culture
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New Film Explores How the Search for 2 Long-Forgotten Bluesmen Intersected With Freedom Summer of 1964
Some events from the summer of 1964 in Mississippi are well-known. It was Freedom Summer, tragically highlighted by the brutal murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The outrage ultimately led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. At that same time, two groups of young men,…
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White Privilege Seems Like an Abstract Idea Until You Remember It Kills Black People
My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in November 2012. At that point, she was given four to six months to live. But she held on for an entire year, not succumbing to the disease until November 2013. Her diagnosis, while devastating, was not a surprise. She had been a smoker for more…
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If Stress Is Blocking Your Chi, How About Giving Acupuncture a Try?
April is National Minority Health Month, and through this campaign, the nation turns its attention to improving the health and well-being of minorities. At The Root, we salute National Minority Health Month with a three-part video series focusing on alternative health practices: acupuncture, yoga and meditation. And the videos specifically feature black practitioners. First up:…
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Gap Apologizes for Racially Charged GapKids x ED Ad
Gap has issued an apology for a racially charged ad that drew fiery backlash on social media over the weekend. As previously reported by The Root, Ellen DeGeneres and GapKids partnered for activewear line GapKids x ED, and the line’s campaign launched with an ad featuring four girls from Le Petit Cirque—three white and one…
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How I Ended Up Buying a Murse—That’s Right, a Man Purse
There was a time in my life—college—when I used to love shopping. Now, this was mostly because I enjoyed the malls in Atlanta, with Cumberland and Lenox Square being my favorites. I went to Cumberland because it was on my side of Interstate 285 (the west side) and sold more than shoes, baby clothes and gangsta…
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Watching Lupita Braid Her Homegirls’ Hair Is Peak Black Woman Excellence
I am a woman whose spirit is less secure than Humpty Dumpty, and consequently, I’ve taken great pains to avoid spending extensive amounts of time on Facebook. There are not enough crispy-chicken wraps in the world to help me bounce back from the deluge of unintentionally inaccurate black history facts, passively racist status updates from…
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In a Kafkaesque Turn, a Black Man Wakes Up White, Except for His Blackass
In Franz Kafka’s classic novel The Metamorphosis, young Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself turned into a giant cockroach—and his entire life is upended. Gregor’s family shuns him, he cannot get work, his life is threatened at every moment; he retreats into isolation and depression, unable to understand the violence and anger…
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It’s Bent; Is It Broken?
Dear Drs. Lewis and Gail Wyatt: I am a 24-year-old woman dating a 31-year-old man. I like him, he likes me, and we have a chance for a long-term relationship because we get along and the sex is great! There is one strange thing about him, and it is his penis: It’s really crooked. I…
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Black Girls Rock! Because, Yeah, We’re Awesome
“The minute you learn to love yourself, you will not want to be anyone else,” said Rihanna at BET’s 2016 Black Girls Rock! awards show, which took place April 1 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. And the superstar was in good company. This year marks 10 years of the Black Girls…
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Here Are Some Petty Reasons Not to Vote for Donald Trump
I have a confession: I’m the voter from hell. Wait, maybe that sly bastard has a plan—he’ll put himself on all the small bills so other countries won’t want their change back and we can build our own reserves! All I know is, as a real estate developer, he should know when it’s time to…