culture

Damn the iPod. It will not now and nor will it ever be the cassette tape. Sure, it’s fancy and plays music with a clarity that has yet to be surpassed. But a pod-mix just doesn’t sound right. There is an art to making a mixtape, an ebb and flow. The beauty of it is…

In celebration of summer, we at the DEN want to share some love with you…Harlem style. That Fourth of July BBQ is just around the corner and some of your esteemed guests may be tired of the same old, same old. So here’s a chance to show ’em the new hotness for this year. Or,…

Photo illustration by Holly Allen. DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THIS BED-STUY BANNER! ______________ Finish planning your own Do the Right Thing @ 20 house party with these free downloads! How to Rock it like it’s 1989 African Medallion coasters! LOVE/HATE four-fingered rings! The Official Sal’s Pizzeria Box Michelle/Barack Compatibilty Quiz _______________ To read more of The…

Photo illustration by Holly Allen. DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THESE LOVE-HATE RINGS! Finish planning your own DTRT @ 20 house party with these free downloads! African medallion coasters. How to rock it like it’s 1989 Do or Die Bed-Stuy Banner The Official Sal’s Pizzeria Box Michelle/Barack Compatibilty Quiz _______________ To read more of The Root’s DTRT…

Every June I find myself watching the College World Series, but never for long. Collegiate baseball isn’t something I follow in the regular season, mostly because it’s rarely televised before tournament time. I almost never pay attention to the score. For me, the CWS is more of a TV spectacle out of which I make…

-BOOK EXCERPT Passing for Black By Linda Villarosa Copyright © 2008. Dafina Books, Kensington Publishing Corp. In this excerpt from Passing for Black, a new novel by our columnist Linda Villarosa, magazine editor Angela Wright has broken up with her fiancé, Keith. With no place to live, Angela is staying with her best friend, Mae.…

Traveling the country while making a film, I’ve been struck by the fact that the vast majority of white Americans do not consider themselves “racist.” In the North, we especially presume ourselves innocent. I certainly did. In 1995, when I was 28, and enrolled in seminary in Berkeley, Calif., I received a small booklet from…

So, you’ve heard about the celebration called Juneteenth. You may have bought a T-shirt at some point to signal your historical street cred. You may even have attended a Juneteenth picnic or paused to recognize it in some way. But, admit it, you don’t really know all that much about the day. And you may…

When I was a kid, my brother and I could look forward to waking up early, putting on a Juneteenth T-shirt and heading to my grandma’s house. She lived in Hamilton Park, a black neighborhood in north Dallas, and every year on the Saturday closest to Juneteenth, churches, community clubs and local businesses paraded down…

I am John Hamilton McWhorter, the fifth. The first John Hamilton McWhorter was a slave. This Thursday is Juneteenth, when I might be inclined to celebrate the emancipation of John Hamilton McWhorter, the first. Or not. Truth to tell, I have never quite gotten the hang of Juneteenth. I suppose I should. What could be…