culture
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Shop and Sweat With These Breast-Cancer-Awareness Supporters
It’s that time of year again, when charity turns pink: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer in the U.S. by the end of the year, and about 39,620 deaths from the disease. The statistics are alarming, and the effect on…
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How to Celebrate Columbus Day Like Columbus
Columbus Day—our annual recognition for and celebration of the man who discovered our amazing country—is finally here today. And I couldn’t be happier. Because no other holiday—not Christmas, not Thanksgiving, not even Arbor Day—is as fun to celebrate. Because while you probably can’t celebrate Easter like Jesus, you can actually celebrate Columbus Day like Christopher…
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Are You Frustrated With the Word ‘Female’?
Female, a word that seemingly has been a part of our everyday vernacular since forever, is the latest hot-button topic in the war regarding what you can and cannot say. Earlier this year, Jezebel’s Kara Brown singled out the problem with calling women “females,” unpacking how the term made her feel. Then, most recently on MTV’s…
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Wanted: Anyone Who Is Young, Fabulous and Female in Houston
Attention, all the young, black and gifted women in Houston: The Root’s Young, Fabulous and Female series continues in Houston Oct. 15 with moderator Devi Dev, a No. 1-rated personality heard daily on iHeartMedia’s 93.7 The Beat, as well as a television pop-culture correspondent for CBS affiliate KHOU. Join The Root and Toyota for a…
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A Million Man March That Leaves 20 Years of Reflection
Among the many feelings from 20 years ago, perhaps the most striking was defiance. Nothing like a “Let’s burn the National Mall down” defiance (even though anger was in much heavier supply back then, as it is now), but more of a “We’ll show them” defiance gassing our post-teen, boom-bap-hip-hop-soundtracked Gen X awe with the…
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The Weeknd and Nicki Minaj Deliver Steamy SNL Performance
Nicki Minaj was not billed as an official guest on Saturday Night Live, but she crashed the party anyway. Musical guest the Weeknd brought her out to perform a remix of “The Hills” during his Saturday Night Live debut. The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, sang the first half of the song solo…
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Watch: The Rock Dancing to ‘the Quan’ Will Make You Smile
In his latest post-gym Instagram workout, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson showed his excitement over completing a cardio workout. The 43-year-old wrestler-turned-actor posted a video of himself dancing to iHeartMemphis’ hit song “Hit the Quan,” alongside the words, “Post-cardio bliss.” This summer he posted another post-gym video as he danced to T Pain, writing, “#260lbsOfBrownEyedDancinSoul #PostWorkoutBliss…
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To Watch or Not to Watch Football: A Black Woman’s Conundrum
As the National Football League season is upon us, and at the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I’m compelled to confront a paradox many women face. The enlightened and forgiving among us understand the game as a rite of male passage from high school through adulthood. But we struggle with the symbolism and the violence.…
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After 35 Years, BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel Is Raising the Rafters for 1 Last Season
It had been rumored for a while, but when BET announced that this season of Bobby Jones Gospel—a show that premiered in 1980—would be its swan song, was the host sad? “Oh my goodness, it’s like losing a child,” said Jones by phone last week. Then he chuckled and the chuckle turned into a giggle,…
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The Million Man March: On the Bus
On the floor by my bed is one of the books that made me a journalist: Sylvester Monroe and Peter Goldman’s Brothers. (Goldman, I would learn later, wrote the biography The Death and Life of Malcolm X.) The book told the stories of black men struggling to survive in Chicago and beyond. I moved it…