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Revolution, Reparations, Revelry: The Root’s Black (AF) Gift Guide 2019
The theme from last year’s Black AF Gift Guide was self-care; in 2017, it was about being woke. This year, we’re talking “Revolution, Reparations, and Revelry,” because we like alliteration, and because these three go together like greens, yams, and ham (turkey ham, if you don’t swill swine. If you don’t eat meat, please pass).…
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Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Will Surprise You With Its Depth and Move You With Its Songs
It’s always amazed me that some people can watch a concert or musical with no visible emotional response. I always say that it’s cultural—that in the African (American, Caribbean, Latinx, etc.) tradition we “talk back,” “chat back,” “shout back” “sing back”—and though I know different communities have different cultural norms, it is nonetheless jarring to…
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Afro-Brit Kingsley Ben-Adair to Portray Barack Obama in James Comey Miniseries
Looks like a Kingsley is set to play our once and forever KANG, Barack Hussein Obama, in an upcoming miniseries based on James Comey’s tell-all memoir. Deadline reports that director Billy Ray tapped Afro-British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir in the miniseries adaptation of former Comey’s book, Higher Loyalty, in a CBS Studios produced vehicle. In addition…
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Oprah Winfrey Kicks Off Her New Book Club on Apple TV+ With Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer
Like so many other companies getting into the content game, the traditionally hardware-focused Apple launched Apple TV+ today with a promising partnership with the master of the media universe, Oprah Winfrey, whose Oprah’s Book Club will now be available to more than 900 million iPhones worldwide. Everyone’s favorite billionaire sat down with award-winning author, essayist…
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‘They’ll Erase Us From the Future’: Stacey Abrams Understands Why We Fear the Census But Says We Must Participate Anyway
The yummy, sweet brown center of the transformative, celebratory and “let’s get free”-filled reproductive justice gathering known as SisterSong’s Let’s Talk About Sex Conference in Atlanta this weekend was former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (who was clearly robbed of that honor, let’s be clear). With a perfect blend of humor (“I’m a sturdy woman…
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No Murder Charges for Georgia Cop Who Fatally Shot Naked Black Man in Mental Health Crisis
I mean, why wouldn’t he be charged with murder? The recent outlier that was Amber Guyger, a white cop who actually was criminally charged and convicted in the shooting death of an unarmed black person, is certainly the exception to the rule, which is that white cops can kill black people in all manner of…
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Florida Man Who Killed Black Father Over Parking Space Will Stand His Ground in Prison for 20 Years
The white Floridian who gunned down an unarmed father of three over a parking dispute has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Michael Drejka got the book thrown at him in the 2018 death of Markeis McGlockton, wherein the sentencing judge blasted the 49-year-old, calling him a self-appointed “handicapped parking space monitor.” The AP…
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‘Am I Supposed to Be the Representation?’: A Black Mother Navigates Our Convoluted Mental Health System
Waiting for Tearah, a short documentary about how a black family navigates the labyrinth mental health system in Hartford, Conn., is symbolic of mental health dysfunction on a national level—and a testament to the beauty, innovation, and the sheer determination and grit of black mothers who walk through walls for their children. The 22-plus-minute film…
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Watch: Waiting for Tearah Spotlights How Our Children Are Languishing in Mental Health Facilities Far From Home
To honor Mental Illness Awareness Week (Oct. 6-12) , Frontline PBS and Firelight Media have partnered with The Root to bring you Waiting for Tearah, a short documentary by Juliana Schatz Preston. Waiting for Tearah tells the story of one African-American family’s struggle to navigate America’s dysfunctional mental healthcare system. Tearah, then 16 years old…
