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The Real Reason Black America Is Fat
You haven’t heard? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70 percent of black men and 80 percent of black women are either overweight or obese. Nearly 26 percent of our children between the ages of 6 and 17 are obese. Obesity isn’t the sole cause for concern, as we are developing…
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Why Nothing's Like Playing Mas at Caribana
(The Root) — Underneath a sun-drenched blue sky, the noises of the steel pan pierce the air, their jubilant sounds forcing us into hip-swaying and rump-shaking as we trek down Lake Shore Boulevard in a blissful state. Everyone is under the influence of the infectious rhythm that the Caribbean music carries, while others find themselves…
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A Feast for the Senses, Every Year in Seattle
(The Root) — As Seattle emerges from the rains of winter and spring and heads into the somewhat less rainy months of summer, we citizens of Rain City shed the fleeces, roll down the windows and try to remember where we put the sunscreen. It’s festival weather, and one staple of the season is Festival…
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Art From Around the Diaspora in ATL
(The Root) — You can always tell when the National Black Arts Festival is headed to Atlanta. Colorful banners with its logo sway on lampposts dotting Peachtree Street. Black talk-radio stations begin interviews with organizers and participants. Local media start featuring ads. And there’s also the kickoff celebration. “They definitely do a good job [advertising…
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The 'War on Terror' Really Is Over
The Washington Post‘s Eugene Robinson says that a war against identifiable foes can be won — and, for the most part, has been. President Obama wisely avoided the phrase “mission accomplished” in his major speech last week about the “war on terror,” but columnists aren’t obliged to be so circumspect: It is time to declare…
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Quote of the Day: Bayard Rustin
Read the full quote here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute 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.
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Urban School Reform Isn't Truly About Kids
A piece by Leslie T. Fenwick in the Washington Post makes the case that blacks don’t control the critical economic levers shaping school reform. She also explains why that’s a problem. The truth can be used to tell a lie. The truth is that black parents’ frustration with the quality of public schools is at…
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White Writer, Black Characters: Bad Idea?
(The Root) — “I’m a well-known writer of women’s fiction. I want to incorporate black characters into my books. How does a white woman write black women correctly? For example, is it disrespectful to have a black woman have a bit of a thing for white men? What’s the best way to introduce a black…
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Reflections on 'Scandal' and Interracial Romance
Angela Onwuachi-Willig explains at the Huffington Post why the relationship at the center of the drama is personal for her, and a reminder of how far we have to go. My reaction to Scandal is, on one level, personal. As a black woman who has been married to my white husband for 17 years and,…
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Twitter Shows Its Smarts With Hilarious Hashtag
(The Root) — With no new reports of celebrities kicking fans in the face, it was a bit of a slow day on Twitter. So Twitter decided to make its own fun and passed several hours with #HistoricalFacebookNames. The hashtag pokes fun at people’s tendency to include incredibly long, often ridiculous middle names on their…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
