culture

Aliya’s turn: Recently, my mom and I wrote about spanking and the choices she made regarding punishments when I was younger. It led to a broader discussion on how we can grow up and bring parenting into the modern era while respecting our parents and the choices they made. Dealing with hair care for a…

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 Root…

When Gabrielle Fouché Williams left Brazil in January to return to the United States, she was four months pregnant with her first child. Williams had been living in Salvador, Brazil, for the last three years. The first few months of her pregnancy were difficult. Her doctor even put her on bed rest. But she expected…

We can’t forget our history. It reminds us of our trials as well as our triumphs. And travel gives us the opportunity to experience, firsthand, the black-history moments we’ve only read about and seen on TV and in movies. “You have to explore African-American historical travel for yourself. Seeing the images, museums and landmarks in the media…

As far as late-’90s and early-2000s black cinema goes, Brown Sugar is probably my favorite movie. The Wood is as close a second as you can get, much in the way that Reasonable Doubt is my favorite Jay Z album but I can listen to The Blueprint all day every day. In fact, The Wood…

Happy Black History Month, everyone! I hope your edges are extra laid and your chicken extra crispy. More often than not, I find that Black History Month tends to turn into “Explain standard historical references to white people who just never bothered to do their Googles.” Don’t get me wrong; I’m learning things about black…