culture
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Watch: Everything I Need to Know About Life, I Learned From Black ’90s Movies
They just don’t make ’em like they used to. Yeah … I’ve actually said that sentence in reference to movies; specifically, black movies. Everyone knows and boasts about the ’90s being one of the best decades for blackness on the big screen, and it’s true. Think about it. There was Boomerang, CB4, The Five Heartbeats,…
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The 2017 World Wypipo Tournament: Who Is the Worst?
Aside from all the Emmys, Oscars, Tonys, X Games and Darwin Awards, it seems as if no one takes the time to notice and praise the accomplishments of Caucasians. Some people believe that this is what led to the rise of the fearful believers in white genocide who call themselves the alt-right. They feel that…
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Marvin Sapp’s Life Is More Than the Gospel on TV One’s Unsung
Marvin Sapp is more than a preacher who sings or a singer who preaches. Both singing and preaching represent spiritual experiences for him. On Sunday’s episode of TV One’s Unsung, he and family members outline his personal story—a fully lived story with high highs and particularly low lows—which provides insight into his inspiration for his…
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On Venus Williams, Ageism and the Burden of Being a Black Woman of Greatness
The last time Venus Williams was in the Wimbledon final was eight years ago, when she faced, and lost to, her younger sister, Serena. At age 37, the tennis champion is looking to win her sixth Wimbledon singles title and defy every critic who has said she didn’t have it in her anymore. Williams made…
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Jesse Williams, Jay-Z, Umar Johnson and the Allure of White Women
“There’s dishes in the back, he gotta roll up his sleevesBut while y’all washin’—watch himHe gon’ make it to a Benz out of that DatsunHe got that ambition, baby, look in his eyesThis week he moppin’ floors, next week he’s on friesSo stick by his sideI know there’s dudes ballin’, and yeah, that’s niceAnd they…
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Fla. State Attorney Aramis Ayala: Is Viral Video Latest Evidence of Targeted Harassment Against Her?
The viral video of a black female state attorney in Florida getting pulled over by police officers who don’t recognize her and say they couldn’t get any information off of her plates has been making headlines and sparking discussion for days, but is it possible that there is more to the story than meets the…
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Jim Crow Laws Alive and Well in de Blasio’s NYC: Black and Brown People Still Targeted, Arrested at Higher Rates Than Whites, Report Finds [Retracted]
RETRACTED (6/12/18): This story has been removed because we have discovered it was in breach of our editorial standards. If you’d like to know more, you can read an editor’s note here. A cached version of the story is available here for transparency.
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Can Floyd Mayweather Jr. Read?
One of the ongoing jabs against the pound-for-pound undisputed greatest boxer (sorry, Vasyl Lomachenko) Floyd Mayweather Jr. is that while he’s a multimillionaire with several exotic women at his side, he has trouble reading big words aloud. Like “Worcestershire” and “mischievous.” I believe that the Mayweather rumor got started around the time that Mayweather was…
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When Vanity Is Self-Care
The salon was busy when I walked in. There was the chatter of stylists gossiping with clients, the whirl of hair dryers and the receptionist laughing into her cellphone. She paused the conversation to ask if she could help me. Before I could respond, the stylist I’d come to see noticed me and waved me…
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Watch: Angela Rye Says Black People Shift the Culture
Here at The Root, we have a new video series we want to share with you all, and it’s called Black and Proud. In it, we get the chance to chat with a lot of our favorite black celebrities, tastemakers and thought leaders, so we decided to ask them about their pride in being black.…