culture
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Why I Will Never Spank My Daughter
I’m typing these words in fear, my fingers softly brushing the keys on my laptop so I don’t make too much sound. I’m also eating my breakfast quickly, furiously, madly and quietly, like a prisoner in solitary just given a pack of saltines. I’m shoeless because my Tims make too much noise on the hardwood…
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#ReclaimMLK: My Apology to the ‘Most Dangerous Negro’ in America
I practiced for weeks, and when the big day came I was ready. My hair was styled in the way that Southern mamas do their daughters’ hair for special occasions—a pressed, puffy ponytail on top, with the rest hanging and curled beneath a large part, some ribbon probably lost to memory. I felt special in…
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30 Years of MLK Day: What We’ve Gained and What We’ve Lost
As the United States celebrates the 30th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we take a look at some of the gains and losses of the civil rights movement since the holiday’s enactment. America elected its first black president in 2008, but the assailment of unarmed blacks, and efforts to repeal voting rights and…
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Finding Your Roots: Shonda Rhimes, Maya Rudolph and Keenen Ivory Wayans Learn Shocking Facts About Their Families
Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the PBS series that takes a very deep dive into the ancestry of famous people, never fails to surprise, but in the third episode this season, which airs Tuesday, it shocks. The show focuses on the family histories of actress Maya Rudolph, TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes and…
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A Call For African Americans to Join a Study on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Scientists recognize that a person’s gender and ancestry play a large role in determining risk for certain diseases. For instance, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including both Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, affects about 1.6 million Americans, and a recent study suggests 36% of those are African American – and the number of diagnosed African Americans…
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After Outrage, Publisher Pulls Happy-Slaves Children’s Book
Editor’s note: Amid growing criticism of this children’s book depicting happy slaves baking a cake for George Washington, publisher Scholastic announced late Jan. 17 that it is pulling the book from retailers. In a statement to the Associated Press, Scholastic said this: While we have great respect for the integrity and scholarship of the author,…
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I Went to Bikram Yoga and Here’s What Happened (Hint: It Was Horrible)
Editor’s note: This post contains tweets that some may find offensive. Stephen A. Crockett Jr. is associate editor of news at The Root. Follow him on Twitter.
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Stand With Her: Black Men as Anti-Rape Activists
In the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement, I often wonder where are the black men mobilizing against sexual violence against black women? Have we hidden—like the biblical David—away from the eyes of our communities because we are secretly invested in rape culture? Are we afraid because we do not actually know what sexual…
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A Sweet Way to Take Your Cocktails to the Next Level
When life gave Forrest Butler lemons, he made lemon syrup. Butler, a former designer and architect, lost his job in 2008, and so he returned to bartending. An avid mixologist, he noticed that all of the syrups necessary for his increasingly popular cocktails were laden with preservatives. So one day he began making his own. …
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How to Fix That #OscarsStillSoWhite Problem
If you haven’t noticed the steam rising from the Twitter icon on your iPhone, then you may not be aware that once again, the Oscars have been declared #SoWhite. Typically, when this ever-so-shocking event occurs, the narrative dovetails into two discussions: Why do black people want acknowledgment from “these” awards, and why don’t artists show…