culture
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White Male Privilege: The Ultimate Trump Card
Fewer stories better illustrate the chasm present in America’s broken criminal-justice system than that of convicted sex offender Brock Turner. After being convicted of three felony counts for sexually assaulting an unconscious drunk woman, Turner, who is white, was sentenced to six months in jail with the possibility of being released in three months with…
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My Husband Wets the Bed After Getting Sloppy Drunk and I Don’t Know What to Do
My husband loves to go out on the weekend and get wasted with his friends. A few times, he actually peed in the bed because he was beyond wasted. My dad was an alcoholic and it bothers me whenever this happens. He only drinks on the weekend, but I don’t like how sloppy he can…
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‘Selling Hot P–sy’: Strippers Talk Sexuality, Misogyny and Stereotypes
Strip clubs have dominated the black pop-culture scene for decades, with Atlanta being the central hub. So much of what we see in television, film and music, particularly as it pertains to black women and femme representation, is distilled from the lived experiences of dancers who sell sex or the illusion of sex. In her…
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Kimbo Slice and the Inglorious Path of Fleeting Glory
Kimbo Slice’s story was bound to end this way because America has always boxed with black men while wearing loaded gloves. Even when you’re bigger, faster, stronger and punching twice as hard, there’s always the risk of your Dickensian rise from poverty ending in tragedy because the American design, for many black people, is filled…
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On Remembering Prince, ‘Baby Dolls’ Breaking Sexual Barriers and a New Orleans Second Line
In New Orleans’ historic Tremé neighborhood, a sea of “rainbow children” in purple wigs, sequins and sparkles saturated the streets. People of all ages, races, gender expressions and backgrounds followed the buoyant brass band horns and booty-shaking drumbeats of the second-line parade honoring the Purple One. We clapped, shouted and sang to the heavens. There…
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Book Review: Terry McMillan Writes What Breaks Her Heart
Terry McMillan is known for such best-selling novels as Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Mama, and A Day Late and a Dollar Short. Her novels deftly explore the inner workings of black women’s lives, and watching McMillan’s characters navigate love, friendship, work and family has been an inspiration for generations of…
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The Illuminati Probably Didn’t Do It … Probably … and 4 Other Prince-Related Conspiracy Theories
In honor of Prince’s life, we here at The Root believe that the best gift we can give the late Purple One for his birthday, June 7, is to make sure his legacy doesn’t get tarnished. We don’t want Prince to become black Elvis, so we sent out a crack forensic team of investigators (me)…
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Watch: Music Prodigy Jon Batiste Serves Food for Thought
Jon Batiste is something of a musical prodigy. He first performed with his family’s band when he was 8 years old, and nearly a decade later he would go on to self-release his first album, Times in New Orleans. “There was a spiritual connection to the instrument,” Batiste told The Root. Batiste attended the prestigious conservatory Juilliard…
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#WhitePrivilegeMuch: College Rapist Gets Light Sentence Because Prison Would Be Bad for Him
There is nothing scarier than a white man losing his power. Good thing Brock Turner won’t have to face the full weight of what that really means. If you haven’t already heard, Turner is the young white ex-Stanford University swimmer whose dreams are more precious than the woman he raped. On Jan. 17, 2015, Turner…