culture
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Courtney B. Vance Shows Out as Legal Legend Johnnie Cochran
For those who have been faithfully watching FX’s ratings juggernaut, The People v. O.J. Simpson, and keeping up with recaps on The Root, waiting for Johnnie Cochran has been an exercise in patience. Well, the wait is over. Courtney B. Vance took a few minutes out of his promotional schedule to chat with The Root about…
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Obama’s Battle for Black Boys: My Brother’s Keeper, 2 Years Later
“Trayvon Martin could have been me.” Those were the words a visibly shaken President Barack Obama expressed to the country one summer day almost three years ago, a week after slain teen Trayvon Martin’s killer was acquitted of all charges and allowed to walk free. President Obama, like much of black America, was despondent about…
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Kendrick Lamar Will Induct N.W.A Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced on Twitter Monday that Kendrick Lamar will induct N.W.A into the organization at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., this April. N.W.A will join Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple and Steve Miller as this year’s inductees. K. Dot will join presenters Kid Rock, the Black Keys, Metallica’s…
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Finding Delonte: Why the Former NBA Guard’s Words Scare Me More Than the Photo
It wasn’t so much the photo of former NBA point guard Delonte West in a flannel shirt and leather vest neatly hiding the hospital gown that threw me. It wasn’t West’s dazed look or his closed eyes or the report that he was shoeless in a Houston Jack in the Box parking lot. All those…
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Consent, Explained, for People Who Still Don’t Get It
Who is Rev. Run? And who is Tyrese? Rev. Run is a hip-hop legend who’s made a second career out of disseminating homespun, succinct and alliterative aphorisms that manage to sound 17 times wittier and wiser than they actually are. He’s basically the working-class man’s Steve Harvey. And Tyrese? Well, Tyrese is a man with an…
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Caught on Tape, Caught in a Lie: 5 Times Video Proved Police Were Lying
For police officers, does caught on tape mean caught in a lie? You know the stories. The officer felt threatened, the suspect charged and the officer, claiming fear for his or her life, had to shoot. But when there’s video, these stories are not as cut-and-dried. In fact, in some cases, officers are caught flat…
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Q&A: Patti LaBelle Drops Pearls on The Root
The 71-year-old soul-singing icon, Patti LaBelle, doesn’t let dust settle under her feet. A true Gemini, Miss Patti, as she often refers to herself, does it all. After making her name in the 1970s as the one-and-only Lady Marmalade, LaBelle (who to this day is a touring artist) has developed quite the repertoire. The chaunteuse…
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Review: Smart People Is an Intelligent Take on the Role of Race in Our Everyday Lives
Smart People is exactly what you would expect it to be: smart, sexy and provocative. It’s no surprise, considering the play is the brainchild of Lydia Diamond, the playwright behind Stick Fly, the hit Broadway play about an affluent African-American family who confronts issues of race and class. And Diamond doesn’t do it alone. Directing…
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Filmmaker Out to Prove That Black Superheroes Can Be Leading Characters
Editor’s note: This short-film series is a collaboration between The Root and El Rey Network to support, elevate and promote African-American filmmakers throughout Black History Month via on-air, digital and editorial platforms. Filmmakers were contacted and recruited through film festivals and industry partnerships in December, with finalists selected by both El Rey Network and The…