culture
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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…
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Why the NFL Probably Won’t Fix Its Greg Hardy Problem … or Any Problem
Last week, Deadspin released images of the bruises Nicole Holder received when assaulted by then-boyfriend Greg Hardy, a star defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys, who, at the time of the assault, played for the Carolina Panthers. The images were included in an extensive and harrowing piece from Diana Moskovitz on the assault. And even…
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The University of Mo. President Just Got Burned by the Fires of Ferguson and Baltimore
“We’ve got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put fire out best with water. We say you don’t fight racism with racism. We’re gonna fight racism with solidarity.” —Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Someone started a fire on Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo. I…
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University of Mo. President Resigns, Proving That #SportsLivesMatter
The University of Missouri football team just got the school’s president, Tim Wolfe, to resign. Usually when you hear about a college president resigning in relation to athletics, a scandal has occurred and a combination of money, drugs and criminal behavior by some college players has forced him or her to step down. In this…