culture
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When States Run Welfare, Black Children Are the Ones Who Get Hurt
Twenty years ago, Bill Clinton signed legislation dismantling the federal Aid to Families With Dependent Children welfare program. The law transformed welfare into Temporary Assistance to Needy Families—essentially block grants to states to use for job training and child care subsidies to enable recipients to attain financial independence and take “personal responsibility,” as its advocates…
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5 Reasons Maurice White Stayed Winnin’
By now you’ve heard that musical impresario Maurice White, 74, has gone on to the great “Boogie Wonderland” in the sky. Damn, damn, damn—I’ll be breaking crystal punch bowls all week! White was the iconic co-founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, the premier live funk band for, like, 89 summers. And if you’re over 30,…
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Beyoncé Went Full Black, Apparently. I’m Here for It
Based on the events of the past weekend related to Beyoncé, it’s entirely possible that she’s trolling America, all of it. Beyoncé dropped the video for the song “Formation” on Saturday, converting my Facebook into a de facto Beyoncé fan site. “Formation” is an unapologetically black- and Southern-ass song and video. The words to the…
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How Police Violence Broke My Boyfriend and Ruined Our Relationship
Few things in life are harder than witnessing a person you love die a little each day and knowing you don’t have a cure. That’s exactly what it felt like to be in a relationship with a man who physically survived a violent attack from a police officer but never fully recovered emotionally. The relationship…
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Beyoncé Drops ‘Formation’ for the People, the Black People
Well, that was black. Cornbread and collard greens black. “Hot sauce in my bag” black. Southern black. Dirty South black. Your grandma telling you to go cut down a switch black. Did you know Beyoncé was black? If you didn’t know, if you thought she was some ethereal, raceless, colorless transformative nymph who could doo-wop pop…
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Father Pens Book to Explain Protest to Kids in the Time of Black Lives Matter
“What’s protesting?” It was this innocent question last year from Kenneth Braswell’s then-6-year-old son that acted as a catalyst for the community activist to write a children’s book. “I had an adult answer for that, but I did not have a 6-year-old answer,” Braswell told The Root. “And I fumbled with trying to explain to…
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Hey, PWIs! Diversity Is Great, but Inclusion Is Better
In Lawrence Ross’ new book, Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses, he highlights America’s little mythology problem. “For the past 400 years, African Americans tried to assist white Americans in recording a memory of racism, often to no avail,” Ross writes. “White America clings stubbornly to a collective narrative, what Gore…
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Solange Loses Her Wedding Ring on Mardi Gras Float
Solange Knowles, who has made New Orleans her home for years, lost her wedding ring Friday while she participated in weekend Mardi Gras festivities, reports People Style Watch. Seen below in this video before she hopped aboard the stiletto-shaped float hosted by Krewe of Muses, Solange, 29, says she’s “Bout to be hype!” #kreweofmuses here…
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Jay Z’s Tidal Donates $1,500,000 to Black Lives Matter
Jay Z’s fledgling music-streaming platform, Tidal, is donating $1.5 million to Black Lives Matter and several other local and national social-justice organizations from money raised at an October concert, reports Mic. The announcement was made Friday, the same day Trayvon Martin would have turned 21 years old. The Trayvon Martin Foundation will receive a portion…
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‘All the Awards Are Going to White People’: Why Black Award Shows Are Necessary
Is it wrong to honor one’s own? While the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences fails at being more diverse, entering the second year of #OscarsSoWhite, groups like the African American Film Critics Association seem ever more necessary as a way to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of black filmmakers. They have no qualms…