culture
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Nationwide School 'Walk-ins' Organized to Demand Educational Justice for Black and Brown Communities
On Thursday the union-affiliated Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools organized “walk-ins” in 200 cities and 2,000 public schools in black and brown communities to fight against “the long-standing and systematic underfunding of their public schools,” AROS said in a press release. Hundreds of affiliated parent, education and student groups rallied behind a six-point platform, which includes: a call for the…
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The Birth of a Nation Is an Important Film Worth Seeing Despite Its Flaws
When Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation won both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in January, Parker thanked God and Sundance when accepting the awards. The realization that audiences were ready for a story about Nat Turner, a black man from Virginia at the center of a slave revolt that…
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Watch: How Did the Stars of The Birth of a Nation Practice Self-Care While Shooting This Intense Film?
Black trauma stems back as far back as slavery. Knowing that our ancestors were treated worse than animals—brutalized, dehumanized and demeaned—and that this terrible legacy of racism has carried on to our modern and “progressive” times is a painful truth that we must face every day. When movies like The Birth of a Nation are…
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Review: The Birth of a Nation Isn't Strong Enough to Shake Director's Past
Editor’s note: This review contains spoilers. The Birth of a Nation reminded me of Old Man Harris. He was a bluesman in the Mississippi Delta before he became the director of the men’s chorus at my childhood church. He claimed that he’d played with the likes of B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf before…
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Locs and Chains: Nothing to ‘Dread’ About Locs Except Discrimination if You’re Black
Do a Google image search for “dreadlocks” and the entire first row of images is of white people—mostly women, the one exception being an image of Johnny Depp in faux dreadlocks as Capt. Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean movies. While not surprising, it seemed very telling that Googling a hairstyle primarily associated with…
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Watch: Asha Bandele and Carl Hart Talk Marijuana Legalization, Drug Stigma and Racial Discrimination [Retracted]
RETRACTED (6/12/18): This story has been removed because we have discovered it was in breach of our editorial standards. If you’d like to know more, you can read an editor’s note here. A cached version of the story is available here for transparency.
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Empire Recap: Mariah Enters the Lyons’ Den
Last week’s cliffhanger ended with Andre, who was doing nothing wrong, roughed up by cops. It’s the same old song: living while black. Since Andre didn’t end up riddled with bullets, the plot didn’t pack as much punch as it could have. When have we ever seen Andre don a hoodie? He really can’t pull…
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9 Perfect Clapbacks to Trump’s Bigotry and Lies From Black TV Pundits
When we scroll through channels and see these talking heads on TV, it’s best to grab the popcorn and settle in. These black political analysts and commentators speak for many in the black community, sharing our points of view, and truths, with those who’d rather remain blind. If you weren’t sure how New York Times…
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The Vilification of Marilyn Mosby
Just last week, the right-wing Media Research Center’s annual black-tie gala honored the three arresting officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray. Officers Brian Rice, Edward Nero and Garrett Miller received standing ovations and “deafening cheers” while they explained how they have to deal with a hostile public that is down on cops in…
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Join The Root as We #RiseUpAsOne Through Music
The Root is heading to San Diego on Oct. 15 for Univision and Fusion Media Group’s “RiseUp AS ONE” concert. This show is a celebration of music, diversity and unity. All of this awesomeness will be staged along the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego and will feature a talented lineup of artists, musicians and performers.…