culture
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Watch: New App Lets Men Shop Like a Boss and Make the World a Better Place
Isaac Ewell believes looking good shouldn’t cost you a fortune. Ewell, a Morehouse and Harvard grad, left a lucrative job in education to lead a burgeoning startup company, Onehunted. This Philadelphia-based tech-lifestyle brand offers events and experiences, encouraging men to be their authentic selves, or “one hundred.” Get it? And as the co-founder and CEO…
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Watch: The Root Staff Tries Ms. Robbie’s Soul Food
By now you may have noticed that The Root staff likes a plate of good food and we offer the sharp opinions—hence the premise of our new video series, The Root Eats. Genius. In the past we were appalled by $66 collard greens (that had the nerve to be nasty), pitted fruitcakes against one another…
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The Members of New Edition Made Sure BET’s Biopic Came Correct With Their Story
In one of the most poignant scenes in the BET miniseries The New Edition Story, the young Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ralph Tresvant are fresh off their first major world tour. The tour bus, painted with the group’s name in graffiti letters on the side, pulls in slowly to drop the…
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About the Blacks the Marigold Manchurian Candidate Has Been Meeting
For as long as he is president, there will be debate over whether or not black people should be meeting with the Marigold Manchurian Candidate. It’s a question The Root’s political editor, Jason Johnson, recently tackled in the piece “So, When Is It OK to Meet With Trump?” While we are in accord with the…
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Good Riddance to the Worst Show on Earth
“Ringling Bros. Circus Closing After 146 Years” I saw this and sarcastically said to myself, “Oh no! Not ‘The Greatest Show on Earth.’” Top articles covered: the 146 years of “greatness”; the mistreatment, abuse and murder of exotic animals, which led to battles with animal-rights groups; and the too-little, too-late attempt to hire its first…
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Idris Elba Says ‘Pound My Yams’ for Valentine’s Day and I’m So Here for It
So much naughty innuendo. So much sexy. Actor Idris Elba recently posted a video on his Instagram page asking folks to be his valentine. The rub (oooh) is that you have to contribute to a fantastic organization based in Africa, W.E. Can Lead, to win a chance to “pound his yams.” Chile. This whole “pounding…
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Yara Shahidi in Talks for Her Own Black-ish Spinoff
Poised, pretty, polished teen Yara Shahidi, who plays oldest daughter Zoey Johnson on Black-ish, is set to get her own TV show, based on her life in college. Shahidi, who recently shut the internet down with her uncanny redo of a classic Sade photo, is blossoming into an impressive young woman. According to the Hollywood…
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In the Spirit of Living Single, Reboot These Black Shows, Too
During a recent appearance on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Queen Latifah revealed that there has been discussion about a revival of Living Single. While some of us were immediately joyful about seeing the return of Khadijah James, Regine Hunter and Maxine Shaw and hearing the phrase, “Put some beans in that oven,” others were…
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A 5-Step Guide to Surviving a Trump Presidency
Barack Obama was one of the most disrespected presidents in American history. He was heckled by a reporter from the Daily Caller in the Rose Garden; he was given a chair lecture by Bill O’Reilly; and a former mayor of New York City said of Obama, “I do not believe, and I know this is…