black excellence
-
ABFF Honors 2020: The House That Black Hollywood Built
The “category” was excellence, and Black Hollywood showed up and showed out. On Sunday night, the Beverly Hilton was bustling with black actors—I like to call them blacktors—producers and press gathered for the ABFF Honors, a space that Black Hollywood built to recognize our excellence in film and television. (After all, if we don’t, who…
-
Alive at 89: For Her First Posthumous Birthday, Toni Morrison Is Getting an Epic Party at the Brooklyn Museum
No one can say we didn’t give Toni Morrison her flowers while she was with us; prior to her death on August 5, 2019, the Beloved author had amassed a Nobel Prize in Literature, a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and countless other accolades. And today, Feb. 18, on what would’ve been…
-
The Truth From Ruth: As Her Collaboration With H&M Drops in Stores, Ruth E. Carter Drops Some Knowledge on Us
“I’ve never wanted to be a fashion designer, because I felt like I was a storyteller,” says famed costume designer Ruth E. Carter, who, in 2019, thrillingly added an Oscar to her many accolades for her work in 2018’s Black Panther. For many longtime film lovers (including this writer), Carter’s triumph was long overdue; since…
-
And the Skippy Goes To!: The Root's Inaugural The Blackest Awards Winners
What’s up, Black America! Now that the Oscars have come and gone and awards were given to winners and what not and henceforth, it’s time to redirect that energy back into what matters most: celebrating Blackness in all of its Black Excellence Achievement. And that is exactly what we’re doing here with the Skippies. You…
-
Rep. John Lewis to Receive Prestigious Honor at 51st NAACP Image Awards
Congressman John Lewis—not to be mistaken for the late Elijah Cummings—will be honored for his decades of civil rights activism and congressional service at the 51st NAACP Image Awards later this month. According to the NAACP, the 79-year-old icon will receive the prestigious Chairman’s Award in honor of his “lifelong dedication of protecting human rights,…
-
An Immigrant’s Story: Acclaimed Author Edwidge Danticat Wins $100,000 Prize for Her ‘Genre-Spanning Work’
Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat (Breath, Eyes, Memory; The Farming of Bones; Brother, I’m Dying, etc.) has long been considered one of the most gifted voices in the diaspora, garnering a National Book Critics Circle Award, an American Book Award, and a MacArthur Genius grant, among her many honors. This week, the writer and activist can…
-
The Root Presents the Inaugural Blackest Awards in Honor of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., aka 'The Skippies'
It’s awards season and that means your blood pressure and sugar levels are likely to go up and down if you spend any time paying attention to who is winning the various awards at the various awards shows. The “biggest nights” in music and movies, though, often do a fairly terrible job of acknowledging the…
-
Lamar Jackson Kicks Off Black History Month by Making It, Named 2nd Ever Unanimous NFL MVP
On Saturday, in what came as a surprise to absolutely no one, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. After a historic season in which he accounted for 43 touchdowns, an NFL rushing record of 1,206 yards on the ground from a quarterback, and crossed up more defenders than Allen…
-
Ludacris Donates $75,000 Worth of Musical Instruments to a Miami High School
I have to say, between coronavirus, the death of Kobe and it looking more and more like the Senate is going to imbue the presidency with the kinds of powers it shouldn’t have, this has been a historically crappy week when it comes to news. Luckily, Ludacris came through to give us a bit of…
-
Because Too Much Rihanna Is Never Enough, There's Now a 'Rihannazine'
She slays, she plays and she stays atop headlines; and while Rihanna’s “Navy” continues to await her ninth album, the bad girl continues to deliver other unexpected pleasures. Her latest? A co-collaboration with i-D Magazine titled “Rihannazine” (of course). The 144-page, limited-edition, advertisement-free, “visually-driven” issue was shot entirely by legendary photographer Mario Sorrenti. And in…