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A New Race to Win: With a New Brand Sponsor, Alysia Montaño Is Ready to Change the Game for Women Athletes
“The marathon continues” may have been Nipsey Hussle’s signature line (may he rest in peace), but it is equally applicable to champion American middle-distance runner and fellow 2019 Root 100 honoree Alysia Montaño. One of the most decorated women in track and field, Montaño began shifting paradigms in the sport in 2014, when she competed…
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As Sexually Transmitted Diseases Continue a 5-Year Surge, So Do Racial Disparities in Infection Rates
When it comes to sexual health, it’s never been more crucial to know your status on any number of sexually transmitted diseases—including syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea—as the 2018 STD Surveillance Report indicated a five-year surge in rates of infection. But as if that news isn’t disconcerting enough, the National Association of County and City Health…
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In Response to 'Fast and Furious' Restrictions, Planned Parenthood Launches the Abortion Care Finder
As the fight to uphold Roe v. Wade wages on, this week, Planned Parenthood lobbed a virtual clapback at legislators and anti-abortion advocates seeking to roll back the reproductive rights granted in the landmark case. As reported by the New York Times, on Tuesday, the organization debuted an online tool called the Abortion Care Finder,…
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The Lady and Her Music: Lena Horne's Legacy Endures in the First Major Entertainment Award Named for a Woman of Color
In the history of Hollywood, there are few talents as multifaceted as actress, singer, dancer and legendary beauty Lena Horne. In her decadeslong career, the four-time Grammy-winner was known for her iconic renditions of songs like “Stormy Weather”—and her starring role in the 1943 film of the same name. Also honored with a Kennedy Center…
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So, What Exactly Does One Wear to a Slave Rebellion Reenactment, Anyway?
Last weekend, realizing of the vision of artist Dread Scott, hundreds of volunteers—in costume as 19th-century enslaved people—marched 26 miles to New Orleans’s French Quarter in a reenactment of the Louisiana Slave Rebellion. The rebellion, which occurred on Jan. 8, 1811, and was suppressed by white militia two days later, was the largest slave uprising…
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'We Have to Do More': Champion Ally Megan Rapinoe Thanked Kaepernick, Tarana Burke and Black Lives Matter in 'Woman of the Year' Speech
If you follow The Root on a regular basis, you know white women warrant a surprising amount of our coverage. This is not because this is a site for or about white women (quite to the contrary). It’s because some white women’s interactions with and responses to blackness have consistently proven dangerous to the people…
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Two New Studies Find Black and Brown Mothers Less Likely to Have Their Postpartum Pain Evaluated and Addressed
As the fight to lower the black maternal mortality rate continues, two new studies provide new evidence of stark contrasts in the way black and brown new mothers are treated postpartum, versus their white counterparts. Specifically, “Racial Disparities in Postpartum Pain Management” and “Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Postpartum Pain Evaluation and Management,” both published…
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A New Bill in New York State Seeks to Outlaw Hymen Exams
Have we had enough talk about hymens yet? Assemblywoman Michaëlle C. Solages (D-N.Y.) certainly has; as black America continues to debate Atlanta-based rapper/producer T.I.’s parenting skills, the third-term legislator from Long Island, N.Y., has introduced legislation prohibiting the practice of “virginity tests”—specifically, medical examinations of the hymen intended to verify virginal status. Such exams typically…
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CROWNing Glory: New York City Just Resolved Its First Hair Discrimination Case—and a Celebrity Stylist Is Going to Pay
“Heavy lies the crown,” they say—and for celebrity hairstylist Sally Hershberger, the punishment for the type of discriminatory practices that birthed the CROWN Act has come down heavy indeed, as she and business partner Sharon Dorram are on the losing end of a $70,000 civil lawsuit. In fact, according to the New York Times, it…
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Unbothered and Officially Wed! Jemele Hill Marries Longtime Love Ian Wallace
The bride wore a custom, strapless, minimalist high-low wedding gown with a convertible sheer skirt by Vera Wang.
