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Big Beauty Tuesday: How Brother Vellies' Aurora James Is Helping Retailers Make a Giant Step for Black Businesses
As a new year dawned in January, so did a staggering statistic: 140,000 jobs had been lost in December, all of them by women. Actually, it was worse, reported Fortune magazine: “Technically, women accounted for more than 111% of jobs lost…the U.S. economy lost a net 140,000 jobs in December…But women lost 156,000 jobs overall…
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Rashida Jones, Naomi Wadler and. Rep. Ayanna Pressley Kick Off Inaugural Black Girl Freedom Week
February is a month to celebrate Black History—and to make a push on advocacy for Black girls. The Black Girl Freedom Fund launched in September 2020 to do just that, with a mission to raise $1 billion to invest in Black girls and young women over the next 10 years. Launched by Dr. Monique W.…
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Ready for the (Virtual) Runway? The Black Fashion Lover's Guide to New York Fashion Week This February
Black History Month. Valentine’s Day. President’s Day. New York Fashion Week. Mardi Gras. The Golden Globes… For the shortest month of the year, February 2021 sure is jam-packed. While many of us are still living life in our sweatsuits with no major style moments immediately in sight, the fashion industry is still planning ahead and…
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Love for the Long Haul: AphroChic's Founders Talk Partnership, Marriage and Surviving COVID-19
“For better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish; till death do us part.” The vows are familiar, but for many, after a year of the in-tandem epidemics of COVID-19 and a resulting economic crisis, they have been put to the test. It’s Valentine’s Day tradition…
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'I Was Just Consistently Blown Away': The Root Presents: It's Lit! Honors Four Hundred Souls With Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
It’s been just over 400 years since the unintentional founding of Black America—when “20 or so odd Negroes” in captivity were delivered to the shores of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. In the intervening centuries, much—and yet, not enough—has changed. This much-needed conversation was only brought into its full historical context at the national (and even…
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Real Hot Girl Hair: Mielle Organics Announces Megan Thee Stallion as Its First Global Ambassador
Every stallion needs a fabulous mane, and hip-hop’s hot girl Megan Thee Stallion is no exception. The H-Town hottie may be best known for her growing body-ody-ody-ody of hits and epic wig game—but underneath it all, she’s been on a natural hair journey, announcing in December that she and stylist Kellon Derryck were on a…
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Essence Enters a New Era: The Legacy Media Brand Announces Its New Executive Team
The year known as 2020 was unfathomably challenging by anyone’s estimation; but as Essence magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary, the pioneering and enduring imprint and lifestyle brand, by its own admission, proved not to be immune. Now, nearly a year after the lockdowns that literally stopped us in our tracks, the legacy media brand shared…
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Grand Closing? Rihanna and LVMH Agree to Shutter Fenty Maison
One of the buzziest celebrity launches of the decade seems to have met its demise. On Wednesday, a spokesperson from LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) confirmed that the international conglomerate and Rihanna have agreed to cease operations of Fenty Maison, the Paris-based luxury fashion venture she launched in 2019 and the first to be launched…
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Royal Watch: That Time Meghan and Harry Popped Up in a Youth Poetry Class for Black History Month
These many (many) months of quarantine may not have been the most socially stimulating of our lives, but they have provided ample opportunity to step our virtual community up—and to make the best of a socially distanced situation. Then, there have been the pleasant virtual pop-ups—like this time last week, when President Obama surprised the…
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Big Beauty Tuesday: I Spent a Month With Alicia Keys' Soulcare Line…Am I 'Fallin' for It?
“What is Soulcare?” a promotional video for Alicia Keys’ then-upcoming Keys Soulcare platform and skincare line asked last September—and rightly so, because I, for one, wanted answers. After all, “self-care” is a much talked-about but ultimately elusive and highly subjective concept—and also an overused one as we’ve scrambled to carve out moments of peace in…
