culture
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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,…
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Hazing Doesn’t Exist Only in Black Greek Organizations
“It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men,” advises Professor Hughes (played by Alfre Woodard), dropping a Frederick Douglass quotation on Zurich (Trevor Jackson), the protagonist of Netflix’s black frat drama Burning Sands. Set at a nameless HBCU where pledging is forced underground because hazing has been banned, Netflix’s Burning Sands follows…
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A Happy, Healthy and Hilarious Lil Wayne Rocked Stubb’s BBQ at SXSW
When you’re given the chance to see living rap legend Lil Wayne perform live at Stubb’s, one of Austin, Texas’ famed BBQ restaurants, you take it. Nothing goes better with a brisket sandwich like a side of Weezy! The name of the show was Lil Wayne & Friends, and those friends—DJ Mustard, Dave East, MadeinTYO, Denzel…
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The Root’s Divine 9 Members Watched Burning Sands and We Have Some Thoughts
If Netflix’s Burning Sands were about drug addiction instead of hazing, would people be talking about it? (Seriously, the main character smells, has all sorts of mysterious injuries, and starts falling off in his schoolwork and personal life, destroying his relationships … pledging a frat that hazes is just like taking up a crack habit!)…
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Scandal Recap: We Finally Find Out Who Killed Frankie Vargas (as if We Didn’t Know)
Papa Pope did it. He killed President-elect Frankie Vargas. On election night. With a gun. Who knew? I mean, everyone knew that Papa Pope was involved in Vargas’ assassination. He’s always pulling the strings, but this episode shows us how Papa Pope came to pull the trigger this time. We start off 53 days before…
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The 10: These Black Women in Computer Science Are Changing the Face of Tech
We’re always hearing about the lack of diversity in the technology industry, especially when it comes to black women. While their numbers may be small, black women are doing big things in the tech world. From leading research and engineering at Google to directing robotics and autonomous vehicle programs at top-tier universities, a black woman’s…