Opinion
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Pocahontas, Potato Salad and Porch Monkeys
I have a confession. The Root’s staff is going to kill me for revealing this top secret information, but in the spirit of openness and honesty, I feel it needs to be said, so here goes: Not everyone hates us. I know it’s hard to believe. I can’t believe it myself. The truth is, although…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: White Friday
In the wake of the Thanksgiving holiday, we would like to offer a kinder, gentler Clapback Mailbag this week. Instead of clapping back at the people who send emails, tweets and direct messages, we would like to thank our haters, because without them, where would we be? As you sit back munching on your leftover…
-
I Tried It: A Night at the Opera
If I had to guess about my first real introduction to opera, it was back in the Napster days. I was in high school, and like many other kids who knew how to use the internet at that time, I was frequently solicited with musical requests once my parents got wind that there was a…
-
I Tried It: I’m Not Mad at the ‘Come Meet a Black Person’ Event Organizer and You Shouldn’t Be Either
When I told my mother I was going to the “Come Meet a Black Person” event in Lawrenceville, Ga., she readily told me, “Pickeny gal, a mind dem a nah sum ku klux klan sin ting yah nuh.” This is Jamaican patois for “It’s a trap!” My friends also warned me that it was a…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Not All Mailbags
Today’s Clapback Mailbag is dedicated to last week’s mailbag. I know this sounds like some Inception-level shit where we make references to a mailbag inside a mailbag about the mailbag, so I will include some new stuff, too. Last week was a rough week for mail. I feel like you guys weren’t bringing your racist…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Gray Area
I want to dedicate this mailbag to my hangover. I think someone slipped a headache into my drink last night at The Root 100 gala. It’s either a hangover or I have sudden-onset brain cancer. That’s not a thing, is it? Or maybe it was Social Media Editor Corey Townsend screaming the lyrics to Cardi…
-
I Tried It: Notes From a Silent Party
Confession: I was absolutely thinking about pulling out of my first silent party an hour before I was to leave for it. I was running on minimal sleep and nursing a dehydration headache all day; and it was one of those cold, rainy fall days for which God invented cuffing season, malbec and Showtime Anytime.…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: First of All …
Happy Clapback Day! Yes, we’re making it a day of the week. The name “Friday” wasn’t imaginative enough. Plus, it has nothing to do with frying. If they only served fried chicken and french fries, then I’d be cool with the name, but I think the last day before the weekend should be reserved for…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Unanswered Questions
It’s clapback Friday, and you know what that means: Time for me to sit down and write another introduction for the emails, tweets and comments that The Root receives during the week. This week’s clapbacks are dedicated to all the white people who email us with recurring themes, namely: Why are black people so stupid…