Why Black Folks Who Did Not Know Juneteenth Was A Thing Until Biden Said So …Need Their Black Card Revoked
Unassuming “Mama Duke”Shocked The World On The America’s Got Talent Stage
Remember Christian Keyes? Former Tyler Perry Accuser’s Video Resurfaces Following New Sexual Assault Lawsuit
The Black Movies of 2025 Everyone Should Add to Their Must-Watch List
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Human Observer
In the foreword for his new collection of columns, Leonard Pitts, Jr. writes that he finds it difficult to describe what his twice-weekly column for the “Miami Herald” is about. The best he can offer is a line that he once saw in promotional material that said his column is about “the politics of the…
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Michael Jackson's Birthday Bash
Saaret Yoseph is a writer and Assistant Editor at TheRoot.com. She manages and blogs for \”Their Eyes Were Watching …\” A big Brooklyn salute to the King of Pop. Director Spike Lee throws a block party in Brooklyn, N.Y., in honor of what would have been Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday. A little rain was not…
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Obama Eulogizes Ted Kennedy
President Barack Obama led the nation Saturday in mourning and remembering “the greatest legislator of our time,” celebrating the indelible impact of Edward M. Kennedy as a senator for nearly a half-century and leader of America’s most famous family during tragedy and triumph. Delivering an emotional, simple eulogy for Kennedy that capped a two-hour Roman…
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Dressing For Sober Occasions
We’ve watched two high-profile ceremonies this summer—Michael Jackson’s in Los Angeles and Ted Kennedy’s in Boston, and beyond the sadness of the occasion the thing that struck me about both was how dignified the families looked in their sorrow. Sober, elegant clothes that hit exactly the right note. The Jacksons were, if rumor is correct,…
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The Simple Truth about HIV Prevention
There is much about the HIV/AIDS epidemic that’s terribly complicated. The wily bug itself has defied science’s best efforts to kill it for three decades. That said, there are also simple truths we’re all too ready to ignore, particularly when it comes to prevention. I’m referring to neither the abstinence-until-marriage fantasy nor the just-wear-a-condom mantra;…
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BOOK EXCERPT: Dancing in the Dark
“How It Feels to Be Colored Me”: Zora Unbound If that was Wright’s message, the book missed its mark. As a wake-up call describing how blacks lived in the North and how they really felt about whites, Native Son had tremendous impact, which continues to reverberate today. Bigger’s graphic murders—and the bottled-up violence that pushes…
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Ain't I a Young Woman?
The controversy swirling around Caster Semenya’s gender identity has been beyond offensive. Not just — as Kai Wright and Helena Andrews so eloquently put it — because of the Western standards of beauty implied with each accusation or the inhumanity of the accusations, themselves. The real shame of Ms. Semenya’s ordeal is the fact that…
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Fine Wine in a Plastic Cup
ABOUT FELICIA PRIDE A friend of mine once described my cultural tastes as fine wine in a red plastic cup. Some would gawk at such a comparison. But I thought the description was quite fitting. For instance: The two songs I’m dying to do at karaoke are Rufus/Chaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing” and Biggie’s “Warning.” I…
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No More “Reading Rainbow”? Say It Ain’t So!
Okay, I’ll admit that I haven’t seen “Reading Rainbow” in probably twenty years since I was a bright-eyed kid sitting in front of the television following LeVar Burton bring the world of books to life. I did find it a tad corny, but tuned in regularly because I liked books. And subconsciously, I’m sure, because…
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Who You Callin' a Bitch?
ABOUT HELENA ANDREWS I first got excited about journalism in high school, when the Patriot Press of Pilgrim Day School named me “student of the year.” Almost eight years later I scored a $5.15/hour internship at O, the Oprah Magazine and developed a fondness for ramen noodles. Since then my work has appeared in the…