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Five-Year-Old Stars in Award-Winning SXSW Film
Five-year-old actor Myles Brooks put himself on the map when his first film, Pioneer, took home the Best Narrative Short award at the South by Southwest festival this year. The 15-minute production is the story of a father telling an epic and violent tale about an absent mother to his young son. Director David Lowery…
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The Root Recommends: 'Desert Flower'
Based on the book of the same name, Desert Flower is at its core a story of courage and hope and one girl’s journey. The biopic examines the life of Waris Dirie (played by supermodel Liya Kebede), a Somalian woman who at the age of 13 fled her home before her impending marriage and ultimately…
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Obama Honors First Black Commerce Secretary
Today in New York City, President Barack Obama participated in the United States Mission to the United Nations Building dedication of the federal building in memory of the late Ron Brown, a Democratic trailblazer and the first black commerce secretary. Brown served in the Clinton administration after helping him win the 1992 presidential election as…
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The Root Recommends: 'Songs for Japan'
In an effort to raise money for earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan, recording artists from around the world have lent some of their hits to Songs for Japan, a new compilation album. The 38-song album, which features songs from the Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Ne-Yo and Adele, to name a few, inspires you…
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White Celebs Announce, 'I am African'
Update: The “I am African” campaign was first launched in 2006. AOL Black Voices is taking a critical look at the AIDS nonprofit Keep a Child Alive‘s ad campaign featuring Hollywood stars in what is meant to be traditional tribal face paint. Each celeb’s image is accompanied by the text, “I am African.” In addition to African-Americans…
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The Root Recommends: The International Sweethearts of Rhythm
In celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month, the Smithsonian is paying homage to a little-known, ethnically diverse all-female jazz ensemble called the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. Founded in 1937, the group broke ground as they courageously toured the country — including the deeply segregated South — performing swing and jazz against the backdrop of some steep…
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African Women and the 'Arab Spring'
Some 600 African women gathered under a white tent in Tangier, Morocco, earlier this month. They traveled from all over the continent to celebrate the 100th Annual International Women’s Day, but also to talk about governance and government. The meeting was the first forum of locally elected African women organized by the United Cities and…
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Chicago Veterans Stand Guard Over Schoolkids
NPR reports that the Chicago public school system will spend nearly $5 million this year on contracts with community groups and other nonprofits, in an innovative approach to keeping kids safe in some of Chicago’s most dangerous and gang-saturated neighborhoods. The city’s Safe Passage works with an organization called No Veteran Left Behind to…
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Gabrielle Union Speaks Up for Planned Parenthood
We’ve heard before that “a hit on Planned Parenthood really becomes a hit on African-American women.” Willie J. Parker, M.D., made that clear to The Root after the House passed a measure to strip the organization of funding. He explained that many patients who use the services provided there are uninsured African-American women who have…
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How Racism Tainted Women's Fight to Vote
“I am in Great Britain today because I believe that the silent indifference with which she has received the charge that human beings are burned alive in Christian Anglo-Saxon communities is born of ignorance of the true situation. America cannot and will not ignore the voice of a nation that is her superior in civilization.”…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
