culture
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A Transformative Artist Known as Prince
Prince Rogers Nelson, a man who transcended musical genre and defied definition, was found dead in his Paisley Park complex in Minnesota on Thursday. He was 57. Irreplaceably unique, Prince was a flamboyant, innovative artist whose songs were as varied and layered as his beguiling persona, which captivated audiences and music critics alike for nearly…
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5 Greatest Prince Performances
When it comes to greatest performances, Prince owns the throne. His live shows became mythical; even if you’d seen him in concert before, you always felt like you missed out the next time you heard about one of his secret shows. And his TV performances were always among the most-talked-about moments of whatever show he…
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Empire Recap: Mother’s Day
How is that Lucious hasn’t been shot? Empire has enough suspects for a “Who Shot Lucious?” storyline. That’s just one of the questions I had for last night’s Empire episode, “Time Shall Unfold.” Rhonda and Andre have moved out of the mansion because there are too many bad memories since Rhonda tumbled down those stairs…
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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.…