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Full Circle and Forward: The Renaissance of Dapper Dan
Gazing down from a billboard overlooking 125th Street (aka Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) in Harlem, “Dapper Dan”—born Daniel Day—appears every bit what his longtime moniker suggests. Adjusting the lapel of his impeccably tailored suit, he looks like a man who has arrived—though he never left the New York City neighborhood he called home. His…
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‘Friends With Benefits’: The Truth About Living With Anxiety
I constantly wonder: what happens to a black girl who is too anxious to ever feel like magic? Can she still fly? Can she still be fly, with wings that tremble? Poet Jae Nichelle is speaking about her “friends with benefits” relationship with chronic anxiety before a full auditorium—no small feat for a woman who…
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Holidazed? Maiysha’s Guide to Last-Minute Gift Giving
True-confession time: When it comes to presents, I’m a procrastinator. Honestly, I’m terrible—especially these days, when The Glow Up gets most of my attention and energy. While some started holiday shopping back in October, I let both Black Friday and Cyber Monday pass by without batting an eyelash. But here we are, a week before…
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Amazing Grace: The Glow Up Talks to Greenleaf’s Merle Dandridge
There’s an innate groundedness, a humility, about actress and singer Merle Dandridge. It’s a quality that’s immediately calming to the listener and connects you with her. The Glow Up had the pleasure of catching up with Dandridge during her current run on Broadway as Papa Ge—a riff on the Haitian Creole god Guédé—in the revival…
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On the Real: Body-Positive Models Took Over Times Square for a Guerrilla-Style Lingerie Show
In “We can’t believe we missed this” news: Blame it on the holidays, but our thoughts are definitely indoors these days. And as we blessedly begin to wind down during the holiday season (in favor of the actual holidays), our biggest fashion aspirations involve staying stylish in “sweater weather.” But the plunging temps didn’t stop…
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These Ain’t Red Bottoms: Cardi B’s Putting Her Foot in a New Collab With Steve Madden
Our favorite regular, degular, shmegular reality/rapping phenom keeps making “money moves.” This week, Cardi B debuted a curated selection from fast-fashion fave Steve Madden, a partnership that makes her signature style accessible to the masses who can only dream about owning a pair of “red bottoms.” And while famed shoe designer Christian Louboutin may be…
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Mahalo for the Holidays! Sephora Features Its 1st Afro-Hawaiian Beauty … and So, So Much More
That skin. That glow. That hair. Sephora’s 2017 holiday campaign features a new crop of models—freshly plucked from their very own stores. We got hip to this via Anne Branigin, The Root’s news fellow, and instantly fell in love with Afro-Hawaiian curve-tastic beauty Taíja, giving us urban-Moana realness. (Yes, we know the character Moana isn’t…
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Sephora Is Selling a $38 Jar of Coconut Oil, and Black Women Everywhere Are Unimpressed
It’s the holiday season, so I’ve put myself on a bit of a moratorium from my usual Sephora habit, since I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who deserves presents this Christmas. That said, I occasionally get my fix by drifting through its virtual aisles and living vicariously through friends’ shopping sprees, which is…
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Feeling Good, Finally? Nina Simone’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Is a Bittersweet Victory
In the world of women in music, there are queens, princesses, first ladies and even a duchess—but there has only ever been one high priestess of soul: Nina Simone. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced today that Nina Simone will be among 2018’s group of inductees—which includes rock bands Bon Jovi, Dire Straits,…
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Beyoncé Stole My Look: How to Do a Holiday Party Right
Damn it, I was going to wear that. This week, like many of you, we here at The Root are willing our livers to carry us through a week of open-bar holiday parties while trying to ride that fine line between office-appropriate and out-of-office attire—and behavior. Fun fact: Here at Gizmodo Media Group, where we…
