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The Graduate: Megan Thee Stallion Covers Harper's Bazaar's Spring Fashion Issue and Talks Earning Her Degree
“Can’t nobody tell me how to be the Hot Girl,” says the artist known as Megan Thee Stallion (given name: Megan Jovon Ruth Pete), in her cover story for the March 2021 issue of Harper’s Bazaar (also known as the Spring Fashion Issue). With minimal makeup, gleaming skin and a flowing yet understated silk press,…
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'No Revolutionary Act Is Without Risk': The Root Presents It's Lit! and Charles Blow Dance With The Devil You Know
Charles Blow hadn’t planned to write a manifesto on reverse migration. In fact, the New York Times columnist and author of the bestselling memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones was just writing…thoughts. “I just remember one night thinking, ‘Oh, this is a good idea.’ And I just started writing thoughts,” Blow tells us during…
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After Going Virtual in 2020, Essence Festival Announces a 'Hybrid' Format for 2021
The Girls Trip must go on—primarily online. After a year of lockdowns, we could all use a getaway, and miss our yearly turn up sojourn to the world’s biggest, Blackest and most bodacious family reunion imaginable in New Orleans (more than half a million people over July 4th weekend, to be exact). However, an ongoing…
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A Year After 'Megxit,' Harry and Meghan Opt to Permanently Exit Their Roles as Working Royals
It’s official: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have notified the Queen that they will not be returning to working royal status. That’s right; they’ve resigned from “The Firm.” It’s been just over a year since the couple stepped back from their roles as “senior royals” and departed their residence in England, declaring their intention…
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Conversations for Change: #1000BlackGirlBooks Creator Marley Dias Shares Her Story With American Girl
If you’ve ever had a conversation with Marley Dias, you know she’s wise beyond her years. We had the pleasure of doing so last fall for The Root Presents: It’s Lit! podcast, and we were in awe of Dias’ poise and self-awareness—though maybe we shouldn’t have been, given that the 2019 Young Futurist has also…
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'Writing to Make a Difference in This World,' Roxane Gay Launches a MasterClass
“You don’t need to be brave when you’re writing; you need to acknowledge that you’re terrified—and do it anyway,” so says author-educator-activist Roxane Gay, who has arguably produced some of the bravest writing of the past decade. Whether deconstructing (and humorously challenging) what it means to be a feminist in Bad Feminist, or plumbing the…
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![Rihanna Under Fire (Again) for Cultural Appropriation—and 'Interference' in Indian Politics [Updated]](https://assets-server.theroot.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/29115707/nxgenk4zoeuumiffgbz9-1024x575.jpg)
Rihanna Under Fire (Again) for Cultural Appropriation—and 'Interference' in Indian Politics [Updated]
Rihanna is a global superstar—but that doesn’t mean even her best intentions are globally well-received. The star of stage, screen, Sephora and Savage once again turned heads on Tuesday when she posted a picture of herself provocatively posed in a pair of satin trunks by her lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty—and little else. However, what…
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Ruth E. Carter to Receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Feb. 25
Ruth E. Carter made history in 2019 as the first Black person (and Black woman) to win an Academy Award for Costume Design—a feat made even more special for the fact that the film that earned her the award was 2018’s Black Panther. This month, the legendary costume designer—whose extensive list of credits also includes…
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'I Am Battle-Tested': Va. Gubernatorial Candidate Jennifer Carroll Foy Says Her Commitment to Black Maternal Health Is Personal
Former Democratic Virginia delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy almost didn’t live to become a gubernatorial candidate. As she shared with Elle on Monday, she almost died giving birth to her twin boys three years ago, “because, as is the case for many Black women, white doctors and nurses downplayed and dismissed her excruciating postpartum pain.” The…
