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GQ's September Issue Features the 'Godmother of the Movement,' Trans Activist Ceyenne Doroshow
There was a time in the not-too-distant past that seeing women in GQ was simply a signifier of who cis-hetero, mostly white men had deemed the “sexiest women alive.” It was a ranking that proved problematic—particularly when it occasionally zeroed in on race and age—and unsurprisingly, has seemed to fade away in recent years (at…
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We're Sensing a Pattern Here: Tracee Ellis Ross, Kerry Washington and More Center Black Hair This September
Heads up—if you hadn’t heard, our tresses are trending this month. A number of famous and brilliant women have put their heads together to discuss one of the most specific and polarizing aspects of Black beauty—our hair. Earlier this week, Glamour magazine debuted their groundbreaking September cover story, which called out the pervasive issue of…
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With a Major Statement for Black Lives and Dual Covers, Naomi Osaka Comes Into Her Own, Off-Court
The sports world took a historic and deeply significant timeout on Wednesday in support of Black lives and in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. Among the number of elite athletes and teams staging spontaneous strikes was tennis star Naomi Osaka, who canceled her Thursday semifinals match at the 2020 Western…
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September's NYFW Announces Its Virtual Schedule—Which Will Kick Off With Harlem's Fashion Row
The prolonged threat of COVID-19 has disrupted many of our regularly scheduled events this year, but fashion waits for no one—and New York Fashion Week (NYFW) will be going on as planned this September 13-16, albeit virtually (which should hopefully make it more accessible to fashion lovers everywhere). The Council of Fashion Designers of America…
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More Than a Hashtag: Tarana Burke Joins The Root Institute to Talk Movement Building, Me Too and Maintaining Momentum Amid COVID-19
Tarana Burke knows better than most the power of a hashtag. After all, hers—#MeToo—turned into a zeitgeist moment back in the fall of 2017, as Hollywood actresses began using it on social media in response to the mounting allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Black Twitter quickly rose to correct the oversight of the tag’s originator Burke,…
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The Health of Our Communities Begins With Black Women: Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson, Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, and EHE Health's Joy Altimare Join The Root Institute
If this August has confirmed nothing else, it’s that where women gather, there is power; power often underestimated and underutilized, but capable of transforming the world. We saw it 100 years ago this week with the passage of the 19th Amendment, which enabled (white) women to vote after a decades-long suffrage movement. Forty-five years later,…
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It's Time to Have a Crucial Conversation About Our Communal Health With Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson, EHE Health's Joy Altimare and Dr. Joia Crear-Perry
“If you want to feed a person, you pay a man,” says Joy Altimare of EHE Health, one the sponsors of our first-ever Root Institute. “But if you want to feed a village or a community, you make sure a woman is actually enabled to take care of herself and her children.” The direct links…
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Me Too and Essence to Host the Black Women and Girls Survivor Town Hall Featuring Tarana Burke and Angelica Ross
We are in the midst of a renewed focus upon Black safety and survival—and Black female political power—and yet, as we were reminded by our peers at Essence today, “While Black women have the highest turnout rate at the polls, they also have the [second] highest rates of sexual assault,” eclipsed only by Native American…
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Rihanna, Domestic Goddess? Rih Is Rumored to Be Dropping Housewares, but Her Navy Is Sending an SOS for R9
“Pour it up,” indeed. Could our next serving of hot tea be served from a Fenty teacup? The eagle eyes in Rihanna’s fandom (also known as @TeamofRihanna on Twitter) recently caught wind of a new trademark application by the singer’s company, Roraj Trade, LLC, cleverly titled “Sorry, I’m Booked” and filed on Aug. 6 (h/t…
