culture
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7 Stages of Buying Beyoncé ‘Formation’ Tour Tickets
Twenty-four hours after black America got our entire lives when we saw Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ video on Saturday, the Queen Bey slayed the nation with her “unapologetically black” anthem by singing about Negro hair and Michael Jackson nostrils. At. The. Super Bowl. Which is by far the largest viewed event in this entire nation. Beyoncé had…
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The 10 Blackest Things Michelle Obama Has Ever Done
At the time of this writing, “I Miss Barack Obama” is one of Twitter’s top trending topics; a response to a viral piece from David Brooks of the New York Times, where he opines on the president’s many virtues (most notably, the fact that President Obama is, above all else, a good and decent person).…
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Black Girls in Durham, NC, School Denied Right to Honor African Heritage
It started as a collective expression of pride. A group of young women at the School for Creative Studies in Durham, N.C., decided to wear head wraps—also called geles—to align with and honor their culture at the start of Black History Month. Instead, they say, administrators warned that they were in violation of the dress…
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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…