culture

Nina Simone was one of a kind. Her voice, a striking, resonant contralto, could convey a clarion call to action or a deep reservoir of emotion. Her music is cherished by nearly everyone who knows it, but her legacy, well, that’s a little more complicated. Simone, who died in 2003, lived a tumultuous life. She…

The third season of the ancestry-research program Finding Your Roots, hosted by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., has been postponed by PBS after a determination that an episode of the program featuring actor Ben Affleck violated the network’s standards. In a strongly worded statement, PBS announced that the network is “postponing the scheduling of…

Celebrity privilege, white privilege, black privilege—all the same. They are all conditions that allow people to believe they are better than others, can act in a way others cannot, and can be afforded luxuries and benefits reserved for those in that privileged class.  Taken to an extreme, privilege often has you thinking that you can…

My long-distance significant other and I have been dating for a little over two years. It’s serious. Ring shopping has happened; he’s met my dad (no man in my life ever gets to meet Dad). Anyway, his daughter’s birthday is coming up, and we agreed that I would be attending this year. I couldn’t last…

Some of us have had that experience of awakening to what’s going on in the world. Whether it’s from watching a movie documenting the civil rights movement or reading about the life of Malcolm X, there comes a point in time when young black Americans “wake up” and start reading and researching about the issues…

For black America, the church has long symbolized freedom, faith and reconciliation. Since slavery days, it has always been a place for refuge and deliberation and a catalyst for great change. It is where many blacks learned to love, find fellowship and praise, study, sing and honor their history. Church is the place where black…

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. 

The Caribbean is a vibrant collection of people, cultures, sights and sounds. Yet those various layers of the region are often lost behind inaccurate stereotypes. Before National Caribbean-American Heritage Month concludes, let’s unravel some myths about the West Indies. Perhaps this will highlight the not-so-hidden gems in a place that millions of people call home.…