culture
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Powerful, Immersive Play As Much as I Can Brings Voices of Southern Gay Black Men and HIV/AIDS Awareness to Harlem
Currently, Angels in America, the most Tony Award-nominated play in history, is smack in the middle of its much anticipated revival on Broadway in New York City. Debuting in 1992, Tony Kushner’s iconic and surreal tale tackles external and internal homophobia, Reaganism, McCarthyism and the AIDS epidemic in a much grittier mid-’80s New York City.…
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‘White Caller Crime’: The Worst Wypipo Police Calls of All Time
According to the global white agenda, every year, white people pick one slogan on which they will focus their undivided attention. While they are certainly capable of multitasking their oppression, they like to devote their energy to specific marketing campaigns. In 2016 the “alt-right’s” “Make America great again” motto overtook 2015’s “All Lives Matter” as…
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Breaking All Barriers: Funny Gal Amber Ruffin Hosts the 2018 Webby Awards
For the very first time (yes, we’re still doing that in 2018), a black woman, Amber Ruffin, will be hosting the annual Webby Awards, aka “the Oscars of the internets” (my words). Ruffin, a comedian and comedy writer for Late Night With Seth Meyers, as well as a writer for Drunk History and many other…
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A Sincere Apology to the Strong Black Men Being Attacked by #TheRootArticles
As someone whose job is writing about race, I often receive a broad spectrum of criticism from people aggrieved by my inherent bigotry. My inbox is constantly wet from the salty white tears of Mayo Americans upset about The Root’s anti-white agenda. Apparently, when I and other writers at The Root point out white supremacy,…
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My Mother’s Daughter, a Multigenerational Talk About Motherhood, Part 5: Rasheedah
Editor’s note: This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, The Glow Up interviewed four generations of mothers within a single Harlem family that recently welcomed its fifth generation. We’ve asked these mothers, ages 19 to 83, the same 12 questions about motherhood, daughterhood and matriarchy. This final installment is the conclusion—and also the beginning—of their stories. …
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Beyond the Blue
Vibrantly glowing inside a dark hall, a small ball of fire burned suspended midair. The flaming orb bounced upward, lingering shortly, before landing in Princess Inara’s palm. Her brown eyes stared intently into the flame as if it were a mystical crystal ball. Unfortunately, she found no answers to her problems hidden within the circular…
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My Mother’s Daughter, a Multigenerational Talk About Motherhood, Part 4: Aissatou
Editor’s note: This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, The Glow Up interviewed four generations of mothers within a single Harlem family that recently welcomed its fifth generation. We’ve asked these mothers, ages 19 to 83, the same 12 questions about motherhood, daughterhood and matriarchy. These are their stories. If you want to know about a…
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Breaking In: Gabrielle Union Plays One Bad Mother
The opening of Breaking In is jarring and confusing and sets the tone for the rest of the roughly 90-minute film, which could best be described as Panic Room-meets-Eye for an Eye—with black people. A handsome, older black man is jogging through a residential neighborhood when he is suddenly and without warning struck by a…
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My Mother’s Daughter, a Multigenerational Talk About Motherhood, Part 3: Moji
Editor’s note: This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, The Glow Up interviewed four generations of mothers within a single Harlem family that recently welcomed its fifth generation. We’ve asked these mothers, ages 19 to 83, the same 12 questions about motherhood, daughterhood and matriarchy. These are their stories. Full disclosure: Moji Alawode-El and I have…
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Gillian Jacobs Is the ‘Life of the Party’ On-Screen, but Not So Much, She Says, in Real Life
Pittsburgh native Gillian Jacobs’ characters always seem to have a wild side to them. From her wild-child character Mickey on Netflix’s Love to her role on the recently released movie Life of the Party, in which she stars as Helen, a “Girls Gone Wild” college student, you’d think that Jacobs might have something in common…