culture
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My New Husband Constantly Invites Family to Stay Overnight Without Asking Me and I Hate It
I’m a newlywed. I hate having family stay over at our house. I love entertaining, but I want folks to leave at the end of the night. My husband likes overnight company and will often invite his family to stay a week at a time and won’t tell me until they are already en route.…
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Jennifer Holliday Unsung: A Once-in-a-Generation Voice
Google the soulful ballad “And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going)” and Jennifer Hudson’s name pops up first. Not Tony Award winner Jennifer Holliday, who originated the role of Effie and sang the legendary showstopper in the original 1981 Broadway smash Dreamgirls—which is why this Unsung has been a long time coming. As powerful…
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Being Mary Jane Recap: Who Gon’ Stop Me?
M.J. has decided that she’s been patient long enough. When she wants something, God bless anyone who gets in her way. Cece was sorely missed, but I’m digging the less loathsome, happier M.J. whose resilience is pure badassery. Greg wants to continue with Marisol in M.J.’s coveted spot. Since M.J.’s meeting with Greg didn’t go…
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That Time We First Discovered Ladies Love Cool James
Along with rappers-turned-actors like Will “Formerly Known as the Fresh Prince” Smith, LL Cool J helped lay the blueprint for how to transition from hip-hop to film and television. Thirty years before he was solving crimes on NCIS: Los Angeles and hosting award shows like the Grammys, LL Cool J was a 17-year-old with a gold-certified album.…
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Buying a Home, Having a Baby: Are You Ready for Your Financial Future?
Harriette Cole is the author of the book of meditations 108 Stitches: Words We Live By and a contributing editor at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
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There Is Justice for 6-Year-Old Jeremy Mardis; There Should Be Justice for Black Children, Too
Jeremy Mardis did not deserve to die. I hesitated to write this piece because I did not want to politicize the 6-year-old’s death. I did not want to think about the five bullets that pierced his head and chest as he sat next to his father, Christopher Few, as Marksville, La., Marshals Norris Greenhouse Jr.…
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Black Athletes Who Protested Racism
It was a powerful image: black football players standing united against campus racism. The Missouri Tigers’ boycott of games and practices drew national attention. As the New York Times observed, after months of student and faculty protests, it was the team’s refusal to play that likely “dealt the fatal blow” that led to the resignation…
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This Tech Entrepreneur’s Got Game
For anyone who follows the tech sector, it isn’t news that black entrepreneurs struggle to attract investors to their ventures. In 2010 a CB Insights study found that less than 1 percent of venture-capital-backed business founders were black, and access to capital for black tech entrepreneurs hasn’t improved much in recent years. That struggle is…
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Am I Wrong to Question Him About His Sexual Orientation?
My boyfriend keeps asking me to have anal sex. Does that mean he’s gay? —Jacqui W. Not everyone who wants to have anal sex is gay. You are assuming that his sexual behavior has something to do with his sexual orientation or his sexual attractions. That is not always the case. However, you need to…