black history month
-
First Look: The Children Are Our Future In HBO's We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
It’s Black History Month and The Root is here to give you the most adorable inspiration ever. Growing up black meant realizing that the most important speech ever uttered was by a man named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Four words, “I Have A Dream,” would be embedded in the minds of every black kid…
-
Google Kicks Off Black History Month With Greensboro, N.C., Sit-In Doodle by Compton Artist Karen Collins
As today officially marks the first day of what is regarded as Black History Month, tech giant Google is commemorating the occasion with a special Google Doodle honoring the 60th anniversary of the Greensboro, N.C., sit-in. That doodle is of Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond, better known…
-
Black to the Future: Target’s Black History Month Line Is in Stores, and We Want All the Things
As someone who finds herself inside of a Target at least once a week on average (what can I say? It’s my happy place), I consider myself pretty familiar with their affordable-yet-fashionable clothing lines—and in addition to a long history as a model for the juggernaut in my pre-Root life, I’ve been known to surprise…
-
Critical Condition: Bethune-Cookman and the Survival of the HBCU, Part 1
“There will come a time of fire and night, when enemies rise and empires fall, when the stars themselves begin to die.” ― Kevin J. Anderson text Winter always comes. Everything dies. Nothing else is certain. At the fall of every glorious thing that was ever built, among the ashes and rubble, you will find…
-
6-Year-Old Wins Black History Month by Recreating Iconic Album Covers for the Culture
As our fallen angel Whitney Houston once sang, “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way…” Well, clearly six-year-old Abby Elle was taught well because she’s definitely leading the way. Undeterred by the foolishness that derailed Black History Month, Abby put on for the culture and closed…
-
We Made It! Black-Owned Beauty Month Was a Blast—So, What Were Our Favorites?
OMG, you guys … we made it! For Black History Month, The Glow Up committed to one full month of using exclusively black-owned, helmed and founded beauty brands, and we’re here to tell you that we’re better for it. Not only did we get the satisfaction of supporting black entrepreneurship (large and small alike), we…
-
Don Lemon Agrees: This Was the Worst Black History Month Ever
On the final night of February 2019, CNN’s Don Lemon openly said what we had all been thinking for the last 28 days—this was the worst Black History Month ever. “Tonight of all nights, the last night of Black History Month—what may be the worst Black History Month ever,” Lemon said. “We’ve got blackface, we’ve…
-
Colorado High School Backtracks After Allowing Students to Opt Out of Black History Month
Administrators at George Washington High School in Denver decided to reverse its policy on optional assembly attendance after parents expressed their disapproval of a letter allowing students to opt of the school’s Black History Month Program. The Denver Post reports: On Tuesday, George Washington parents were sent an emailed newsletter that referenced the school’s “African-American…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB, Day 28: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young
Publisher Synopsis: From the cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com, and one of the most read writers on race and culture at work today, a provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the ever-shifting definitions of what it means to be Black (and male) in America. For Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB | Day 27: Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones by Quincy Jones
Publisher Synopsis (via B&N): Musician, composer, producer, arranger and pioneering entrepreneur Quincy Jones has lived large and worked for five decades alongside the superstars of music and entertainment—including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Ray Charles, Will Smith and dozens of others. Q is his glittering and moving life story, told with the…