's Becoming Merch May Be Her Best Book Tour Investment
Okay, so you didn’t cop those tickets to Michelle Obama’s epic multi-city book tour … or, you opted out, because you hate crowds and high-priced tickets to events where you have no chance of being near the stage or retaining the magic of the experience beyond 24 hours after it ends. But still, you love…
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Knockouts: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson and More Kill It at the Creed II Premiere
Black excellence was once again on display last night in New York City. And while the cast of Creed II was conspicuously missing its prequel’s writer and director, Ryan Coogler, sequel writer (and Root 100 honoree) Cheo Hodari Coker was on hand, as was sequel director Steven Caple, Jr. Of course, star Michael “Bae” Jordan,…
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Obamaganza: Michelle Obama Continues Her Reign on Essence's Next Cover—in Curls!
If you feel like you’re seeing Michelle Obama everywhere these days, get used to it. With the release of her acclaimed memoir, Becoming, plus a nine-city book tour with crowds rivaling any her friends Beyoncé and Oprah might attract, she’s successfully transitioned from former First Lady to bona fide phenomenon. Very few superstars have been…
