culture
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Mike Pence Doesn’t Like Condoms, Waited Forever to Stop HIV Crisis and Probably Only Likes Missionary Sex; He’s No Friend to Anti-HIV/AIDS Causes
Mike Pence is Lucifer if instead of creating hell after being drop-kicked out of heaven, Lucifer decided to land in Indiana and become a politician. Pence is nothing more than ugliness presented with pleasantries. Some appear to find that impressive—at least in comparison with President Minute Maid Mao. This is akin to arguing that Jeremih…
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Donald Trump Is Basically ‘Black Bush’ From Chappelle’s Show
At this point I’m convinced that President Asshat is trolling us. That he believes none of the stuff he says or does, and in the end he’s just re-enacting the “Black Bush” skit played brilliantly by Dave Chappelle on Chappelle’s Show. During an impromptu press conference at the White House last week, Asshat was asked…
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Chris Brown Refuses to Stop Acting Like Light, Bright Ike Turner
If Sinbad and Ike Turner had a child of great talent and potential who would ultimately squander both because of his issues with anger and maybe some matters that recall the D.A.R.E. program, he’d look and aggressively dance a lot like Chris Brown. Brown is the R&B equivalent of the kin you’ve rooted for but…
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Being Mary Jane Recap: Lee Meets the Parents
Tonight, Being Mary Jane was an ode to Black History Month. You could bullet-point all the nods to black history and civil rights leaders that were featured in this episode, because that is how many of the scenes in this episode seemed to be introduced. It was as though the show had a list of…
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Watch: I Love My Black Love
For Black History Month, The Root is celebrating blackness in a new The Root TV series called I Love My Blackness. In the series we celebrate black skin, black style, black friendship and black love. Our first video of the series celebrated our love of our black skin and the understanding that black is gold.…
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Watch: In Focus With Moonlight Director Barry Jenkins, Who’s Vying for Oscar on Sunday
Editor’s note: In Focus is a video series showcasing the new wave of black filmmakers. Earlier this year, before Barry Jenkins’ critically acclaimed film Moonlight went on to earn eight Academy Award nominations—including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay—the writer-director sat down with The Root to discuss how he got involved with the…
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Maya Angelou’s Son and Grandson Explain Why a Documentary on Such a ‘Phenomenal Woman’ Is So Necessary Now
Some people’s lives are bigger than they are; that was certainly the case with Maya Angelou. This “phenomenal woman” packed in a lot of living even for someone blessed with a relatively long journey of 86 years. That’s what’s most clear in the first-ever documentary on her life, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, airing…
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Maybe the Earth Is Flat
This past weekend during the National Basketball Association’s All-Star festivities, Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star Kyrie Irving appeared on the NBA podcast Road Tripping With RJ & Channing and said, “The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. … It’s right in front of our faces. I’m telling you, it’s right in front of our faces.…
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VH1’s The Breaks Holds Up a Mirror to the Early Days of Hip-Hop
In the late ’90s, I went to a meeting at one of the biggest record labels. I was scheduled to do a quick interview with the president. I knocked on his door and he waved me in. Then he sized me up and fixated on my navy-blue messenger bag with the Rawkus Records logo stitched…