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Twitter Slams New York Times for Serena Williams ‘Body Image’ Story
The New York Times on Saturday came under fire on Twitter for a tone-deaf article that essentially condemns the physique of tennis star Serena Williams. The article presents the views of top female tennis players, who, ahem, refuse to look like Williams—who will be vying for the Wimbledon title against Garbiñe Muguruza on Saturday. Despite…
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NYC Man Gets 20 Years in Death of Teen Who Flirted With Wife
A judge on Friday sentenced a Brooklyn, N.Y., man to 20 years in prison in the shooting death of an 18-year-old Trinidadian man who flirted with his wife while she was riding a bus, reports the New York Daily News. Lawrence Jones was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Isaiah Roberts, who was lured…
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10 Thoughts After Watching Netflix’s Excellent Nina Simone Documentary
I love being on the road, seeing the world, working on sets and getting paid to do what I love, but I also miss out on a lot. I suppose I could have made time to see What Happened, Miss Simone?, the highly anticipated documentary about Nina Simone, when it landed on Netflix in late…
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Black Twitter Kidnaps the #WhiteGirlsDoItBetter Hashtag and Takes It for a Ride
The de facto conglomerate known as “black Twitter” has demonstrated time and time again that it is funny, relentless and bombastic on issues relating to race and culture and can unleash the fury of God (or the wit of Richard Pryor) on those who find themselves lurking around those kinds of topics without a darn…
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FBI: We Dropped the Ball on Dylann Roof’s Background Check; He Should Not Have Been Able to Purchase a Gun
The FBI admitted Friday that its failure to follow through on Dylann Roof’s background check enabled him to reportedly purchase the gun that he allegedly used to fatally shoot nine people at a historically black church in South Carolina in June. According to the New York Times, Roof—the self-confessed gunman in the attack at the…
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The Black Gay Prancing Elites Dance Troupe Gets Green Light for 2nd Season on Oxygen
Get ready to see more sparkly leotards and the fiercest j-setting dance moves, because Oxygen just green-lit a second season of The Prancing Elites Project, according to Variety. The docuseries explores the world of competitive dancing through the lives of an all-male dance troupe based in Mobile, Ala. All five members are African American, and…
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How Long Ago Did African Ancestry Enter My Family Tree?
Dear Professor Gates: According to 23andMe, my brother and I each have 0.1 percent sub-Saharan African ancestry. But instead of being at the identical spot on the chromosome, his segment and my segment are next to each other. How would we estimate the date that the African-American ancestor entered our family tree? Would we combine…
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South Sudanese Model Rips ‘Racist’ Fashion Industry
Nykhor Paul—a South Sudanese model who has graced the campaigns of Calvin Klein, Balenciaga, Diane von Furstenburg and the like—took to Instagram Monday to give the fashion industry a piece of her mind about the “ratchet” ways in which dark-brown models are treated in the industry. Paul made it very clear to whom she was directing her…
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Bill Cosby Started Losing Black People Before the Rape Allegations
More than 30 women have accused Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them in incidents dating all the way to the 1960s. However, even before these accusations and his own admissions in a recently unsealed court deposition were reintroduced to the public, Cosby was already a controversial figure in the black community because of…
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John Singleton on Why Black Filmmakers Need to Tell Black Stories
The coming-of-age classic Boyz n the Hood is 24 years old this July. At the recent American Black Film Festival in New York City, where the movie was being screened by Turner Classic Movies, The Root contributor Reginald Ponder had a chance to speak with John Singleton, who was 22 years old when he directed his…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
