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In Art, Blackness Provides a Scent of the Exotic
This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black Archive & Library at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Through the simple pairing of a half-length figure with a large vase of flowers, a fertile discourse is opened on the…
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Get on Up: The Pain of Playing James Brown
“You’re seeing a movie about a genius,” Chadwick Boseman says of Get on Up: The James Brown Story. He’d know this better than anyone, as the man tasked to bring the icon to life—and that feat requires a genius quality all its own. Boseman sits down with The Root’s social media editor, Terron Moore, to explain all the fear,…
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MLK’s Case for Reparations Included Disadvantaged Whites
What does white America owe black America? To even broach that question 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 seems straight-out wacky. Did not the election of a black president redeem the nation? At a minimum, it’s rude—refusing to avert the eyes from that elephant in the room: “America begins in black plunder…
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We Stand Together—Black and Brown—for the Young People of Chicago and Central America
Last week The Root’s Keli Goff wrote about the child refugees fleeing violence and poverty in Central America and seeking refuge at our border. Unfortunately, she argued that we shouldn’t protect these brown children and supports deporting them—while claiming that we have our own black children to care about first, citing recent violence in the streets of…
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I’m Writing About My Bipolar Disorder While I’m Learning to Live With It
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2007, but it was just recently that I started a blog, Manic Monique’s Meanderings: My Journey to Wellness. I’m an English teacher at an all-girls school by day, but I am writing in my free time because I plan to publish a memoir about my experience with bipolar…
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LeBron James’ Return: Part Basketball, Part Urban Renewal
The King is back. LeBron James’ shocking announcement, via a letter posted on SI.com, that he will return to Cleveland has turned into a story that transcends sports. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson identified James as a rare example of an athlete who embraced social responsibility. “I have joy in my heart today because LeBron…
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Ind. Teen Allegedly Slayed Flight Attendant in Grisly Robbery Plot
In an eerie robbery plot that ended in murder near a deserted stretch of road in Gary, Ind., a veteran United Airlines flight attendant was viciously beaten, fatally stabbed and stuffed in her car trunk allegedly by her daughter’s boyfriend, the Daily News reports, citing various news outlets and court documents. Damarius Wren, 18, on…
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WeatherNation Hires Meteorologist Fired for Explaining Black Hair
Rhonda Lee, a meteorologist thrust into the national spotlight in 2012 after she was fired from a TV station for responding to a viewer’s racist remarks about her Afro, has a new gig. The Vane reports that Lee announced Friday that she’s been hired as meteorologist by WeatherNation. Lee was fired from the KTBS-TV, an…
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Moms With Guns Founder Shares Obama Post: ‘Where Is an Assassin When You Need One?’
The founder of the Moms With Guns website is under fire for a Facebook photo that she shared of President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Texas. The uproar is not over the image, but what she wrote in the post: “Where is an assasin (sic) when you need one,” according to Liberaland. The post has…
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Rachel Jeantel Blames Self for George Zimmerman Acquittal
Nearly a year after Rachel Jeantel testified at George Zimmerman’s trial in the death of her friend, Trayvon Martin, she told CNN that she wishes she had acted differently on the witness stand. She made the statement in response to a question about whether she blamed herself for Zimmerman’s acquittal. “A little bit,” she answered.…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
