How I Finally Learned to (Sort of) Stop Hitting Myself
As I often tell people, what got me to finally get my life together (of sorts) was not me. I wish I was enough, but…
Antisocial
The society column for people afraid of society, written by The Root's Editor-in-Chief and resident Bipolar Disorder expert/sufferer.
The Ms. Foundation for Women Goes for a Welcome Laugh in Aggressively Unfunny Times
A long time ago (2016), in a land similar to our own but very different (pre-Trump America), comedy was about the…
From Get-Out-the-Vote to Respectability Politics, Aretha Franklin's Homegoing Was a Dramatic, Political Affair
DETROIT—A stage is a stage, even when it’s a church and the performance is a marathon of a funeral. Clocking in at more…
A List of Every Stress-Related Illness I’ve Ever Had, Ranked From Horrible to ‘I Think I’m Dying’
When you don’t listen to your body, your body has a way of forcing you to listen. Or at least that’s what my body does,…
Marvel’s Luke Cage Premiere Party Was Cool and I Was Cool, Too, for Once
Before I headed to Los Angeles for the BET Awards this weekend, I decided to test my old-person “stay awake” abilities…
Our Hotel Is for the Birds (Literally). Cuh-CAAAAW!
There are literal birds chirping, tweeting and running around our hotel for the BET Awards—the vast Westin Bonaventure…
The Root Is in Los Angeles for the BET Awards and Has No Idea What to Wear
What to wear? What to wear?
Artist Nick Cave Teaches Me How to ‘Let Go’ at The Let Go
I needed this. That’s what I told myself as I walked into the Park Avenue Armory on Wednesday, June 6, to see the…
I Lost 10 Pounds and It All Went to My Head at Harlem Stage’s #Disrupters Gala
It really doesn’t take much with me.
Kendrick Lamar Gets His Pulitzer, but It’s Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy Who Is a Prize
There are no acceptance speeches at the Pulitzers. You get your prize. You pose for your photo and you politely exit…
Queen Sugar and Ava DuVernay Had the Sweetest Garden Party in NYC
First things first: When it comes to Queen Sugar and director Ava DuVernay, I’m a total fan. I am biased. I am…
Once Upon Once on This Island With Tamyra Gray
There are probably a few ways to read the wondrous musical Once on This Island, which originally debuted in 1990 and…
How Physics Works and Other Things I Learned at All Star Code’s 5th-Anniversary Celebration
So I’m at All Star Code’s fifth-anniversary event at the High Line Hotel in New York City on Wednesday, and one of the…
Never Bring Cicely Tyson Water in a Bottle, and Other Lessons From AT&T’s Humanity of Connection Event
If I am lucky enough to make it to 93, I want to be a fly 93 just like Harlem’s own, the legend, actress Cicely Tyson.
Once on This Island’s Opening Night Gives Me Jitters While I Consider Reginald F. Lewis’ Billion-Dollar Deal
OK, first off, in this revival of the 1991 Tony Award-nominated musical Once on This Island, I had no clue that it was M…
SportsBalls and Benefit Galas: I Went to All These Things and Managed Not to Almost Kill Myself (Yet)
There are literally too many things to go to in the fall. During that season in New York City, every charity group,…
Tidal X Was an Epic 6-Hour Musical Marathon I Wasn’t Fit Enough to Run
I’m out of shape. It’s a reality. I just recently started working back out again because stairs were looking like…
Too Sick to Socialize, but I Went to the NY Urban League’s Black & White Champagne Brunch and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Conference in DC Anyway
Three weeks. That is how long I’ve been sick with an unknown virus (the thing doctors tell you when they don’t know…