culture
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American Nightmare: Counsel of Record Christina Swarns Talks Buck v. Davis
Editor’s note: For more information about the Buck v. Davis case, read “Racial Bias Got Duane Buck the Death Sentence; the Supreme Court Can Fix It,” also on The Root. Christina Swarns, litigation director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has her work cut out for her Wednesday. Swarns is lead counsel in…
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Racial Bias Got Duane Buck the Death Sentence; the Supreme Court Can Fix It
The perceived criminality and dangerousness of black men in the United States has a long and storied history. Black men are killed, become hashtags, and their names become etched into an American lexicon of atrocities against blackness. Terence Crutcher. Philando Castile. John Crawford III. Duane Buck could be next. “Nobody in this room is unaware…
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Special ‘Wraparound’ Services for Black Children Aren’t the Solution to Bad Policy Decisions
We’re not going to “nonprofit” our way out of poverty, housing unaffordability and economic injustice. Historic discrimination and structural inequality have laid the groundwork for multiple life-sucking neighborhood factors that black children face every day: Poverty, crime, unemployment, unaffordable housing, inaccessible health care and limited transportation make it difficult for children to learn. The rise…
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Top 10 Celebrity Afros Worthy of the Hall of Fame
Afros have been what’s hot in the streets since before hot combs were invented. In the mid-1960s, the hairstyle became a full-on fashion trend when it gained popularity both inside and outside the black community. During the black power movement, Afros symbolized a reawakening of racial pride and promotion of an Afrocentric culture and standard.…
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Top 10 Signs You’re Too Old for the BET Hip Hop Awards
Who doesn’t enjoy a good star-studded, celebrity-rich awards show with its music, fashion and accolades for those who excel in a given field? So, of course, you’re tuning in to the BET Hip Hop Awards, airing Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, but maybe it’s time for you to tune out. If this list applies to…
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Meet Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ Real MVP
It’s pretty impossible not to know LeBron James, No. 2 on this year’s The Root 100 list of black Influencers. For over a decade now, the NBA’s other 23 has been working overtime, even ending his 13th basketball season with a first-ever NBA championship for his Cleveland Cavaliers and his third overall. Maverick Carter, who…
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The Roots Picnic Leaves Philly to Rock NY
The Roots Picnic in New York City was like a buttoned-up Afropunk, but with white people. On Oct. 1-2, the legendary Roots crew mesmerized New York City’s Bryant Park with the music festival known as the Roots Picnic. The event, which typically takes place in Philadelphia, is quite the institution to music fans. Despite the…
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Harry Belafonte’s Many Rivers to Cross Festival: A ‘Woodstock’ for Social Justice
Even at age 90, Harry Belafonte hasn’t laid down his sword. Over the weekend, he, along with his daughter Gina Belafonte, hosted the inaugural two-day Many Rivers to Cross: A Festival of Music, Art & Justice, just outside Atlanta, through the organization Sankofa.org, which he founded in 2013. Sankofa.org uses celebrities to elevate the issues…
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A Complete Breakdown of White People's Fears
There is a contingent of alt-right trolls who patrol the internet, radio shows and public conversations to quickly dismiss any real-world discussion about police brutality, state violence or how society devalues the bodies of black people. Their argument is always the same: Black people commit a disproportionate amount of violence; therefore, black people make up…
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The Story of 10 Young People Killed in a Day by Guns Should Make You Rethink American Gun Culture
In America, “Every day, on average, seven children and teens are killed by guns; in 2013 it was 6.75 to be precise,” writes Afro-British journalist Gary Younge in the introduction to his upcoming fifth book, Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives. “Gun violence is the leading cause of…