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Does This Haircut Look Hypocritical? Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Eschews Social Distancing for a Shape-Up
She’s the face of Chicago—and in recent weeks, the star of countless memes since sternly yet effectively locking down the nation’s third-largest city in hopes of containing the coronavirus outbreak. But while Mayor Lori Lightfoot has successfully gotten Chicagoans to “stay home [and] save lives,” the popular politician caught more than a few side-eyes when…
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I Don't Want to Die Poor: In His Newest Book, Michael Arceneaux Articulates the Angst of a Generation
It’s a rare feat to score a spot on the New York Times’ bestseller list with your first book—and even rarer to have your finger on the pulse of a national moment with your second. Michael Arceneaux, author, 2018 Root 100 honoree and occasional contributor to The Root has managed to do both; following the…
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No Filter With Naomi: Making the Most of the Moment, Naomi Campbell's YouTube Channel Launches a Daily Series
Naomi tried to tell us…and if we’d listened, maybe we wouldn’t all be self-isolating right now. Some considered the legendary supermodel paranoid when she showed off her fastidiously protective in-flight pre-cleaning routine on her Being Naomi YouTube channel last July. Nine months later, the fashion icon, activist and philanthropist proved to also be prescient, as…
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Two Dollars and a Dream: Stanley Nelson's 1st Documentary Separates the Fact From the Fiction of Self Made
Self-isolation can make for strange bedfellows—and strange viewing, as the streaming industry seems to be one of the few thriving in during the coronavirus crisis (raise your hand if you’re wandered far from your intended Netflix queue at this point). Sometimes, the truth is stranger than any fiction imaginable (we’re looking at you, Tiger King);…
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Home Theater: One of the Most Anticipated Plays of the Chicago Theatrical Season Premieres Online
As the COVID-19 epidemic has derailed all of our lives, it has done unimaginable damage to the live entertainment industry, as festival season, concerts and theatrical productions have been unceremoniously postponed or canceled outright, leaving performers, directors, production crews and the venues themselves with gaping holes in their projected incomes. But as they say in…
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Because Indoors Doesn't Mean Invisible: Angelica Ross and Friends Give Us the #BrushItOffChallenge
If you know The Glow Up, you know we are huge fans of the hit FX series Pose and its incredible cast and crew. In fact, one of the show’s breakout stars, Angelica Ross, was a 2019 Root 100 honoree (where this writer may or may not have embarrassingly gushed over her while introducing her…
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It's a 'Du': Leave It to Rihanna to Epitomize Self-Isolation Style While Staging a Fashion First
As if we needed another excuse not to style our hair while self-isolating, Rihanna has provided the perfect one. With her most recent British Vogue cover, the 32-year-old fashion icon, entertainer and mogul reminded us she’s always one step ahead of a major cultural moment, sporting a durag (also fondly known as a “do-rag”) for…
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This Equal Pay Day, the Crisis May Be Widening the Chasm
In the midst of a global pandemic, discussions about gender wage equality have largely taken a backseat to broader concerns about widespread economic insecurity in the wake of this crisis. Nevertheless, March 31 marks Equal Pay Day, the day that symbolizes how long it would take American women to “catch up” to the average earnings…
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As COVID-19 Closures Continue, America's Biggest Retailers Furlough Employees
If I’m honest, I’ve had a longstanding love-hate relationship with the retail juggernaut known as Macy’s. Love, because I spent decades modeling for their catalogs and e-commerce site, working with some of the coolest, kindest people around. Hate, because growing up in the Midwest, shopping at much-beloved department stores like Chicago’s Marshall Field’s and the…
