culture
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It's Not About You: 5 Things That May Not Label You Racist, but Racist Adjacent
It’s official: America is going through something serious right now. There are multiple shootings of black people at the hands of law enforcement that have left many families confused and in mourning; there was a sniper shooting that killed five police officers in Dallas; and I mostly fear that the violent and horrific stories aren’t…
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Did the NY Daily News’ Graphic Cover Image of Alton Sterling Go Too Far?
On Thursday the New York Daily News published on its cover a graphic image of the slain body of Alton Sterling, who was killed by a Baton Rouge, La., police officer Tuesday night. The image was a screenshot from one of two widely circulating cellphone videos of Sterling’s demise, the result of multiple shots fired…
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Black Trauma and Self-Care: How Can Black People Heal After Witnessing Excessive Violence Against Our Own?
Police shootings seem to be a normal occurrence these days. It’s a scary reminder that despite how often we chant “Black lives matter,” for many in law enforcement and people without melanin, our lives are disposable. With the frequency of such shootings, we’ve been bombarded with graphic videos and photos of victims all over our…
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What to Do if You Find Out That Pop-Pop Is a THOT
Much like the instantaneous, fame-adjacent status he procured by being shown wearing trendy clothes that showed off his ankles on the internet, the older black gentleman known as “Mr. Steal Your Grandma” has hastily fallen from many folks’ good graces. Much of it has to do with a since-deleted Facebook status in which Irvin Randle…
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We Can Grieve 5 Officers and the Black Men Shot by Police at the Same Time
The pain I feel for the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling has not subsided since I learned that five Dallas officers had been fatally shot in their name. In fact, the pain has been multiplied by five. The news broke for me Thursday night on social media. Cops were being shot at a…
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In Honor of Jaden Smith’s 18th Birthday, Here Are His Most Bizarre Tweets
It’s safe to say that Jaden Smith is a little … strange. With a catalog of tweets, and a record number of interesting interviews to prove it, the child star seems to be living life on his own terms—and also in his own world. Today, on his 18th birthday, we celebrate Smith’s embrace of his…
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A Letter to My 3 Black Children About How America Will See Them
Dear children, You are kind. You are smart. You are important. It’s funny to me how a few unintentionally hilarious lines from a movie called The Help, which you will probably never see, actually seem important to say to you today. And every day for the rest of your lives. They’ve always been true words, but…
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Who’s Black in America: Cape Verde
Who’s Black in America? That’s the question we at The Root are asking—and answering—as we take a look at the various nations throughout the African Diaspora whose immigrants make up the black population in the United States. In this new video series, we’ll examine these populations that are often mentioned, but whose rich history is rarely…
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The 2nd Amendment Is So White: What the Past 24 Hours Have Taught Me About Black People’s Right to Bear Arms
In less than 24 hours, two black men have been killed by police officers even though the Second Amendment indicates that they should have been protected. Black America yet again bears witness to state-sanctioned violence at the hands of trigger-happy rogue cops—one in Louisiana, a state that has open-carry laws, and the other in Minnesota,…