-
How to Plan a Wedding When Your White Fiance’s Twin Hates You
“Several months ago I got engaged to a wonderful, warm, kindhearted, generous man who is an identical twin and happens to be white. I’m black. We were told that his twin brother’s wife did not approve of interracial dating and that she would not be in the same house (his parents’ for dinner) I was…
-
Black Legislators Want Your Voting Rights Back
When Rep. Alicia Reece—a Democrat representing Cincinnati in the Ohio state legislature—hears people say the next big political event in the Buckeye State won’t materialize until the 2016 presidential election is underway, she wonders what political planet they inhabit. In 2012, Reece saw conservative political operatives erect a billboard in her neighborhood that claimed to…
-
How Michelle Obama Pleased the Fashion Gods in 2013
Keli Goff is The Root’s special correspondent. Follow her on Twitter. Since her husband secured the Democratic nomination for president, Michelle Obama has become one of the world’s most-watched style influencers. Five years in the national spotlight have not dampened enthusiasm or interest in her fashion choices, with “Who is she wearing?” remaining one of the…
-
Tired of All the Beyoncé Analysis?
Beyoncé dropped an album last Thursday night, and we’ve spent a lot of time dissecting the meaning of that moment. (Is she groundbreaking? Is she a feminist? Is she allowed to call herself a feminist? Was her nontraditional marketing really just a brilliant marketing ploy? Is she condoning rape on “Drunk in Love”?) Enter #BeyonceThinkPieces,…
-
R. Kelly Responds to Details of Child Pornography Charges
We’ve long known about R. Kelly and his taste for underage girls. We all saw the video in which the singer allegedly pees on an underage girl. None of the details of the situation—the video, the dragged-out child pornography case, his marriage to 14-year-old Aaliyah in 1994—are lost on our collective pop-culture memory. Which makes…
-
NYC Mayor Blames God for Homeless Girl’s Plight Instead of His Policies
Mayor Michael Bloomberg may be in his last few weeks as New York City’s mayor, but he sure is finishing his tenure with a bang. Today it was reported that when asked for his reaction to the harrowing New York Times series on a little homeless girl named Dasani, he replied, “This kid was dealt…
-
Everyone Knew His Name. Now Hear His Story
There was a time, back in the ’80s and the ’90s, when you couldn’t turn the corner in Washington, D.C., and not see some evidence that Cool Disco Dan had been there. Way before Banksy, the D.C. graffiti artist was blasting his nom de plume on the sides of buildings, on bridges and on subway…
-
Quote of the Day: Bob Marley on Freedom
You can read this quote from “Redemption Song” (1980), and additional quotes by Bob Marley, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Listen to the song here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the…
-
8 Ways to Build Loyal Followers on Twitter
When it comes to Twitter, it’s hard to be an overnight success. It takes time to build and cultivate the relationships that can ultimately increase awareness of your business or personal brand. Attracting engaged followers is the key to success. When I first started out on Twitter, I worked it like a job, but even…
-
Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom Was Also South Africa’s
Nelson Mandela’s life contained enough drama, pathos and triumph to make several films based on his story, but the new biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is primarily concerned with revealing the man behind the legend. And it serves as an important reminder of the power of social movements in the face of political and…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
