It’s Lit
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'She's a Kiki and a Good Time': The Root Presents: It's Lit! Studies the Book of Bevelations With Bevy Smith
When’s the last time you had a good kiki? With our social lives deeply lacking during quarantine, many of us have turned our focus inward—which proved the perfect time to indulge in some Bevelations with radio host, veteran strategist, media personality, and guaranteed good time, Bevy Smith. As Smith, a close friend of The Root’s…
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PageTurners: Fighting With Fact and Fiction
It seems as though authors this week are gearing us up for some sort of fight. Whether it be of the fictional kind or a nonfiction account of something or someone who inspires us to be or do better, these authors are coming in hot, armed with books that will leave you saying, “Fuck yeah,…
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Voices of Harlem: Jermaine Dupri Joins Rémy Martin and the Harlem Writers Guild on a Poetry-Inspired Collaboration
The relationship between poetry and music is intrinsic. While all music isn’t lyrical and poetry isn’t musical, it’s difficult to imagine one without the other—and impossible to imagine Harlem without either. The New York City neighborhood that was home to an iconic “Renaissance” still reverberates throughout our culture today as a mecca for Black ingenuity,…
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'I’m Just Like a Kid in It Myself': The Root Presents: It's Lit! Explores a Fresh New Chapter With Karyn Parsons
Now, this is a story all about how one life got flipped, turned upside down…life after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, that is. For many of us, Karyn Parsons is best known as the fresh princess of the beloved hit show, playing Will Smith’s uber-fashionable yet often air-headed cousin, Hilary Banks. In life, she is anything…
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PageTurners: Finding Historical Perspective In Literary Work
Here’s my take: books that are about history—fiction or nonfiction—guide us in the decisions we make about setting and breaking boundaries. Reading fictional works that feature an inspiring hero or heroine doing something extreme or overcoming a major obstacle can be very influential when it comes to making difficult decisions of our own. Reading a…
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Bedtime Stories, Stringer Bell-Style: Idris Elba Announces Multi-Book Deal With HarperCollins Children's Books
He may be a former “Sexiest Man Alive,” but never forget that Idris Elba is for the children. HarperCollins certainly hasn’t missed the memo, announcing on Monday that the Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning actor, musician, filmmaker, activist, and father of two has signed a global multi-book deal with the publisher to produce “a range…
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'I Care About Making an Impact': The Root Presents It's Lit! Retraces the Footsteps of Ida B. Wells With Michelle Duster
What does it feel like to be heir to a renowned legacy? For Michelle Duster, great-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells, it has meant commemorating the life of the revered activist, educator and journalist in the towns she once called home—including her adopted home of Chicago—as well as preserving the writings of Wells, which she’s previously…
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Very Smart Books: VSB's Damon Young Is a Thurber Prize Finalist, Brittney Cooper Scores 7-Book Scholastic Deal and Deesha Philyaw Wins the Story Prize
Y’all already know that here at The Root, we like big books and we cannot lie. Accordingly, we love big book news from our extended family of writers and thought leaders—and the past few weeks have brought a few announcement that are, in a word, lit. First, The Root’s own Very Smart Brotha Damon Young…
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PageTurners: Dear Black Women, You Are Magic
Here’s the thing about new books: They are the catalysts that inspire readers to try, do, and feel new things. “Black Girl Magic” is not just something that exists as a campaign or chant at rallies, but something to hold onto within ourselves and use to catapult over whatever obstacles come our way. The books…
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PageTurners: We're Talking Literary Icons on International Women's Day
In celebrating women’s history this month, we should be putting special emphasis on the women who pioneered the literary world, both nationally and internationally. There is no greater way to understand history than exploring stories detailing the experiences of women around the world. March 8 is International Women’s Day—though, in my opinion, women should be…