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In Logo's LGBTQ State of the Union, Billy Porter Delivers the Truth the World Will Never Hear From Trump
Tonight, Donald Trump will face the nation and do what he does best: lie, exaggerate, and self-aggrandize…with the added boost of an almost sure acquittal by his sycophant Republican Senate. It’s pretty much guaranteed to be a shitshow, so if you’re planning to watch, buckle up, Buttercup. But if like me, you haven’t got time…
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VSB's Damon Young Wins Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers Award for What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker
What’s more exciting than any work of fiction? The news that one of our favorite essayists, colleagues and play cousins is being recognized for his brilliance! As reported by Publishers Weekly (and our work Slack), Damon Young’s debut book of essays, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, was recently named the nonfiction winner of…
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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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The Big Payback: Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade and Matthew Cherry Give Hair Love to Student Told to Cut Dreadlocks to Walk at Graduation
Texas high schooler Deandre Arnold may not be walking with his graduating class at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, this year, but he will be walking the red carpet on Oscars night, thanks to Hair Love director Matthew Cherry, producers Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, and personal care brand Dove. Deandre, a…
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In Her First House Appearance Since Her Radical Reveal, Ayanna Pressley Was Bald and Beautiful
In the midst of an impeachment trial that is fraught with obfuscation, transparency in politics is a rare and beautiful thing. So, too, is the bravery it took for Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) to trust The Root with the recent disclosure that she has alopecia and had been wearing wigs to hide her bald head…
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Living Dolls: Mattel Continues Barbie's Evolution With Even More Diverse Options for 2020
It’s not hyperbole to say that for most of the now-60-plus years that Barbie has been a household name, the fashion doll represented a prototypically feminine, Eurocentric beauty standard that was largely unattainable for its increasingly diverse, predominantly young female fanbase. But in recent years, parent company Mattel has steadily been working to make Barbie’s…
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Stick to Sandwiches: No One Asked for It, but Popeyes Has an Ivy Park-Inspired Clothing Line (That’s Selling Out Fast)
There are hits, there are misses, and there are “nobody asked for this-es.” But since creating the world’s most beloved sandwich wasn’t enough, Popeyes is attempting to take their zeitgeist moment one step further by capitalizing on another recent pop-cultural phenomenon. That’s right; after noticing that Beyoncé’s premiere Adidas x Ivy Park collection was created…
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Black to the Future: Target’s Black History Month Line Is in Stores, and We Want All the Things
As someone who finds herself inside of a Target at least once a week on average (what can I say? It’s my happy place), I consider myself pretty familiar with their affordable-yet-fashionable clothing lines—and in addition to a long history as a model for the juggernaut in my pre-Root life, I’ve been known to surprise…
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‘Our Struggles Matter’: Ayanna Pressley Lends Her Voice to a Collection of Essays by Sexual Assault Survivors
“As a survivor, I struggled for years to tell my own story,” writes Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), “and I know how it feels to be a survivor in a country where believing and supporting survivors has become a partisan issue, where survivors are made to feel marginalized and ostracized. I tell my story both because…
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Since Shutting Up Doesn’t Pay as Much as America’s Got Talent, Terry Crews Continues to Be Loud and Wrong
Best advice I’ve heard, as of late? “You should’ve just sat there and flexed your pecs” (h/t Thickey Smiley, via Twitter). Hopefully, Terry Crews heard it too, because the perpetual pec-flexer might’ve been better off sticking to his guns regularly programmed shtick than continuing to weigh in on the self-created controversy sparked by his recent…