culture
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Tracing Your Roots: My Confederate Ancestor Is on Monuments; Who Did He Own?
The debate over Confederate monuments inspires one woman to find the descendants of people her memorialized ancestor enslaved. Dear Professor Gates: I just read your previous column regarding the Confederate general Wade Hampton III, of whom I am a direct descendant. In it, you addressed whether there was a connection between Gen. Hampton and a…
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Snoop Dogg Doing Gospel Confuses the Hell Out of Me, but I’m Not Mad at These Bops for Christ
When I got a press email announcing that Snoop Dogg had a gospel project, a double album titled Bible of Love, on the horizon, I immediately took a screenshot of the message and forwarded it to a few friends and posed the same question: “When did that nigga get saved?” Granted, perhaps I was a…
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America: Wakanda for White People
Before most of black America pulled their dashikis over their head and threw kente cloths over their shoulders for the Black Panther premiere, they had collectively anticipated the premise of the movie with an unnatural excitement. Much of the hype had nothing to do with the storyline or the fact that the Marvel Universe had…
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There’s a Theory That if Black People Buy Guns, It Could Stop the NRA’s War on Kids; It Won’t
Before one begins any discussion about the gun debate, it is necessary to dismiss the slow-thinking zealots from the room by pointing out that two things can be true: I can believe that Church’s fried chicken is actually deep-fried Triceratops raised on a secret Jurassic Park-type farm, and it tastes delicious. I also believe that…
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Audiences Across Africa Hail Black Panther for Humanizing Black Characters
On Sunday night, I sat in a crowded room in Canal Olympia Téranga, the only movie theater in Dakar, Senegal, that was showing Black Panther. With all the seats around me occupied, I waited to see what the “black people” in the movie would look like, what they would sound like. Would they use that…
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Why I Decided to Become a Black Conservative
A few months ago, The Root began a series of stories under the name “I Tried It,” chronicling the experiences of writers who were willing to step outside their comfort zones to try things they normally wouldn’t consider. Some were incredibly adventurous, like senior reporter Terrell Jermaine Starr’s visit to one of the most radioactive…
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The Trouble With Hero Worship: Is #TeamKillmonger Also #TeamToxicMasculinity?
Editor’s note: Multiple spoilers ahead. After this blockbuster weekend, we’re all talking about Marvel’s Black Panther. We’re talking about the powerful women of the Dora Milaje and the scene-stealing M’Baku (Winston Duke), and we even got a new handshake to share with our folk. But as excitement reached its peak after our first look, or…
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You Have to See Black Panther in a Black Movie Theater to Really Understand It
Press screenings aren’t at all representative of what it’s like to roll up to a theater with your friends to see the latest blockbuster. Everyone’s fixated on the screen, and the movie’s jokes may get a laugh or two, but because most everyone there is there working, it’s just not the same as sitting back…
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Killmonger Was Wrong, and Y’all Know It
Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for the film Black Panther. I am not here to defend the Black Panther movie. Now, I happen to like it. It was well-acted and moving and is probably the second-best Marvel movie after Captain America: Winter Soldier, but that’s just me. All black people don’t have to like…
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Can’t We All Just Get Along? Black Panther Is Revisionist History
Editor’s note: There are spoilers here. I admittedly missed a couple of key details during my first trip to Wakanda. Something about a nerdtastic property holding such cultural significance put me in a state of bliss. So I made a return trip, you know, to make sure I didn’t miss anything. (Yeah, sure. That’s the…