culture
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An Art Exhibit Revictimizes Michael Brown
Traditionally in black American communities, when someone dies, before the spirit-filled homegoing service and solemn funeral procession to the final resting place, there are those quiet moments in the embalming room between the deceased and the mortician, the dead and the artist. If death was by stroke and the face of the deceased is disfigured,…
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Black Girls Do Get Eating Disorders: I Did and I Survived
While most girls were prepping for prom, doodling their crush’s name in their notebooks and hanging out at the mall, I was dreading what size my prom dress would be, doodling in my notebook about how many calories/days/weeks it would take to be a size 3, and the only hangouts I would frequent were the…
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Beaten Up, Arrested, Jailed
Much has been said about the “stop snitching” culture, with tales of witnesses fearing retribution from criminals for speaking up in court, but what happens when the person saying “stop snitching” is not a criminal but a police officer? That’s the reality for some citizens who have recorded cellphone video of police misconduct. They have…
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10 Thoughts After Watching Netflix’s Excellent Nina Simone Documentary
I love being on the road, seeing the world, working on sets and getting paid to do what I love, but I also miss out on a lot. I suppose I could have made time to see What Happened, Miss Simone?, the highly anticipated documentary about Nina Simone, when it landed on Netflix in late…
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Bill Cosby Started Losing Black People Before the Rape Allegations
More than 30 women have accused Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them in incidents dating all the way to the 1960s. However, even before these accusations and his own admissions in a recently unsealed court deposition were reintroduced to the public, Cosby was already a controversial figure in the black community because of…
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John Singleton on Why Black Filmmakers Need to Tell Black Stories
The coming-of-age classic Boyz n the Hood is 24 years old this July. At the recent American Black Film Festival in New York City, where the movie was being screened by Turner Classic Movies, The Root contributor Reginald Ponder had a chance to speak with John Singleton, who was 22 years old when he directed his…
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Millennials Are Poised to Create Some Youthful Disruption
They can’t be ignored. Millennials—defined as those between ages 15 and 34—are set to become the largest living generation in the United States, representing one-third of the population. Millennials are projected to number 75.3 million this year, surpassing the projected 74.9 million baby boomers (ages 51 to 69) according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Millennials…
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Russell Wilson and Ciara Aren’t Having Sex and It’s Everybody’s Business
Let’s talk about sex. Not the kind of sex you’re having, or want to have or think you should be having. Let’s talk about famous-people sex, which is the kind we’re always talking about and reading about anyway. Earlier this week Russell Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback, was being interviewed in front of the congregation…
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The Sex-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline: How Girls of Color Are Unjustly Arrested and Incarcerated
In 2014, President Barack Obama announced My Brother’s Keeper, a desperately needed initiative to create educational and economic opportunities for black and brown boys and men. In addition to My Brother’s Keeper, there has been a new and emerging recognition that mass incarceration must come to an end, along with the school-to-prison pipeline that relegates…
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Get Your Kicks, Sneakerheads: Museum Exhibit Explores the Rise of Sneaker Culture
Sneakerheads, who have often been mocked and ridiculed for standing in long lines and spending hundreds of dollars—all for a pair of sneakers—may at long last get some vindication for their passion with the latest exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Enter “The Rise of Sneaker Culture,” a curated collection of about…