Events
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Ta-Nehisi Coates Wanted to Be ‘the Baddest Motherfucking Writer on the Planet’
It is a rare piece of long-form journalism that breaks the internet. But that’s exactly what happened when Ta-Nehisi Coates’ keen, decisive reportage, “The Case for Reparations,” dropped in June 2014, compelling the editors at The Root to give him that year’s No. 1 spot. Part of his The Root 100 bio read: Two years…
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Ben Jealous, a Supreme Builder of Bridges Over Left and Right
Benjamin Todd Jealous first made a national name for himself in 2008 when, at age 35, he became the youngest leader of one of America’s oldest and most esteemed civil rights bodies, the NAACP. Before Jealous began his five-year tenure of the then-99-year-old organization, it was clear that the NAACP had calcified into a shell…
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Melissa Harris-Perry Lets the World Know She Is Not Your Mammy
The indomitable Melissa Harris-Perry, once the voice of the weekends through her two-hour show on MSNBC—at once ritual before brunch or church or work and a much-needed respite from the unceasing whiteness of political punditry—gave us #Nerdland, that delicious slice of TV that wasn’t white-centered, wasn’t male-centered and was here for all the blerds who…
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The Root’s Young Futurists of 2017 Will Put Your Life to Shame
They are young, gifted and black. They are part of a generation that is poised to change the future. We know this because they are already changing the present. Meet The Root’s Young Futurists of 2017! For the past six years, we have honored 25 of the best and the brightest young people, ages 15 to…
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Nicodemus Madehdou
Nicodemus Madehdou isn’t just a lover of video games. He’s obsessed with creating them, too. He co-founded Jumpbutton Studio in 2009—when he was still in middle school, no less—and brought on developers and designers from all over the world to create video games. Currently, his team is hoping to launch a mobile app called ME.mory,…
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Destiny Watford
Destiny Watford is the accidental environmental activist America needs right now. Her quest for clean air all started when she was a senior in high school after she saw a play about a small community whose lives were at risk because of a polluted hot spring. The play’s setting mirrored Curtis Bay, an industrial neighborhood…
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Olivia Russo-Hood
Even after tragedy struck Olivia Russo-Hood’s family, she started looking for ways to help others. After a massive flood in Austell, Ga., destroyed her family’s home, Olivia noticed how many people came to her family’s rescue. So she knew it was time to pay it forward. “If I hadn’t received help, I would still feel…
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Khareem Oliver
Pet owners often think of their dogs and cats as their kids. So when Scruffy or Fluffy is lost, it can wreak havoc on owners’ lives. Khareem Oliver has seen this firsthand. For the past 10 years, he’s volunteered at animal-rescue organizations and noticed that many animals did not have identification that could be used…
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Lauren Seroyer
Lauren Seroyer was eating a quick breakfast at school when she was inspired to start her nonprofit organization. A classmate approached her for some of her meal because he didn’t have enough to eat at home. “I knew I had to do something to keep him—and other students like him—from ever having to tell that…
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Shemar Coombs
Shemar Coombs wants to add a few minutes to your day. After getting tired of untangling his headphones, he decided to figure out how to solve the problem. Enter Rap-It-Up, Shemar’s solution to making sure you never have to wrestle with another knot in your earbuds. Rap-It-Up is a 3D-printed phone case that keeps your…