It’s Lit
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'The Truth Often Gives Fiction a Run for Its Money': The Root Presents: It’s Lit Talks Justice and Romance Novels With Stacey Abrams
Spring is in full swing and a mask-free life is on the horizon—are you feeling that new energy yet? Here at The Root Presents: It’s Lit!, we’re feeling kinda new ourselves, with a new logo that reflects this writer’s new solo status as host of The Root’s literary podcast (we’ll miss you, Danielle!). If you…
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PageTurners: You Know What They Say About History…
… It has a way of repeating itself, or that’s how the saying goes. Within that repetition comes new ways in which historians and the general public alike find themselves trying to change the course of history while attempting to record for posterity the profound impact events have had on the country. One of the…
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Stacey Abrams’ New Novel While Justice Sleeps to Be Adapted for Television
A brand new book from Stacey Thee Abrams will be headed to a small screen near us soon, The Root has learned. While Justice Sleeps, Abrams’ ninth novel and the first published using her real name instead of the pen name Selena Montgomery, was just released on Tuesday. But the novel is already set to…
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'There Is a Space Where Activism and Art Collide': The Root Presents: It's Lit! Talks Narrating a Black Experience With Jasmine Mans
Jasmine Mans may be best known for her viral poem, Footnotes for Kanye, but her latest volume of poetry, Black Girl, Call Home, is more than pop cultural phenomenon; “It is a conjuring. It is a request. It is a calling. It’s a poem,” Mans tells us on this week’s episode of The Root Presents:…
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PageTurners: May I Interest You in Some New Releases?
The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same. Walter Dean Myers first published Monster in 1999; over twenty years later, the profound themes centered around the criminality of Black boyhood and coping with trauma continue to plague young Black men across the country. The story follows Steve Harmon, a 16-year-old boy…
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'Shame Stifles You': The Root Presents: It's Lit! Rejects Shame With Tarana Burke and Tanya Fields
Shame is a universal condition—no one is immune. In fact, it might be argued that shame is also one of the strongest drivers of human behavior, often causing our worlds to revolve around it. We have it inflicted upon us—especially those of us in already marginalized groups—and in turn, inflict it upon others. We live…
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Wanna Bumble With the Bee, Huh? Well, Here's Your Chance—Lil' Kim's Memoir Is Coming in November
Bzzzzz—you hear that? That’s the sound of Lil’ Kim reclaiming her time! That’s right folks, the Queen Bee is about to give you some “real shit, shit to make you feel shit” in her own words. According to People, the 46-year-old rapper has announced an upcoming memoir, written along with Kathy Iandoli, aptly titled The…
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'You Can’t Be Pro-Black and Anti-LGBTQIA+': The Root Presents It's Lit! Talks The Prophets With Robert Jones Jr.
In a country where Black lives are consistently under threat, it is in some ways understandable that many of us are weary of revisiting America’s original sin, chattel slavery. The legacy of that painful history remains so evident in our daily lives that ruminating on its brutal beginnings is often too much bear—but for writer…
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The Root Presents: It's Lit! Learns How to Get Good With Money With Tiffany Aliche
How’s your money these days? It’s a loaded question ask, but given the impact of the ongoing global pandemic upon our physical, mental, and financial health, it’s a necessary one. Too many of us are stuck, running at a deficit, or at a loss on how to achieve financial stability—especially when the world feels anything…
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PageTurners: How Trauma and Love Converge at a Literary Point
How does trauma affect the way we live our day-to-day lives? Is inherited or intergenerational trauma more significant than a trauma—or traumas—experienced firsthand? There are perspectives and arguments to consider for each side: Dealing with inherited trauma is multilayered, convening in a complex web of emotions. Being exposed to or experiencing an immense trauma can…