culture
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How Black-ish Went From WTF? to Must-See TV in 10 Easy Steps
As we prepare for the season 1 finale of ABC’s Black-ish, let’s take a look back at how Black-ish quickly became one of America’s favorite new sitcoms. 1. Remember when the Black-ish trailer first aired, promising the story of a well-to-do African-American father grappling with how to ensure that his family maintains a sense of cultural identity in the face…
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Calling All Men in Atlanta to Attend The Root’s manCODE Event
We’re calling on the men of the Atlanta metropolitan area to join The Root for an empowering evening of brotherhood, dialogue and learning. After a successful event in New York City, The Root’s annual manCODE series moves south to Atlanta with a dynamic men-only conversation on June 17. For those who are unfamiliar with manCODE,…
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What Every 30-Year-Old Should Know About Money
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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Happy X Day? The Case Against a Federal Holiday for Malcolm X
There has been no federal holiday designated to honor Malcolm X, and on Tuesday, on what would have been his 90th birthday—in the midst of the continued devaluation of black bodies and the dismissal of black truth—the question on some people’s minds is: Should there be? He was born May 19, 1925, as Malcolm Little…
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Is Being Mentally Ill in America a Crime?
In March, Dallas police were called to the house of a black family where a man, a member of the family, had a screwdriver. Police were told that the man was mentally ill, yet the police did not act in accordance with the established protocol of talking and calming. Instead they shot him dead. While…
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In the Rush to Aid Baltimore’s ‘Minority-Owned Businesses,’ Will Black Businesses Be Left Out?
Prominent black conservative political activist Ali Akbar couldn’t contain his right-side-of-things glee. Just moments after a random reporter’s tweet described Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s dismay at the loss of more than 200 “minority-owned” local businesses in the Baltimore unrest, Akbar grabbed the Twitter mic in a May 3 burst of awkward black outreach. “So…
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African Immigrants: Highly Educated and Underemployed in America
Back home in Guinea, West Africa, Nasser Diallo had a law degree and a good job working as a political journalist for a radio station. That all came to an end in 2009, he said, when the military abruptly opened fire at a protest he was covering, massacring dozens “until they ran out of bullets.”…
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Fall TV 2015: Networks Get a Clue About Diversity
The big four broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox—made their “upfront” presentations last week to announce their fall prime-time lineups, as well as 2016 midseason replacements, which usually begin airing between January and March. Although Fox’s megahit Empire arrived a little late in the season to have a huge effect on the upcoming season’s new…
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Coming of Age in the Time of the Hoodie
Earlier this year I decided to read Joe Brainard’s cult classic, I Remember. The book had long intrigued me for I had heard that it was widely taught in creative writing courses and was a favorite of many authors, including several well-known authors whose work I admire. I was immediately drawn to Brainard’s style, each…
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For Black Scholars at PWIs, Speaking Truth to Power on Social Media Can Be ‘Professional Suicide’
African-American scholars at predominantly white institutions are faced with a challenge that resonates from the streets of Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.: Tiptoe lightly around white supremacy or face consequences. Saida Grundy, an incoming associate professor of sociology and African-American studies at Boston University, faced swift condemnation this week…