culture
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This Is Probably My Last Day at The Root Before Janet Jackson Hires Me as a Backup Dancer
First, I’d like to apologize to Editor-in-Chief Danielle Belton for lying to her when she interviewed me for this position that it was my dream job. At that point in my life, I thought playing point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers or starting at quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys was a long shot. More…
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‘Diversity of Thought’ Is Just a Euphemism for ‘White Supremacy’
Every so often a new phrase emerges that encapsulates the cunning Caucasian ability to keep power and dominance within their clutches by painting themselves as the oppressed class. Whether it is “reverse racism,” “Make America great again” or “separate but equal,” coining catchphrases as a means of maintaining white supremacy has been one of our…
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Of Art and Plunder: Why Black Curators Are Still Shut Out of the Art World—and Why It Matters
In the movie Black Panther, the first person we see Erik Killmonger confront is a white museum curator. Contemplative and curious, Killmonger gazes at a series of African artifacts—his locs, denim jacket and designer combat boots thrown into sharp relief by the female curator’s prim, blond cut and dark suit. He interrogates the white expert…
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The Difference Between Soul Food and Southern Cuisine, Explained
I was recently alerted to a troubling trend in the food industry by someone who contacted me to voice their outrage. The concerned citizen explained that there was a large population of people who were confused, or were being intentionally misled, about the difference between soul food and the more widely available fare often described…
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Kamilah Forbes’ Beautiful Struggle: Bringing Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me to the Stage
We are not crazy. We know all is not well. Despite what they say. We know that the “greatest country in the world” has never been. That our skin bears the mark that easily presages death. That our kin are in danger. We know that our bodies can be snatched at will, that our children…
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Atlanta, Donald Glover and the Invisibility of Black Genius
A few weeks ago, a video surfaced of a white kid named Cooper participating in a step show. Cooper’s enthusiasm immediately made him a YouTube sensation. Although the clip was cute, as I watched the video I realized that the black kids in the video were just as enthusiastic and worked just as hard as…
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10 Reasons Facebook Declared Trump’s Favorite Black Women, Diamond and Silk, ‘Unsafe’
After being banned from Wakanda, in a blatant act of discrimination and an example of the erasure of women of color, News commentators Diamond and Silk were deemed “unsafe to the community” by Facebook simply because they are black women liars who spread misinformation. Lynnette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, the two North Carolina…
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With Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B Crafted the Perfect Thot Bop Album
In a since-deleted post on Instagram, Azealia Banks, the poster child for self-destruction, launched another attack on hip-hop’s newest female superstar, Cardi B. News about Banks trolling a peer on social media in itself is as mundane as word about the color of the sky, but part of her critique—“Scary ass, ghost written, sucking and…
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Joy Reid and Black Twitter Offer Several Seats to Killer Mike
It is a vicious, slow-spreading bacteria that has infected some of the most well-meaning people of our time. Most often poisoning pulpit dwellers, the malady causes the victim—who usually has insight in one particular area—to believe he is a genius with answers to everything, including economics, history, politics and even behavior. After studying the syndrome…
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Roseanne Doesn’t Normalize Trump-Supporting Racists. It’s a Documentary
Although I might be in the minority of black people, I am willing to admit that I love ABC’s reboot of Roseanne. I haven’t watched a single episode—nor do I plan to—but I like the idea that it exists. As one of America’s foremost wypipologists, I didn’t enter this field of study because I find…