culture
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Empire Recap: A Hacker Exposes All the Cookies
There’s a high-tech whodunit at Empire Records, which forces the Lyon clan to air their dirty laundry in public in last night’s episode of Empire, “Chimes at Midnight.” It’s a fun episode; I’d grade it a B-plus, only because the previous episode climaxed with a violent family fight that was live-streamed on the jumbo screens…
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Watch: Melanin on Fleek at The Root 100
OK, so I’ll admit that maybe “on fleek” is over, but it just felt right describing a celebration of melanin in the room at The Root 100 Gala Monday night. So let me have this, OK? At this point, you may have seen the epic (read: turnt) party photos showing some of the brightest thought leaders…
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Queen Sugar Hits This Dad Right in the Feels
I love Queen Sugar. Let’s start there. I’d take Queen Sugar on a $200 date, juju on the beat with it, and cook greens, beans, tomatoes and potatoes just so it would have something to take home in case it got hungry. For those who aren’t familiar, the Ava DuVernay-helmed show is the story of…
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Why You Should Be Glad We’re Getting a 2nd Chance to Show Some Love to Daughters of the Dust
In the late ’80s, when filmmaker Julie Dash was raising money for her directorial debut, Daughters of the Dust, she met with resistance. “It’s been done,” people told her, citing the TV series Roots, the movie Sounder and even Gone With the Wind. Few of these potential funders recognized the breadth and originality of Dash’s…
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Insecure Highlights the Double Standard of Sexual Fluidity
Sunday night’s episode of Insecure had to be one of the best in the series so far. The HBO show does well painting a picture of what it means to be a modern-day single black woman dating in Los Angeles, while examining topics of racism, sexism and microaggressions not only in the dating scene but…
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The Root 100 2016 Gala Celebrated the Best in Black Art, Athletics, Activism and More
The Root celebrated the eighth year of The Root 100 list of influential African Americans, and the first gala with newly appointed Managing Editor Danielle Belton, on Monday in New York City at the swanky venue (that made every girl in the room want to host her wedding there) Guastavino’s. Belton says, “Though I’ve been…
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Another Mistrial After an Unarmed Black Man Is Killed: Sam Dubose Case Proves We Must Force Justice
The mistrial of former University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing in the shooting death of Sam Dubose is the latest reminder that in the eyes of many, black lives don’t matter. On Saturday, Judge Megan Shanahan declared a mistrial after a jury of six white men, four white women and two black women failed…
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We Are the Future Our Ancestors Fought For
Since Tuesday, I have read countless posts from Facebook friends sharing some of the racist experiences they have endured since Donald Trump was elected president. Many of them express hurt and pure shock at being called the n-word, being told to go back to Africa or Mexico, or being taunted and targeted for how they…
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Come On, White People: We Need More Than Safety Pins to Make Us Feel Safe
I don’t even know where to begin here. Let’s do the short version: Last Tuesday, America elected Donald Trump—a man many consider to be a racist, sexist bigot—to lead the United States. Since Trump’s election, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group that monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States, has…