culture
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‘Stupid or Liar’: What Justine Damond’s Death Proves About All Lives Matter
We’ve played this game before. It derived from a bit by podcaster Adam Carolla, who takes inane statements from politicians, celebrities and people in the news and asks: Are they stupid or are they lying? Today’s episode of “Stupid or Liar” focuses on the death of Justine Ruszczyk (Her name was not Damond. It was…
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We Hate What You Love: GMG Staffers Reveal Their ‘Unpopular Opinions’ on Your Fave TV Shows
This is Unpopular Opinions, a weekly romp through our staff’s personal Slack conversations that boldly reveal scandalous opinions that many would deem unpopular. So, basically, it’s a conversation that proclaims: We schaid what we schaid. It all started in a Slack conversation. Someone (who wishes to remain nameless) from our Jezebel family admitted: “I have…
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Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood Is Back. Keyshia Cole Seems Happier, Hazel-E Acts Thirsty and Teairra Mari Looks Tipsy
What I love most about Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood is what I hated most about living in Los Angeles: the people. I’m not talking about L.A. natives, who are, more often than not, fine-fine-fine-fine-fine-fine, whew. I’m referring to the transients—specifically, those people who move to L.A. with dreams of being the next big rapper…
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The Black Person’s Guide to Marijuana
On Monday a group of plaintiffs that includes former New York Jets tight end Marvin Washington filed suit against Attorney General Jeff Sessions about marijuana. No, Sessions didn’t smoke anyone’s stash (although he might need to take a couple of hits after Donald Trump fires him in the next few minutes). The suit challenges the…
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Sunday’s Game of Thrones Episode Was All About Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Staying Woke
Even though we’ve discussed how Game of Thrones teaches us everything we need to know about white America, breaking down the political and social metaphors embedded within each episode requires a keen eye and the ability to understand the language of literary analogy. The messages hidden beneath the layers of turmoil and conflict sometimes need…
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Unsung: Before There Was DeBarge, There Was Switch
The story of Switch, the group that paved the way for the group DeBarge with sibling harmonizers Bobby and Tommy DeBarge, is a story as much about the journey for self-love as it is about their ability to seduce audiences with falsettos, rich love songs and lush harmonies. On Sunday, TV One’s Unsung tells the…
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For Colored Girls Who Don’t Know They’re Struggling
“It looks like melanoma,” my dermatologist said casually as she biopsied a mysterious scar that had developed under my left temple. I was unmoved. I cried when my hairdresser found a bald spot the size of a silver dollar in the middle of my scalp while roller-setting my tightly coiled curls a month before. I…
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They Let O.J. Out. I’m $20 Richer but Ambivalent
Moo-la la. Orenthal James Simpson got off. Again. The juice is LOOSE! And I’m $20 richer for it. (Two people on The Root staff took the bet.) I had a feeling about this one. Would Lady Justice show her hypocritical ass or keep it classy? In Nevada it can go either way. This is the…
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R. Kelly, Usher, Kevin Hart: I Suspected. But What Was I Supposed to Do?
In the late ’90s, I was working at an urban entertainment magazine. R. Kelly’s career was scorching hot, as it had been since day one, even though by this point the Aaliyah debacle was still on everyone’s mind. Did he really marry her when she was 15? Did R. Kelly have her parents’ permission? The…
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Don’t You Know That You’re Toxic?
Editor’s Note: Trigger warning, this post talks about the subject of suicide, and was written before the death of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington. It can be time-consuming, this constant calibration of moods. I can’t predict when it will hit me, when my lungs will close and the room will begin to spin. When I feel…