• Quote of the Day: Billie Holiday on Fighting

    Read the full quote and other quotes from Billie Holiday 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 editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us…

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  • Rapper Jasiri X on How He ‘Gets Free’

    Emcee and activist Jasiri X sits down to talk with Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal about current events and how he’s using social media and 1Hood Media to spread his message.

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  • Obama Girls Stand Tall as Role Models

    Sasha Obama has done it again. Weeks ago the youngest first daughter wore a sweater in public that ended up selling out shortly thereafter. Now her recent ensemble at her father’s official Thanksgiving Turkey-pardoning press conference has also generated headlines, and style watchers are anticipating that it may spark frenzy, too. This would simply mean…

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  • African-American Girl Won’t Be Expelled for Her Hair

    A 12-year-old African-American girl who said she was threatened with expulsion from an Orlando, Fla., private school unless she made changes to the look of her natural hair will not be booted out after all, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. Last week, Vanessa VanDyke said school officials gave her one week to decide whether to…

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  • Selling While Black: Racism Revealed in Online Shopping Study

    Are you black? Considering making some cash by selling unwanted items online this holiday season? You might not want to show any of your skin in the photos of your goods. The Daily Mail reports that according to the results of a newly released yearlong study tracking the sales of iPods on Craigslist, shoppers are…

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  • ‘White Girl’s Perspective’ on ‘Trophy Scarves’: It’s Important

    Photographer Nate Hill says his new “Trophy Scarves” exhibit, featuring images of himself in a tuxedo with near-naked white women draped lifelessly around his shoulders like human accessories, is meant to make a statement. “Well, there are people who see certain races as status symbols, and someone had to comment on that,” Hill, who conveyed…

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  • Using a Male Wingman to Get Dates Won’t Fly

    “I’m new to my city, but I already made a guy friend. We’re just friends; I don’t like him romantically. He has a girlfriend, but I asked him to meet me at an event to be my wingman so I could meet other guys. His girlfriend invites herself along, and he doesn’t tell me until…

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  • Quote of the Day: Howard Thurman on Family

    Read how the quote is referenced 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 editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

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  • When ‘Shopping While Black’ Goes Right

    Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season, lures hoards of Americans to major retailers in the wee hours of the morning for deals on everything from clothing to electronics. A single glance at the composition of the crowds rabidly seeking half-price flat-screen televisions, and one thing is…

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  • Here's What We Know #BecauseofKanye

    Kanye West understands quite well that people think he’s nuts. “What people call a rant, I call a visionary stream of consciousnness,” Kanye West said in an interview with New York Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club on Tuesday. Author and writer Janet Mock agrees with his assessment, and started #BecauseofKanye, a hashtag that pays homage…

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