-
Not Getting My Hair Wet Was Keeping My Sex Life Dry
After years of wearing wigs and quick weaves, I recently decided to give my hair a break and try protective styles—and the transition sexually liberated me in ways I never expected. For years, I’d navigated anxiety and insecurities around body image and my sexual performance, but I can also say I’ve spent countless sexual encounters…
-
Eric Garner’s Family Pushes for Anti-Chokehold Bill After Screening of American Trial: The Eric Garner Story
The controversial hybrid documentary/drama American Trial: The Eric Garner Story premiered in mid-October at the 57th New York Film Festival, providing insight into the judicial process, police brutality and race relations in America. The experimental film features a mock trial that was filmed live to represent a fictionalized depiction of what might have happened if…
-
Why My Daughter Will Be Getting a Sex Ed Crash Course, ‘Expeditiously’
Yesterday, the entire internet collectively rolled its eyes as Clifford “T.I.” Harris attempted to use yet another word he clearly doesn’t understand when he bragged about his 18-year-old daughter Deyjah Harris’ hymen on Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Moham’s podcast, Ladies Like Us. The three found humor in the moment T.I. explained that he takes Deyjah…
-
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…
-
What Harriet Teaches Us About Black Women’s Leadership
When most people think of Harriet Tubman, the first thing that comes to mind is how she helped hundreds of black people escape slavery through the Underground Railroad. Other aspects of her life, such as how she led a raid near the Combahee River that freed 700 enslaved people or how she was a founder…
-
Gospel Music Doesn’t Need Kanye’s Remixing
The familiar sounds of a three-part chorus filled my bedroom as I did the first listen of Jesus is King. Anticipating the iconic gospel/rap mashup, I looked forward to something fully black with melodies over heavy beats. This album, however, missed the angst of “Jesus Walks,” the complication of “Ultralight Beam,” and the epic production…
-
Mr. Perry, We Need More Than a ‘Deep Breath’ to Fight Georgia’s Abortion Ban
Dear Mr. Perry, This month, you told us to “take a deep breath” and “calm down” about the state of Georgia’s abortion ban passed earlier this year. Organizations like Access Reproductive Care-Southeast—which I co-founded and is the state’s only abortion fund—have spent years on the frontlines alongside our partners fighting back against abortion restrictions in…
-
‘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…
-
East Coast, West Coast, Worldwide: Akon’s Business Ventures Are Legend, but His New Music Enterprise Is One of His Most Boundary Breaking Yet
The instant Akon joined me at The Root’s office in a skyscraper overlooking Times Square, he seemed at ease. With his publicist in tow, he strolled in, falling headfirst into a conversation we were having about the huge buzz around upcoming events in Accra, Ghana in December (AfroNation and Afrochella); a pilgrimage so massive, hotels…
