culture
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Whites Need to Understand That White Supremacy Hurts Them, Too
Two weeks ago, I logged into my email to read a note written by the headmaster of my daughters’ school about the white supremacist terrorist who traveled to New York from Baltimore—one of the blackest cities on the East Coast—to find a black man to kill. The note said this terrorist had graduated from my…
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The Top 10 Tools for Fighting Racism According to Wypipo
Every few months for the past … oh, let’s say 450-odd years, black people in America have endured a particularly brutal but seldom-discussed form of torture. We all know about the historical travesties of slavery, Jim Crow and systemic racism, but there is another hardship that Africans in America bravely withstand every day with very…
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No, Lee Daniels, We Don’t Need Another Movie About the Down Low
Lee Daniels recently announced the premise behind his upcoming remake of the ’80s sentimental classic Terms of Endearment. In the original, Debra Winger’s character dies of cancer, but in this filmmaker’s version, which also will feature Oprah Winfrey, one of the leads will have AIDS—a disease she contracted by having sex with a man who…
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Eat, Pray, Love Your Way Through the US Virgin Islands
The history of the U.S. Virgin Islands is filled with stories of survival, perseverance and pride. And when you visit St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John, that history is contained within every step you take. It’s been 100 years since the islands became a U.S. territory, and tourism is a huge part of the…
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Black Identity Isn’t the Only Thing Rachel Dolezal Stole
I remember, with painful clarity, the time I ached to be white. I mean that literally, by the way. I stuck a clothespin on my nose when I was about 6 years old, hoping to shape that flat, Filipino knob of flesh into a more aquiline point. That shit hurt and, even worse, it didn’t…
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Watch: Black Trans Women Are Dying
Woman is the nigger of the world. —John Lennon This loaded song lyric is not only a manifestation of a Yoko Ono-hypnotized John Lennon, but a statement that stops you in your tracks. If that’s the case, then what of black women? Moreover, what of transgender women, and to take it even further—what of black…
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Unique Views, Episode 37: Can Johnny Gill and His Vocal Talent Win a Grammy Already?!
The reason I allow my pod mate, Stephen A. Crockett Jr. the third, to write the posts for The Root’s podcast episodes is that I literally do everything else. But, then I got the chance to read said posts. And though I’m not shocked that Crockett has been dragging my beautiful name through the mud,…
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The NAACP Will Learn the Pain Associated With Charter Schools
“Before the NAACP came to New Orleans, we never had the opportunity to share,” Kim Ford, communications chair for the New Orleans branch of the NAACP, said exclusively to The Root. Ford helped organize the national organization’s sixth hearing on quality education, which took place in the Crescent City on April 6. “We are a…
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Scandal Recap: We Finally Find Out What the Hell Happened to Huck
If you recall, a couple of episodes ago, Huck was shot three times by his new lady friend, Meg, who turned out to be working for Sarah, the woman who for some yet-to-be discovered reason forced Papa Pope to kill President-elect Frankie Vargas. We’ve all been waiting to find out whether Huck was dead or…
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How a Survivor of Sex Trafficking Made It Her Life’s Mission to Protect Victims and Educate Others
Tina Frundt’s story is one of survival. When she was 13 years old and living in Chicago, she met a man, who was about 15 years older than she was, while she was on her way to a store. The man, known as “Tiger,” basically groomed Frundt by befriending her and showering her with gifts.…