culture

By Vanessa Williams It wasn’t a question of whether his ancestors had been slaves. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a son of the Old South and one of the country’s leading civil rights pioneers, knew that to be true. But what he learned about one of his enslaved ancestors, guided by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates…

Dear John, I’m sitting at my computer, with tears falling from my eyes, writing this letter to you. These are tears of pain in losing you because you were like a big brother to me. They are also tears of joy, celebrating and remembering the nearly 37 years I’ve known you since we met at…

A Florida man has been charged with threatening former Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee, according to the Associated Press. Lee, who temporarily stepped down amid outrage over the shooting death of 17-year-old unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, received emails this past Friday saying that he and his family should be killed. Police say that they have…

As George Zimmerman continues to walk free in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, the New Black Panther Party has decided to take matters into its own hands, according to the Daily News. The party is offering a $10,000 bounty for the “capture” of the Florida neighborhood-watch captain who shot the unarmed 17-year-old. Leader Mikhail…

President Obama’s comments on the Trayvon Martin death have not gone over well with conservatives, according to the Daily News. Numerous Republican pundits and politicians have blasted the president, with some going so far as to call him a “race-baiter.” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called the president’s comments “disgraceful.” “It’s not a question of…

With AT&T and Verizon getting rid of their unlimited data plans for new contracts and Sprint not far behind, it’ll be up to you to make sure you don’t go over your smartphone’s data usage and get hit with expensive fees.  This week I’ve got free apps for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry that will monitor…

Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to reflect the change in venue from the Apollo Theater to Riverside Church, located at 490 Riverside Drive in Harlem. On March 27 TED, a global collection of conferences, and its program TEDx, which lets organizations and groups independently organize their own TED events, is headed to Riverside…

R&B crooner Robin Thicke knows how to grab headlines. The artist’s candor about his very active sex life with his wife, actress Paula Patton, spiced up the Web in December 2011, when he opened up to Essence.com. And in February the 35-year-old soul singer jumped back into the spotlight after getting caught lighting up a…

Checking in on a rally at Howard University, The Root DC blogger Lauren McEwen says that “I am Trayvon Martin” is not an empty catchphrase for black students across America. Many realize that no matter how much they accomplish, they still fit shooter George Zimmerman’s definition of the word “suspicious.” A “modern-day lynching” is what…