culture
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Remy Ma Continues Tradition of Shade-Throwing, and Other Top Moments From Summer Jam 2017
On the hottest day of the year, hip-hop and R&B fans packed into a sold-out Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., to watch their favorite artists burn down Hot 97’s 2017 Summer Jam stage. This year’s star-studded lineup included Migos, Chris Brown, DJ Khaled, Trey Songz and a bevy of special guests. There was also…
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‘You Can Kill a Man, but You Can’t Kill an Idea’: Remembering Medgar Evers on the 54th Anniversary of His Assassination
On June 12, 1963, white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith assassinated Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers in the driveway of his Jackson, Miss., home. Evers’ wife, Myrlie Evers-Williams, and their three children, Darrell, Reena and James, were all inside when they heard the shotgun blast. The children were 9, 8 and 3 years old,…
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#TheRootTrip: The Blackest Voyage Begins at L.A.’s Only Black-Owned Gas Station
Dawn hadn’t broken at 5 a.m. PDT when I jumped into the Mustang and headed east. #TheRootTrip is officially underway, and the first destination was Hooper’s Shell at 11913 Compton Ave., Los Angeles. Hooper’s is the only black-owned gas station in Los Angeles, so of course it made sense to fill up the Mustang for…
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Marvel Comics Cancels Black Panther Spinoff About Black Women 48 Hours After New Trailer Drops
If you’re like me, you’re still recovering from the life-altering, summer-changing amazingness that was the Black Panther movie trailer that debuted during Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday. The music, the action and the cast of actors look amazing. The costuming alone is about to change the game. Black women are going to…
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Remembering the Pulse Nightclub Tragedy: 1 Year Later
One year ago June 12, I awoke to a flurry of text messages and missed calls from friends demanding that I turn on my television. It was a Sunday morning, and like many black gay men who reside in the nation’s capital, I was in hibernation, sleeping off one too many Jack and Cokes. When…
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Running While Black: Melanin and Movement Does Not a ‘Thug’ Make
Rule 1: If your skin comes within two dozen shades of looking blue in the moonlight, don’t run at night. Rule 2: If your schedule demands it, be careful. If Marine veteran-cum-lawyer David Lee Phillips wasn’t familiar with those rules before an officer stopped him while he was running at night back in 2010, he…
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Drive Black, Buy Black: The Root Goes on the Blackest Road Trip Ever With Author Lawrence Ross
Meet Lawrence! What’s up, everyone! My name is Lawrence Ross, and if there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love black people. Yeah, I know people like to say that, but I truly do. I’m fascinated by who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. And over the past…
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MC Lyte on Why Dope Female Emcees Are Now MIA
Thirty years ago, “Take It Lyte” and the more popular “I Cram to Understand U” were how most hip-hop lovers were introduced to MC Lyte. By the time her album Lyte as a Rock dropped the next year, in 1988, there was no debating whether MC Lyte was a bona fide emcee. She was actually…
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Police Training Should Start With a History Lesson on Slavery Laws
A recent study on police interactions shows what black Americans already know: Police interact in a less respectful manner toward them than they do white Americans. Based on police-camera audio from the Oakland, Calif., Police Department, this evidence is being used to support a change in police training regarding how to teach police to show…