culture
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No, You Have Anxiety
Literally anything can give me anxiety, from a car that takes a second too long to turn over, the gym at its busiest hour, a doorbell ringing, the refrigerator light—anything. Today’s source of anxiety is a text message my friend and big brother, Roger, sent last night: “I need to holler at you. I’ll call…
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Why Does the Idea of a Confident, Fat Black Woman Make You So Uncomfortable?
I love me. I’m fat. I’m black. I’m beautiful, and I don’t look my age. My hair is nappy and as big as my smile. I’m usually the loudest person in the room, and my laugh ripples through the air like a hypnotic vibration. My breasts take over the entire top half of my frame,…
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Happy Anniversary, White Supremacy!
Because many people have accused The Root of not being inclusive and focusing on issues of race too much, please allow us to extend our most heartfelt, warmest wishes on this—your day of celebration. As Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama celebrate Confederate Memorial Day (which I have long proposed be renamed “White Tear-mas”—because who else but…
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Adrien Broner Is Boxing With Death and I Hope He’s Got Another Round in Him
It’s time for Adrien Broner to grow up and get serious about his boxing gift before it’s too late. The former four-division titlist at one time appeared to be the heir to Floyd Mayweather’s throne, but a series of arrests, allegations and, not to mention, losses inside the ring have dashed such hopes. Last week…
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Courtney B. Vance’s Small but Mighty Role in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks premieres April 22 at 8 p.m. ET on HBO, and I’ll be tuned in because it’s that good. I’m not just saying that because I had an otherworldly experience with one of the stars of the film, Oprah Winfrey, this week. It’s honestly worth watching more than once, and…
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For the Henrietta Lacks Family, It’s a Matter of Who Gets to Tell Their Story
Who can tell your family’s story? That’s one of the key issues the book and now HBO film, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, raises. It’s one that Henrietta Lacks’ son Lawrence and his son, Ron, have been asking for some time now. Henrietta Lacks is the woman whose cells, named HeLa, were able to…
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Earth Day 2017: Ex-Environmental Justice Chief for EPA on Using Your Power to Save the Planet
Long before Mustafa Santiago Ali helped establish one of our nation’s most esteemed federal programs, he was a child raised in a Baptist and Pentecostal church. He was born in a family passionate about social justice and civil rights, and his faith laid the foundation for a life of giving back. “It’s really important that…
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Earth Day 2017: 3 Environmental-Justice Groups That Are Putting Up a Good Fight in Trump’s America
In the United States, race is the dominant factor when it comes to living in a toxic environment because black, brown and poor people are more likely to live in polluted communities with contaminated water, dirty air and toxic waste. Seeing that our 45th president is indifferent to climate change and thinks that shutting down…
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Assigning Value to Black Stories: Minority Art and the Racist Mountain
Comedian, writer and filmmaker Jordan Peele recently offered the hope that the success of his low-budget but high-profit film, Get Out, would convince Hollywood producers that “black voices … tell good stories like anyone else.” It is, frankly, startling that after two centuries of the African-American presence in theater, film, television and music, black artists…