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In Africa, a Renewed Sense of Potential
(Special to The Root) — When the African Union (known then as the Organization of African Unity) was founded, the leaders of that era understood that the success of their individual countries hinged on the success of the entire continent. Now, as the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary, we understand more than ever the key…
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The Best of DumbestTweets.com
(The Root) — Twitter is a haven for many amazing things — innovative ideas, breaking news, new music — and really, really stupid tweets. Lovette “Luvvie” Ajayi of AwesomelyLuvvie.com runs DumbestTweets.com, a Tumblr full of some of the funniest and plain ole most stupid tweets ever tweeted. They contain goofs that range from really insane…
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How the Boy Scouts Are Still Discriminatory
Many have compared the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender struggle for equality to the African-American fight for civil rights, and after the Boy Scouts’ recent decision to admit gay Scouts but ban gay leaders, John Aravosis cites similarities on the America Blog. Whatever. I’m glad the Boy Scouts took a step towards non-discrimination, but telling…
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A Plan for Finding and Keeping Self-Love
Sometimes self-love is tough, especially when you think you might not be the right size or have the right amount of zeros in your bank account. But Jamilah Lemieux writes at Clutch magazine that happiness and security are about loving yourself, all by yourself. You have the sister who shops herself broke trying to keep…
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Quote of the Day: Alice Walker
Read more of The Root’s coverage of Alice Walker 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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Facebook as a Means of Prosecuting Rape
(The Root) — Heads are still reeling after it was discovered that three teenage boys raped a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint and put footage of the attack on Facebook. That this happened to begin with speaks volumes about the things people think they can get away with on and offline — and that this case…
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It's Not Your Grandmother's NAACP
(The Root) — In 2005 the NAACP took a look at its membership and, more important, the people who were not members. There was the robust Youth & College Division, but then, as National Board Chairman Roslyn Brock puts it, “After you’re 25, we lose you — you’re graduating from college, starting your family, starting…
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Will There Ever Be Unity in Africa?
(The Root) — This year, African heads of state are celebrating 50 years of Pan-Africanism through the African Union and its progenitor, the Organization of African Unity. Heads of state are meeting on Saturday at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to celebrate the 54-nation organization, founded on Marcus Garvey’s Pan-Africanist philosophy of collective self-reliance…
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Time for a Moratorium on School Suspensions?
(The Root) — A sociologist presenting at a strategy session at the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit in Naples, Fla., on Friday proposed a radical change to school discipline policies that she said would improve educational outcomes, in particular for black and Latino children, who are subjected to disproportionately harsh punishments. “We need to look at…
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A Black Hero of the Trojan War
(The Root) — 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 Institute for African and African American Research. A black archer, carrying a short bow and wearing a quiver of arrows on…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
