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Extra Baggage on a Trip Home
Thousands of miles from home, the troubling words of James Baldwin found me: It turned out that the question of who I was was not solved because I had removed myself from the social forces which menaced me—anyway, these forces had become interior, and I had dragged them across the ocean with me. Three weeks…
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Where Swagger Meets Stoicism
My introduction to portrait artist Kehinde Wiley was happenstance—a tag-along-type adventure with a photographer friend to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. Upon entering the gallery, I was greeted by space: a labyrinth of hollowed rooms demanding silence on behalf of the stark white walls. Amid this absence, Wiley drew me in with bright colors…
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Gen Y and the Colorblind Lie
“Are you serious?” he asked. And though I was, I couldn’t help but notice the disbelief in his blue eyes, his pale face furrowed in confusion. I searched his expression for an inkling of empathy. There was none. “Why,” he had to wonder, “can’t I say the word ‘nigga’?” Before you judge, consider the confusion,…
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Changing Beauty
Isis strikes a pose. Couture, not commercial. Her face alone is vogue—café au lait, high cheek bones that say high-fashion. Her pouty lips prove to be the perfect accessory to her doe-eyed smile, catching the light at every turn and tilt of the head. Her long legs slice through the air with precision. She is…
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Glad I Got My Girls
Fifteen years ago, we all adored the “Fab Four.” They came at a time that is barely recognizable today. Before Carrie and her crew, before Joan and ’em even stepped on the scene, nearly every black female in America had another set of friends to flock to—Khadijah, Synclaire, Max and Regine. Living Single was the…
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Can I Wear My Obama T-shirt to Vote on Election Day?
An ominous e-mail has been causing quite a bit of confusion for voters recently. With an urgent warning to recipients, the e-mail claims that election officials have the right to turn away any voters wearing campaign paraphernalia to the polls. So what’s up? Can you rock that “Obama Mama” T-shirt to cast your vote on…
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The Secret's Out
For countless black moviegoers, Love & Basketball remains a classic. Complete with relatable black leads and an emotional, yet realistic plotline, the film plays for your heart and wins. But this triumph isn’t without tremendous effort. The film, which debuted in 2000, was a labor of love for screenwriter and director Gina Prince-Bythewood, rife with…
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The Great Debaters, Rugby-style
Rugby brings the world to you and you to the world,” Alex Pettiford, a sophomore, said. Also, nine minutes well spent. Saaret Yoseph is a writer and Assistant Editor at TheRoot.com. She manages and blogs for \”Their Eyes Were Watching …\”
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New-Age Piracy
In the 21st century, piracy has most commonly been used to refer to music and movies. Global economic woes, though, are giving the word back its prior meaning—indicative of black beards and eye-patches. Recently, off the coast of Kenya and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean, oil tankers have fallen victim to pirates looking for ransom.…
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A Christmas Story
Santa shouldn’t have come to my house. At least, in theory. To my mother and father, both immigrants from Ethiopia, St. Nick was always somewhat of an anomaly, an outlandish icon of someone else’s Christmas. As children, they observed the holiday on Jan. 7, like other Orthodox Christians, in accordance with the Coptic calendar. There…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
