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Q&A: Patti LaBelle Drops Pearls on The Root
The 71-year-old soul-singing icon, Patti LaBelle, doesn’t let dust settle under her feet. A true Gemini, Miss Patti, as she often refers to herself, does it all. After making her name in the 1970s as the one-and-only Lady Marmalade, LaBelle (who to this day is a touring artist) has developed quite the repertoire. The chaunteuse…
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Hillary Clinton Wins Democratic Caucuses in Nev.
Hillary Clinton won Nevada’s Democratic caucuses Saturday, according to the Associated Press, holding off an unexpectedly difficult challenge from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. In a race that many initially called too close to predict, Clinton eked out a victory over Sanders (52 percent to 48 percent with 75 percents of precincts reporting), and most likely…
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Last of Angola 3 Released After Being Kept in Solitary More Than 40 Years
Albert Woodfox, the last incarcerated member of the Angola Three, was released from prison on his 69th birthday, CNN reports. Woodfox was going to a third trial for the 1972 slaying of prison guard Brent Miller at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola but pleaded no contest Friday to lesser charges, according to a statement.…
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Howard Becomes Only HBCU With Swim Team
A few weeks ago, the Internets got broke when a photo of the North Carolina A&T women’s swim team burned up social media—a beacon of beautiful #BlackGirlMagic for all the world to see. Unfortunately, not long after that, it was announced that that swim team would be no more, because the school’s regular conference does…
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Dear Black People: These Are Things ‘They’ Want You to Stop Doing
Editor’s note: This post contains tweets that some may find offensive. We wrote a list of things that white people should stop doing, and of course the racist Internet trolls flexed their Twitter fingers to tweet obscenities and call us names, and even forced us to leave “their country” with the ever-popular, “Go back to…
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Black Woman to Lead School of Public Health at Harvard
We are still seeing many “firsts” in the year 2016, and higher education is no different. Harvard University announced Friday that Michelle A. Williams will become the first black person to head a faculty at Harvard and the first female dean of the School of Public Heath, come July. Williams, who is currently an epidemiologist…
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Va. Bill Would Be 1st in Nation to Keep Cops’ Names Secret
A proposed bill allowing all Virginia law-enforcement officers’ names to be withheld from the public would be the first of its kind in the country and is being decried by police-accountability groups and those who believe in freedom of the press, reports the Virginian-Pilot. A Jan. 13 proposal put forth by Republican Virginia state Sen. John…
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Review: Smart People Is an Intelligent Take on the Role of Race in Our Everyday Lives
Smart People is exactly what you would expect it to be: smart, sexy and provocative. It’s no surprise, considering the play is the brainchild of Lydia Diamond, the playwright behind Stick Fly, the hit Broadway play about an affluent African-American family who confronts issues of race and class. And Diamond doesn’t do it alone. Directing…
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Filmmaker Out to Prove That Black Superheroes Can Be Leading Characters
Editor’s note: This short-film series is a collaboration between The Root and El Rey Network to support, elevate and promote African-American filmmakers throughout Black History Month via on-air, digital and editorial platforms. Filmmakers were contacted and recruited through film festivals and industry partnerships in December, with finalists selected by both El Rey Network and The…
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Jennifer Hudson’s Convicted Brother-in-Law Says He Had Nothing to Do With Her Family’s Murders
William Balfour, the 27-year-old estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, was sentenced in 2012 to three life sentences without parole for the murders of Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. Balfour gave his first interview since his sentencing to ABC 7 and insisted that he’s innocent, saying that he had nothing to do with the…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
