culture
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Unique Views, Episode 45: High on Covfefe
Nothing else matters this week except covfefe. Thank you, President Donald Trump, for being good for something. We all laugh to keep from crying—which so happens to be the theme of this week’s episode. Guys, there’s so much misery in the world, and the worst of it is my co-host, The Root’s Senior Editor Stephen…
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Black Music Month Playlist No. 1: You Haven’t Done Nothin’
To paraphrase Bruno Mars, American music is black music. When you consider that black people had a hand in creating or influencing just about every music genre—rock, pop, blues, R&B and even country—Bruno ain’t wrong. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared June to be Black Music Month in order to recognize the contributions that black…
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Tracing Your Roots: My ‘Merikin’ Ancestor Escaped Slavery
Researching those who chose to fight for the British and emigrate to Trinidad in order to be free. Dear Professor Gates: I was wondering if you could help identify the parents of my five-times great-grandfather Ezekiel Loney, who was among the “Merikins” (formerly enslaved African-American soldiers who fought for the British) who settled in Trinidad. …
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Ron Crowder and Street Works: Doing Black Harm Reduction and Public Health During a ‘White’ Drug Crisis
When I visit a city, I like to check out people doing interesting stuff. Usually these will be individuals or organizations working in social justice advocacy or activism, or in community-building services such as health promotion, educational equity, re-entry work, etc. Because of my own work, I often talk to people working at the intersection…
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Green Book Mobile App Turns the Painful History of Traveling While Black Into Tool for Learning
A new mobile tool combines the latest technology with the legacy of a forgotten past when “traveling while black” was an activity fraught with peril and danger. In a first-of-its-kind combination of history and technology, the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission has created a web-based mobile version of The Green Book—also known as…
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Princeton Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Cancels Public Appearances Amid Fox News-Fueled Death Threats
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton and a 2016 The Root 100 honoree, has been forced to cancel all public appearances as death threats continue to roll in in response to her May 20 commencement address at Hampshire College, a private liberal arts college in Amherst,…
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Cavaliers vs. Warriors 3: LeBron May Not Catch Jordan, but He’s Better Than Kobe
I have no idea who’s going to win the NBA Finals. I don’t even know if part 3 of the Warriors-vs.-Cavaliers trilogy is going to be any good. For every Dark Knight, Bourne Identity or Iron Man trilogy, there’s an Austin Powers or Star Wars prequel trilogy. What I do know is this: No matter…
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Noose Found Hanging at National Museum of African American History and Culture
Tourists visiting the an exhibition on segregation at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Wednesday found a noose hanging there, the second such incident on the Smithsonian grounds this week. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the exhibit gallery was closed for three hours as police investigated the noose and removed it. In…
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The Carmichael Show Is Back, and Jerrod Carmichael Says It Will Continue Confronting Black Conversations You Don’t See on TV
The Carmichael Show is easily one of the best black shows on television right now. It stars its namesake and creator, Jerrod Carmichael, as a son, brother and fiance who is not only opinionated but often finds himself in the crossfire of the even stronger opinions of his family. In the first two seasons, we…
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Meet ‘Y’all Qaeda,’ the Right-Wing Militias a Republican Wants to Hire for Security
A Portland, Ore., leader responded to a white supremacist terrorist attack in his city by offering an interesting solution to the recent rise of violence by right-wing extremists: He wants to hire more right-wing extremists. After authorities say 35-year-old Jeremy Christian stabbed to death Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Rick Best on a Portland train Friday,…