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  • The Trouble With Jimmy Fallon

    All in all, he wasn’t a bad choice to host the Golden Globes. He had the requisite clever and colorful opening number, an affable demeanor and the ability to improvise. He even started off strong with some postelection shade—though it didn’t erase our memory of his pre-election playfulness with the now-PEOTUS. And it certainly couldn’t…

    By

    Maiysha Kai

    Published

  • David J. Johns: Thanks for Making Me Feel All the Feels, President Obama

    The illustrious poet Maya Angelou taught me that most often, people will forget what you say; they may struggle to recall what you did; but if you show up, on purpose, they will never forget how you made them feel. As I sat Tuesday night in a television studio in the middle of Times Square…

    By

    The Root Staff

    Published

  • Being Mary Jane Recap: Sex in the City

    Being Mary Jane is back for a fourth season, and Mary Jane Paul is still pompously lacking in self-awareness. While we open to M.J.’s 6-inch heels sauntering down the hallway to a sexy song, it doesn’t take long for M.J. to almost completely unravel in her most vulnerable space: her sexuality and pursuit of love.…

    By

    Jouelzy

    Published

  • Fat Joe Is Here to Remind You How Latino Rappers Changed the Game

    The South Bronx in New York City has sealed its place in history as the birthplace of hip-hop, where black and Latino youths created something out of nothing. But while the Latino community gets props for certain elements of hip-hop culture—including graffiti, DJing and breakdancing—it hasn’t gotten as much love for rapping. In the ’90s, Fat…

    By

    Ericka Blount Danois

    Published

  • Being Mary Jane, Season 4: Will a New City Bring a New Mary Jane?

    The show Being Mary Jane did not necessarily require much in the way of revamping. However, with the show’s creators and executive producers, Mara Brock and Salim Akil, leaving for a production deal with Warner Bros. TV, a shift was likely unavoidable. Mara Brock Akil spoke for many when she told Fader earlier this year…

    By

    Michael Arceneaux

    Published

  • Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels Built Careers on Black Women Stories but Trade in Misogynoir

    Did they use us just to lose us? Recent comments from Hollywood mega producers Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels have raised eyebrows about the ways they use gender and class privilege to distance themselves from the very communities from which they come. And they do this all while leveraging patriarchal notions of economic achievement to…

    By

    Jenn M. Jackson

    Published

  • For New Showrunner Erica Shelton Kodish, Being Mary Jane Is Personal

    Editor’s note: Because of President Barack Obama’s farewell address, Being Mary Jane will air at 10 p.m. ET on Jan. 10 and return to its regular 9 p.m. ET schedule next week. When it was announced that husband-and-wife creative duo Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil had scored a new development deal and would be…

    By

    Ronda Racha Penrice

    Published

  • Get Away From Reality With These 5 Inauguration Day Escapes

    We can’t escape the reality that Donald J. Trump will become the 45th president of the United States. And although the last few months have felt like the end of the world as we know it, we can literally escape watching, hearing about or even giving a second thought to the Trump inauguration in Washington,…

    By

    The Root Staff

    Published

  • The Natural-Hair Movement Should Extend to Men’s Hairlines

    Black women’s overall progress is reflected in their heightened investment in natural hair. The current natural-hair movement is more a consequence of black women’s empowerment than it is a cause. Nevertheless, by claiming natural hair as the standard of beauty, black men can also encourage grooming practices that increase personal, political and economic self-awareness—and in…

    By

    Andre Perry

    Published

  • What's Ailing Bishop Eddie Long?

    I’m concerned about Bishop Eddie Long. In August of 2016, Long, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, went viral after video showed that he’d lost an alarming amount of weight. “People are asking, ‘Bishop, what happened to all of you?’” he said on a video posted to Facebook that has since been taken…

    By

    Lawrence Ware

    Published