culture
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The Hip-Hop Dalmatians Are the Greatest Rap Group That Never Was
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…
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Underrated Moments in Black History: Angela Bassett Slaps a White Woman
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 More often than not, I find that Black History Month tends to turn into “Explain standard historical references to white people who just never bothered to do their Googles.”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…
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Oscar Who? The Best Black Performances of 2015
Ah, January—a month when we tried to stick to our New Year’s resolutions, endured crippling blizzards and hoped El Niño wouldn’t bring flooding. It was also the month when the award season kicked off with the boozy dinner party that is the Golden Globes, followed by the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite in response to what is unfortunately…
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The Root’s Young, Fabulous and Female Is Heading to L.A.
Attention, all the young, black and fabulous women in the Los Angeles area: The Root is coming your way with an event you won’t want to miss. Young, Fabulous and Female: Los Angeles will be held Wednesday, Feb. 24, and feature a powerhouse panel that includes Mara Brock Akil, founder, creator and executive producer of…
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Top 5 Countries to Move to if You’re Afraid of a ‘President Trump’
Miles Marshall Lewis left America and moved to Paris after George W. Bush was elected president of the United States in 2001. “I left the States partially because I felt like my protests [in the lead-up to] the Iraqi War weren’t being heard,” said Lewis, who is a music journalist. “I didn’t want to be…
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Imagine How Different Our Country Will Be When We Collectively Honor Black Excellence
Imagine how different our children would be if they were aware of the many contributions that black people have made to improve the world throughout history. Imagine, for a second, how different our country will be when we, collectively, honor black excellence, beyond the month of February, a time designed to reflect upon black history.…
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I Wish Barbie Had Gotten Her ‘Curvy’ New Body in the 1990s
If Barbie of the 1990s had been a brown-skinned thick chick with natural hair, my life might be different. Well, not completely different. But I’d venture to guess that the way I perceived myself, as an adolescent, teen and even young adult—particularly my body image—wouldn’t be the same. Perhaps I would have been more forgiving…
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Watch: Did Beyoncé Culturally Appropriate Indian Culture in Her New Video?
A big issue in 2015 was the cultural appropriation of black or African-American culture, whether it was with rap music or cornrows. And there can be a bit of a wrinkle when African Americans are accused of the same thing. And so it happened with pop star Beyoncé, who is faulted by some for appropriating Indian…
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The SAG Awards Can Teach the Oscars a Thing or Two About Diversity
A slew of black actors, TV shows and films including Straight Outta Compton and Beasts of No Nation are up to be honored at tonight’s SAG Awards. Unlike the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has a significant diversity problem and has faced significant backlash in recent weeks (see #OscarsSoWhite … again), all actors…
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Why We Need to Raise the Minimum Wage to $15
“Anyone who has struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” — James Baldwin I’m not poor, but I’m not rich; according to my W2, I’m middle-class. I’ve never had sleep for dinner, but I’m very familiar with poverty because I’ve witnessed it firsthand. In my neighborhood, nobody was “fly on your…