culture

  • Why I Would Never Marry My Best Friend 

    I was recently reading my girl Dara’s latest blog post about marriage being boring and unmysterious (prompted by the Netflix show Master of None). She also discusses the way in which she is comforted by the familiarity of her husband and their routine, and the newness that they still experience as they grow and evolve, both…

  • How Black-ish Became the Blackest and Best Comedy on TV

    Last week The Root contributor Demetria Lucas D’Oyley wrote a response to Tyler Perry’s recent assertion that the reason his work and his characters get so much criticism is that they’re “fat.” In her piece, Lucas D’Oyley (rightly) stated that the weight of his characters has nothing to do with how Perry’s work is perceived.…

  • Top 5 Travel Destinations for 2016

    In 2016, a lot of people are making New Year’s resolutions to get out more. How about getting way out? Like, out of the country! Here are The Root’s top five international spots you should hit up this year. Cuba: Unspoiled and Easier to Visit Danielle Horry, a travel consultant based in New York, visited…

  • Baby? Yes. Ring? No. Has Parenthood Become More Appealing Than Marriage?

    While a lot of co-parenting situations are the result of unprotected nights of passion that turn into unexpected lifelong bonds, a growing number of women and men are making the informed and strategic decision to have children without the benefit of marriage. Back in 2014, Chris Brown, whose want for a child ruined his already…

  • Drake Violates NCAA Rules, Again, by Posing With Kentucky Wildcat Player

    Rapper Drake—who clearly is a major sports fan—might want to back up off the young pups, since his presence has apparently violated NCAA rules, not once, but twice, according to the Bleacher Report. The No. 9-ranked Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team had to self-report a minor rules violation involving the rapper for the second time…

  • A Story of Perseverance: Hadiyah-Nicole Green Shares Her Path to a Million-Dollar Research Grant  

    Hadiyah-Nicole Green likens her story to that of The Little Engine That Could. The 34-year-old assistant professor is the first in her family to go to college, let alone earn a doctorate. She’s also broken ground at her alma mater as the second African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Alabama at…

  • Whether or Not You Support Bill Cosby, You Have to Admit, His Attorney Monique Pressley Is Pretty Dope

    No matter where you fall on the Bill Cosby “Did he or didn’t he?” divide, everybody can agree: His lawyer Monique Pressley is a badass. And choosing her to represent him may have been the smartest thing he’s done since A Different World. But who is Monique Pressley? Besides being the principal of the Pressley…

  • Thanks, Obama

    While perusing Facebook a few days ago, I came across this ad for President Barack Hussein Obama’s last State of the Union address this coming Tuesday: This is it—President Obama's final #SOTU. Say you'll be watching: https://t.co/W8niWpEVnX pic.twitter.com/NmLWydsePO — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 4, 2016 Typically, I couldn’t care less about these speeches; it’s an…

  • Christine Beatty Hopes Reality-TV Show Will Help Her Escape Shadow of Scandalous Affair With Detroit Mayor

    Before 2008, Christine Beatty, as the chief of staff to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, was a celebrated strategist with a promising future in politics. That changed the morning the Detroit Free Press published the private, intimate text messages that Beatty and Kilpatrick exchanged on their government-issued phones during their six-year extramarital affair. The fallout was…

  • This Dad Has Seen How Brutal the Internet Battles Over Motherhood Can Get

    As of this writing, I have two children and a third baking in the proverbial oven. My children are the most beautiful, brilliant, exciting and excitable people on the planet. I love to hug and kiss them, and they seem to love it as well. My son? Making him laugh is often a reason I’m…