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Jeremy O. Harris and Naomi Campbell to Be Honored With 2020 Human Rights Campaign Awards
The fight for equality is ongoing, but the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)—the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization—continues to honor those doing the work. Ahead of its 19th Annual HRC Greater New York Gala on Saturday, Feb. 1, the advocacy organization has announced it will be awarding one of…
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Doin' Big Thangs: The Root's Michael Harriot Inks a Two-Book Publishing Deal; Will Bring 'Wypipology' to the Masses
He has clapped back at our hate mail weekly; regularly educates us on the inextricable links between American history and racism; has called out Pete Buttigieg on the biases and policies that most affect black America (prompting a sit-down with the presidential hopeful himself); and just this past weekend, The Root’s Michael Harriot broke Black…
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In The Water: Rhiannon Giddens Pays Musical Tribute to the Painful Legacy of Wilmington, N.C.
Rhiannon Giddens is nothing if not prolific; the Grammy award-winner and Macarthur Genius Award recipient may have initially made her mark as co-founder and lead vocalist of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, but her musical acumen spans genres. From the roots music of her banjo-based all-female super-quartet Our Native Daughters (earning her one of two Grammy…
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Akhnaten: A Revolutionary King Gets an Equally Innovative Opera
It’s strangely fitting that one of history’s earliest renegades has been immortalized with an opera that also defies convention—and indeed, for those unfamiliar with the music of Philip Glass, the operative word some may use to describe his opera Akhnaten might be “strange.” For the genre’s purists, the Metropolitan Opera’s production of his now 35-year-old…
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Are We Ready to Have a Constructive Conversation About Slave Play? (Because We Saw It for Ourselves, and Have Thoughts)
In the months since Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play upended the theater world (and many of our moral and historical sensibilities), moving from a sold-out run at the New York Theatre Workshop to Broadway, much has been written about its controversial narrative—some factual, some distinctly disingenuous (and some from the playwright himself). In fact,…
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Optical Illusions: At Balmain and Off-White’s Spring/Summer 2020 Shows, Things Aren’t Always What They Seem
As Fashion Week traveled from New York City to London to Milan to Paris, we’ve been waiting patiently to see what the fashion industry’s top two black designers would be offering for Spring/Summer 2020. And while they presented very different aesthetics, Off-White’s Virgil Abloh and Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing are both taking an illusory…
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The Bitter, the Sweet, and the Book: Beyoncé’s Seminal Work Enters the Literary Canon With The Lemonade Reader
In the three years since Beyoncé seamlessly merged black feminism and pop culture with the release of Lemonade, much has been said—and written—about the impact of her semi-autobiographical visual album, which traced a direct lineage from ancient African religion and folklore to Gullah culture to New Orleans’ “bounce” and the black female backbones of movements…
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LeBron James’ I Promise School Receives a $1 Million Boost from Dick’s Sporting Goods
The good news keeps coming for LeBron James’ groundbreaking I Promise School in his native Akron, Ohio. Following April reports that the school was already yielding incredible results in its first year, the NBA star surprised I Promise students by announcing that they’d be receiving a brand new gym, thanks to a $1 million grant…
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Live to Tell: 25 Years After Genocide, Miracle in Rwanda Sheds Light on a Tragic Legacy
It’s been 25 years since the civil war that resulted in genocide against the Tutsi tribe of the East African nation of Rwanda. During a three-month period in 1994, as many as one million Rwandans were killed, including approximately 70 percent of the Tutsi population. Among those who lived to tell the massacre was Immaculée…
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Ready for a New Adventure? The Glow Up, VSB and Toyota Are Taking Charge in Philly!
Feeling overdue for a new adventure in your life? The first step is believing it’s possible—and trust us, it is. On Thursday, May 2, we’re bringing the empowerment and inspiration you need to Philadelphia when The Glow Up and Very Smart Brothas host “Taking Charge,” in partnership with Toyota. That’s right; we’re bringing one of…
