culture
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Pie That Doesn’t Melt, Lacrosse and Other White-People Stuff
Don’t let my Neon Carrot-crayon complexion fool you. Both of my parents are Negroes. Mind you, they’re also Neon Carrot Negroes: Pops is Louisiana Creole—a (literal) cotton-picking product of the rural Jim Crow South. Mama was raised around the housing project culture of Detroit in the 1950s and ’60s. I was born in Detroit near…
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15 Powerful Works of Fiction Published by Black Authors in 2015
T Hope Wabuke is a Southern California-based writer and a contributing editor at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
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5 Valuable Lessons I Learned From Shonda Rhimes’ Year of Yes
Last month, power TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes released her first book, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person, in which she reveals how a stray observation said to her by her older sister during the Thanksgiving of 2013—“You never say yes to anything”—challenged her to…
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12 Things You May Not Have Known About The Wiz
The Wiz Live! airs on NBC on Thursday with a star-studded lineup certain to have you ready to take a trip down the yellow brick road. The Broadway musical-turned-movie-turned-live TV musical features a newcomer as Dorothy (Shanice Williams), a Wiz vet as Aunt Em (Stephanie Mills, who played Dorothy in the 1975 Broadway musical), and…
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True Stories: Positive Black Women
Though there has been some progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, the situation is still a dire one for black America. The battle to eradicate the stigma that is attached to the illness continues to be an uphill one. In the United States, African Americans represent approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population but…
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From Daniel Holtzclaw to R. Kelly: For Black Girls When Their (Alleged) Rapes Are Not Enough
Like most black people in the U.S. with a love of soul music, nostalgia, Erykah Badu and us, I watched the 2015 Soul Train Awards Sunday night. There was Babyface, the career-maker, along with Tevin Campbell, Cameo (Cameo!), Boys II Men, Jill Scott and just so much legendary black star power, it felt like a…
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Kobe Bryant Is the Best Kobe Bryant of All Time
Sunday afternoon, while much of the country was either watching NFL games or fantasizing about rib eyes and milk shakes while completing day 3 of their annual post-Thanksgiving Day green-juice cleanse, Kobe Bryant announced that this NBA season would be his last. The news was both completely shocking and completely foreseeable. Because while it made…
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1st Trial in Death of Freddie Gray to Begin Monday in Baltimore
While cases of police misconduct flood the news, a trial involving the death of Freddie Gray is set to begin Monday in Baltimore. The trial, which has fallen under the radar a bit because of a gag order imposed by Judge Barry Williams, is the first of six separate trials for the police officers accused…
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How Did These Cities Become the Top 10 Best for Black-Owned Small Businesses?
If you want to start your own business, location hits you as a major selling point. And for the African-American entrepreneur, the calculus is uniquely frustrating: It’s not just a matter of “Is where I live or where I’m moving to the right fit for my business?” It’s also the dark cloud of “Can I…
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3 Times in 2 Years? Sounds Like Your Sex Life Needs a Boost
My husband and I have only had sex three times in the past two years. I’ve suspected that he is seeing someone else, but he always denies it. We’ve been married for 15 years. Is this just the way it’s going to be from now on? —Charice S. Many married couples find themselves having less…