culture
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This Is What It’s Like Being Named Isis in 2017
Hey, I’m Isis—and before we go any further, I love my name. I am still trying to figure out how my name can be found offensive to people, but enghhh we are in the age of Donald Trump—anything is possible. Growing up on the West Coast, I never had issues with my name. It made…
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Dirty, Pretty Things
Often, after an intense therapy appointment, instead of sitting in my car, folded across the steering wheel before I have the strength to face the rest of the day, I make a detour to the T.J. Maxx on the way home. I don’t always buy anything; I just wander the racks and flip through organized…
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How Ferguson, Mo., Changed America … and Me
On Aug. 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo., a police officer named Darren Wilson fired at least six bullets into the head and body of an unarmed, 18-year-old named Michael Brown Jr. Four hours later, they finally removed Michael Brown’s body from the sweltering heat and took his corpse to the St. Louis County morgue. By…
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Everything White People Think About Affirmative Action Is Wrong
After uniting with Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Betsy DeVos to form the Trump administration’s version of the Caucasian Avengers, Jeff Sessions has directed his efforts toward uplifting a class of people who have long been ignored by the American educational system: white people. According to documents obtained by the New York Times, the attorney…
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10 Things to Help Black Students Prepare for Life at a PWI
I regret not attending an HBCU. If I could do things over, I would have accepted those offers from either Howard or Hampton University and had a college experience devoid of the constant assaults on my humanity by way of microagressions and covert racism. Attending a PWI (predominantly white institution), I was ever aware of…
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Issa Didn’t Cheat on Lawrence in Real Life, and Angela Valdes Didn’t Snitch on Ghost. So Stop Sending the Actors Hate Mail
I hate Tariq St. Patrick and want him to die already. After four seasons of watching him behave like an ungrateful, bitchy, ho-ass child (minors can get cursed at after they hit puberty), any Power scene featuring him now physically angers me. Not even Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Valdes has had that impact on me,…
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I Want Better for Halle Berry
Earlier this summer, Halle Berry downplayed her greatest achievement as an actor. Speaking at a panel at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June, Berry addressed the 2016 Oscar nominations, which were widely criticized for their lack of diversity, and while doing so, she shooed away the significance of her 2002 Oscar win…
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I, a Fat, Beautiful Black Woman, Get Lots of Sex. Why Does That Bother You?
Hi, guys. It’s me, the resident fat, beautiful black woman and writer from The Root coming to you with an important message about fat-shaming, sex and the supposed undesirability many of you impose on fat women because of your own insecurities. In a word: Stop that shit. I was browsing Twitter on Monday and caught…
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I Have Been Issa. I Have Been Tasha. I Have Had My Fair Share of Lawrences
Insecure regularly reminds me of the lessons I am thankful to have learned in my late 20s and early 30s about relationships, sexuality and owning my womanhood. As the second season gets off to a hard and fast start, I am reminded that I have been Issa, I have been Tasha and I have fucked…