culture
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Zoe Saldana Speaks Out About Nina
Just days before Nina hits theaters in a limited release, Zoe Saldana joined Nina producer Stuart Parr and Al Schackman—musical director for the iconic Nina Simone from 1957 until her death in 2003—for an intimate post-screening conversation Tuesday in Atlanta, where she is filming Guardians of the Galaxy 2. The conversation, led by television news executive…
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Watch: What Is Afrofuturism?
Afrofuturism is not black sci-fi. It’s not black fantasy. It’s not an easily definable artistic genre but, rather, a sweeping, cultural aesthetic that examines issues around black representation, the black future and black agency using music, novels, visual media, history and myth to create something else entirely. The Root’s new four-part Web series on Afrofuturism…
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Meditation: Healing From the Inside Out
We close our minority-health video series with meditation—a practice that is dependent on calmness and concentration. Joshua Bee Alafia was introduced to meditation as a teenager. He went on to try many forms of meditation until 2006, when he found Vipassana—a practice originally taught by Buddha. He has since become a meditation instructor at the Brooklyn Zen…
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How Players Like Kobe and LeBron Changed the NBA by Skipping College to Go Pro
Between 1995 and 2005, three of the greatest NBA players of all time—Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James—and several perennial all-stars, including Dwight Howard, Tracy McGrady and Tyson Chandler, were drafted straight out of high school. Unfortunately, that path wasn’t quite the yellow brick road that it seemed. Others, like Ndudi Ebi, Korleone Young and Leon…
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Movie Review: Nina Is As Horrible As You Thought It Would Be
Let’s get this out of the way: Nina, the much-discussed biopic about legendary songstress Nina Simone, is bad. Really bad. Now let me explain why. Lady Sings the Blues is my favorite movie. I am equally obsessed with Diana Ross and Billie Holiday. The merger of the two was cinematic gold. I have watched LSTB…
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I Kind of Wish Hillary Clinton Would Stop Trying to Connect With the Black Community
Even though it’s political season and there are lots of commercials that indicate that every vote counts—vote or die and s—t—forcing politicians to do everything to court the votes of communities not like theirs, I kind of wish Hillary Clinton would stop trying to win the black vote now. Or, at least, cut the s—t.…
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Can Big Girls Get in ‘Formation’ With Beyoncé’s Ivy Park?
During one of the many industry downturns that have plagued me, us and everyone in media since the advent of the Internet, I took a job folding clothes at a Macy’s in North St. Louis County, Mo. It did not pay anywhere near as much as my long-lost job as a newspaper reporter in Bakersfield,…
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How Rio’s Olympics Destroyed a Favela, but Not the Spirit of a Candomblé Priestess
Two years ago, a simple Candomblé religious rite revealed to Heloisa Helena Costa Berto her future in Rio de Janeiro. When the mãe de santo (mother of the spirit) threw her cowrie shells onto a table, Berto saw a vision of her house through the formation of the shells. It didn’t look good. “I saw that…
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I Know It’s Hard to Accept, but Beyoncé Is Smarter Than You, or Much Smarter Than You Think She Is
Why do some people act as if Beyoncé eats with her feet? I read Beyoncé’s recent and increasingly rare interview with Elle magazine, in which she discussed her new Ivy Park activewear collection in addition to answering questions about feminism, race and police brutality. I found it rather standard for Beyoncé, or any celebrity of…
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Lauryn Hill Headlines Diaspora Calling! and She’s Still Got It
If you were ever one to doubt Lauryn Hill—her relevancy as a musician and whether or not, well, she’s still got it—the Friday-into-Saturday-morning performance at Diaspora Calling! (Hill took the stage just before 1 a.m.) would indicate that now’s the time to take a seat. Actually, 12 seats might suffice. Diaspora Calling!, the three-day music and…