culture

After more than a decade spent in a variety of positions with IBM, Michael Ferguson found his true calling: beer. In 1989 he began working as a brewer, and that move launched a journey that has made him one of the public faces in American craft beer. Craft beer sales are skyrocketing; according to sales…

Before his interview on HuffPost Live with Marc Lamont Hill, the longest time I can recall listening to T.D. Jakes speak was during a recent episode of Braxton Family Values. And yet I found myself somewhat impressed by how he toed the line with respect to reconciling his place as a member of the clergy…

I’m knee-deep in it and truly don’t know what to do. I am getting married on Saturday. I have been having my “what if” moments, more than I thought I would. “What if” led me to my ex, the man I initially thought I would be with forever. I told him my thoughts. We talked and…

There is no doubt that African music is at the core of the native sounds for America, Brazil, Colombia and all of the Caribbean. In Argentina, the subject is a tad more controversial. Tango is the core music of the country and its neighbor Uruguay, yet in Argentina it has bordered on scandalous to suggest…

Straight Outta Compton, the story of Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, Andre “Dre” Young, O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson, Antoine “DJ Yella” Carraby and Lorenzo “MC Ren” Patterson, collectively known as N.W.A, is finally on the big screen. And unlike previous black music biopics, this one, because it digs deep and even creates a film that transports audiences…

I recently concluded a trial on a civil rights case. Without discussing the details, it was a case that was in the New England area, where I found myself daily in a courthouse with hardly a sign of another person of color anywhere. One or two marshals, but no judges, no law clerks, no custodians…

Straight Outta Compton is a film that brilliantly captures the energy of a group of friends raging against the post-industrial machine in a city on the brink of eruption. Directed by F. Gary Gray, Straight Outta Compton tells the story of N.W.A, one of the most notorious and iconic rap groups in music history, and…

On Sunday afternoon, I was at an annual event in Brooklyn, N.Y., which was attended by thousands of people, mostly young black professionals looking for a good time. In the crowd, I spotted a woman who left no doubt about why she’d shown up that day—not for the music or to hang with her girls…

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.