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'12 Years a Slave': In Our 'Postracial' Age, the Legacy of Slavery Lives On
The following essay has been reprinted with permission from the Guardian. Slavery has been written off as part of the pre-history of our world. Contemporary capitalism was shaped by its rational brutality but the banks, insurers and speculators who facilitated and expanded slavery have been able to project their activity as unsullied by a cruel…
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A Black Warrior’s Defeat Is Still a Symbolic Victory
This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute, part of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Tucked away within the winding streets of the southern-French town of…
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Having a Black Name Isn’t the Issue
Last week the Kansas City Star published “Burdened by Bigotry, a Girl Born Keisha Changes Her Name.” A 19-year-old woman born to a single white mom (and a seemingly absentee black dad) explained to the publication why she opted to switch from what is widely considered to be a black name to a name—Kylie—that’s, let’s…
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How Cute Is This Photo of President Obama with Black Vets?
It’s Veterans Day, and President Obama is making his presidential rounds, thanking our servicemen and women for all of their sacrafices. I’ve shed two single Veterans Day photo-op tears today, and this photo, tweeted out from the @BarackObama account, made me come close to shedding a third. Warning: Please ignore the trolls who take issue…
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Instagram Deletes Philadelphia ‘Rats’ Account
Instagram killed an anonymous account last Thursday that had been exposing the names of witnesses to violent crime in Philadelphia since February. The account, @RATS215, featured photos of more than 30 witnesses, as well as images of other classified case particulars, like police reports and details of grand jury proceedings. One of the photos was…
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Slavery Isn’t Just Black People’s Burden
I don’t have much of a poker face. This became obvious this spring when I toured Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s mountaintop home in Charlottesville, Va., for the first time. I watched a 60ish white tour guide stumble over a question about Jefferson’s black descendants, then awkwardly change the subject. I cocked my head to the left.…
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Moms and Sons: Leading Boys to Become Men
After a rougher than normal day, my son’s resistance proved to be exactly what I needed. Doubt stalks single mothers raising sons, like shadows on sunny days. It’s a hard feeling to shake when you’ve never been a little boy and you’re really just guessing what it takes to make a man. I’m equipped to…
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Who Were the Harlem Hellfighters?
Editor’s note: For those who are wondering about the retro title of this black-history series, please take a moment to learn about historian Joel A. Rogers, author of the 1934 book 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof, to whom these “amazing facts” are an homage. Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 54:…
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Handing Out Instructions for the Next Heartbreak
Heartbreak refers to the end of a romance, the grief or disappointment over a lost love. There is no how-to manual for heartbreak, no guide to prepare one for the searing emotions of pain and loss. In The Root’s continuing spoken-word series, Speaking Truth, we introduce Kristiana Rae Colón, a poet, playwright, actor, MC and…
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Quote of the Day: Jane Tillman Irving on Books
Read more about Jane Tillman Irving 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.
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
