culture
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Young Black Men Are Missing in DC, Too, and They’re Not Coming Home as Quickly
Weeks ago, as social media alerts from Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department ignited an outcry about the number of missing black girls in the District, we witnessed the synergism of our community at work. We retweeted, reposted and reshared their photos and information. Folks discussed and debated the prevalence of contributing social factors. Celebrities, politicians…
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A Heathen’s Guide to Black Church on Easter Sunday
Easter—or, as the “woke” Christians call it, Resurrection Sunday—is one of my favorite holidays. Not because of the deep, symbolic weight of the day, but because of the fashion. Black folks are aesthetically creative on a regular day—yet, on Easter, everyone is a black dandy. There will be pastel suits, white hats and reflective sunglasses,…
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Do Heathens Go to Heaven?
I have a confession: Apparently, I need Jesus—or so I’ve been told. “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior?” The grinning eyes of my cab driver inquire through the rearview mirror. I cringe. The gospel music I’d been enjoying a moment before suddenly feels invasive. I’m literally trapped in a conversation I’m…
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‘But I’m Here to Tell You, There’s Something Else’ … Prince Week at The Root
Man, 2016 really took a weird turn after Prince died. Russians invading our elections. Wave after wave of surprising deaths. The ascension of Donald Trump against all the best logic and reason. So much happened, it made you wonder if the only thing holding the fabric of the universe together was a petite man with…
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8 Songs You Probably Didn’t Know Were Touched by Prince’s Magic
Prince Rogers Nelson was arguably the most musically gifted artist in history (and by “arguably” I mean “definitely,” and I will fight anyone who says otherwise). Luckily for us and the music industry, he was willing to share those musical gifts with a wide range of artists. From helping to launch the careers of Sheila…
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Sometimes a Bitch-Ass N–ga Is Just a Bitch-Ass N–ga
Considering the considerable stigmas still attached to mental health—how we talk about it, how we treat it, how we regard people who have mental-health issues—our collective tendency to shoehorn some sort of untreated psychological disorder into the profiles of people who’ve committed especially heinous crimes is (somewhat) understandable. It allows us to finally have the…
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Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Why We Must Focus on Black Girls and Child Sexual Abuse
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every year during this time, there are campaigns across the country that highlight the dangers of acquaintance or “date” rape. There are silent marches and “Take back the night” events on college campuses around the country, and generally a heightened focus on the epidemic of sexual violence among adult…
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Forget Purple Rain: I Rewatched Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon Just for You and Hated Every Minute
Have you ever seen a film where a man and another man have a conversation while that man is in a bathtub, taking a bath, nekkid, wearing a sombrero while talking to the other man about made-up nonsense? I have seen that film. And that man in the bathtub was Prince, and that nonsensical scene…
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Top 10 Blackest Experiences From the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival, the badass downtown sister to golden girl Sundance, is back on these screens April 19-28. Like the New York neighborhood it’s named for, every year TFF becomes richer; fortunately, as with Hollywood (though not the nabe so much), black images, people and stories abound. There is much at the festival that…
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The Racist, Homophobic History of an Ala. Church Gunning for Its Own Police Force
While advocates of civil liberties decry a powerful Alabama politician’s effort to push through a bill that would give a lily-white suburban church its own police force, many are unaware of the church’s long history of troubling race relations. The Alabama Legislature is now considering Senate Bill 193. If passed, the law would give Briarwood…