Taraji P. Henson Finally Addresses Those Rumors of Drama With Oprah During ‘The Color Purple’
Spoilers! Now That Sinners is Streaming, Here’s Symbolism You Probably Missed
Marvel’s New Black Panther Is …White, Explained
The Best ‘106 & Park’ Performances, Moments Over the Years
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New Jack City Reboot, Sit Your Five-Dollar Ass Down Before We Make Change
We have another reboot, y’all. This time, we’re gentrifying New Jack City. According to Deadline, Warner Bros. will be rebooting the 1991 “neo-noir gangster film” with Malcolm M. Mays (Snowfall) penning the script. Sigh. As that old man in New Jack City yelled, I yell to Hollywood reboot-happy executives, “Idolater! Your soul is required in…
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Terrence Howard Believes One Times One Equals Two and Is Counting on Us to Take Him Seriously
Beyoncé said she may not know much about algebra, but she knows that one plus one equals two! Terrence Howard, on the other hand, basically said, “fuck algebra.” If there is one bit of knowledge I soaked up from the uselessly aggravating period of time I spent in Algebra class, it’s the Pythagorean Theorem. The…
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The North Pole Returns to Tackle Gentrification, Immigration Reform in North Oakland
Most people know the North Pole as the northernmost point on earth. It lies diametrically opposite the South Pole and is home to extreme temperatures, a nasty bout of global warming, and allegedly Santa’s workshop. To people in Oakland, Calif., it means something different. “The nickname for the neighborhood in North Oakland is the North…
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Emmys 2019: The Television Academy Was Wise to Give Jharrel Jerome His Things
The biggest night in television has come and gone, folks! Let’s get into this blackity blackness…where we can find it, that is. Jay Connor and I were representing The Root in the press room as we watched…well, whiteness at work. Except for a few notable splashes of seasoning! Let’s cut to the chase— Because the…
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Props to the Old School: LL Cool J and DMX Reportedly Sign New Deals With Def Jam Records
Are they having some kind of old-timers’ reunion at Def Jam Records? LL Cool J and DMX—two of hip-hop’s biggest superstars—are reportedly returning the storied rap label, which is in the midst of celebrating its 35th anniversary. According to AllHipHop.com, two-time Grammy Award and NAACP Award winner LL Cool J has re-signed to the iconic…
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Five-Time Grammy Award Winner Terence Blanchard Tapped as First Black Composer at Metropolitan Opera in 136 Years
It’s 2019 and black folks are still making history with “first feats”—in entertainment, of all places. We’ve come a long way…but we still got a long way to go. It’s great news that Terence Blanchard has been tapped to compose the operatic adaptation of New York Times opinion columnist Charles Blow’s gripping memoir Fire Shut…
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The #MAGAChallenge Proves Yet Again That All Skinfolk Ain’t Kinfolk
Social media is not my ministry. My Facebook page sued me for years of gross negligence; I tweet about as often as I wake up a pregnant white woman, and my Instagram page exists only to gawk at the lines at Houston’s Turkey Leg Hut. I mean, look at that shit. And that’s three hours…
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I Am Still a Part of the Rhythm Nation 30 Years Later and That's Alright With Me
I recently saw a Billboard article that ranked every song on Janet Jackson’s fourth studio album, 1989’s Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 (we’ll just call it Rhythm Nation from here on out)—though I’m sure most folks think it’s her second album after her landmark album, 1986’s Control—and thought to myself that I could never do…
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Taylor Swift Claims She Had No Idea She Was a White Supremacist Icon Because She ‘Didn’t Have the Internet’ on Her Phone
As some of the largest and most respected news outlets in America (unless you count Fox News, which is huge in Whitekanda) reported that alt-right and Neo-Nazi groups were celebrating Taylor Swift as the idealized Aryan Goddess, the unseasoned singer of hits I could probably Google if my computer browser didn’t have a “bullshit blocker”…
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Urbanworld 2019: How Kasi Lemmons, Vondie Curtis-Hall and Henry Hunter Hall Continue a Creative Legacy in Harriet
Before she departed this earth, Harriet Tubman’s last words were, “I go to prepare a place for you.” When I hear such a powerful phrase, I can’t help but think of the concept of legacy. When you leave this earth, what will you leave behind that defines you? Will it carry on through your children?…