culture
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Black Cop Kills Unarmed White Kid? Everything Isn’t as It Seems in Fox’s New Series Shots Fired
Oscar Grant. Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Freddie Gray. Anthony Hill. Philando Castile. Alton Sterling. These are just a few names from a much longer list of black men who have died at the hands of law enforcement in less than a decade. So when the new Fox show Shots Fired ran early trailers zoning in…
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Exclusive: ‘You Can’t Buy a Boss’: Nick Cannon on His Split From America’s Got Talent
Nick Cannon looked relaxed as he hosted a listening party for his music artist ItsaMovie, a 20-year-old Atlanta-area native, Tuesday night at M Bar, located on historic Auburn Avenue in Atlanta. Despite reports of his health challenges, Cannon, who just became a dad again to a third child, a son named Golden, looked well. “I…
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Watch: Women at Work: Meet the Audio Engineer Who Moves to Her Own Beat
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, The Root is celebrating women from a wide range of professional industries in our video series Women at Work. “Being a woman and a music producer and an engineer is a very special task,” says Ebonie Smith, who works as an audio engineer, music producer and studio coordinator at Atlantic…
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‘I Brought You in This World and I’ll Take You Out’: How Black Folks’ Obsession With Whupping Is Killing Us
Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won’t Save Black America is one of those necessary African-American reads, like Between the World and Me; I’m Judging You; and Coldest Winter Ever. It’s not just for dinnertime conversation or deep professional panels, it’s for everyone. Spare the Kids, written by Stacey Patton, Ph.D., professor of journalism at Morgan…
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Has the NFL Blacklisted Colin Kaepernick?
On March 7 the National Football League began its free agency period—the time when teams can offer a contract to any unemployed player. In a league where it is impossible to win without a quarterback, teams usually throw bucketloads of money at veteran starting quarterbacks in an effort to lure them to their franchise. A…
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Get Yourself a Friend Like Rod: The Top 8 Ride-or-Die Friends on Black TV
The movie Get Out will make you re-evaluate your life choices: whom you date, what kinds of dinner invitations from white people you’ll accept, and your friendships. Definitely your friendships. Because if there is one shining moment in the disturbing horror that is Get Out, it’s Chris’ ever-present, ever-woke, ever-common-sense-spouting best friend, Rod Williams of…
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Breaking: Migos Can Record With Frank Ocean and Still Be Guilty of Homophobia
I hate when my favorite ignorant rappers remind me of just how ignorant they are. Like, I already know how trifling I am listening to your mindless, misogynistic, materialistic but incredibly enjoyable, bop-friendly music. The last thing I want to know is that you say trash things without a trap beat. I need this escapism…
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So, How Are You All Surviving Trump? I’m Getting My Zen Doing Yoga
It’s been 51 days since the White House became orange. That means we have only roughly 1,400 days left in this presidency, with its penchant for frivolous executive orders, constant lies, maligning of the press and sharing way too many problematic tweets. It’s OK. I know. I’m rocking back and forth wailing, too. But on…
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Chuck Berry, the Father of Rock ’n’ Roll, Dies at 90
Singer, guitarist and songwriter Chuck Berry, a giant in the history of rock ’n’ roll whose turbulent private life was marked by a rocky relationship with the legal system, died Saturday at the age of 90. The St. Charles County Police Department in Missouri confirmed Berry’s death in a Facebook post. Officers responded to a…
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Almost a Month After ‘shETHER,’ Nicki Minaj Seems to Be Doing Just Fine-Fine-Fine-Fine-Fine (Whew)
Nearly a month after the release of “shETHER,” Nicki Minaj has two of the most added songs on radio, while Remy Ma still tends to struggle with rapping on beat and finding a fan base who will support her beyond seven minutes. Already, one imagines select readers will scream that I am a Minaj fan,…