culture
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Black Mirror: ‘Black Museum’ Reckons With America’s History of Commodifying Black Pain
Who could have imagined that Black Mirror, a British science fiction series, would conclude its fourth season with an analogy that reckons with America’s sordid past? In the episode “Black Museum,” which employs the same format as Black Mirror’s “White Christmas” episode, the anthology within an anthology gives us brief tours into the horrors of…
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Judge of Characters: What Happens When White People Go Back to Their Roots?
As a fan of Justin Timberlake’s music (not his life choices), I must say that I am perplexed by how casual he was about sharing with the world that he’s going “back to his roots” with his new album, Man of the Woods. White people wanting to go back to their roots makes me nervous.…
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Lena Waithe’s The Chi Expertly Gives the People of Chicago Humanity and Backstories
The Chi is the type of TV show Chicago deserves. If you leave it to the media, the limited picture that’s painted of Chicago turns anyone who’s never been there away from ever coming to Chi-town because of the seemingly limitless examples of violence that plague the city. But we can’t allow the media to…
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Justin Timberlake’s New Single Is Not the Trump’s-America Tune Many Anticipated
I assumed that Justin Timberlake’s new single would end up being some ol’ bullshit. The second half of his last album, The 20/20 Experience, certainly was, and based on the trailer for his forthcoming album, Man of the Woods, I had no reason to assume that the legendary Ms. Britney Spears’ ex-boyfriend was going to…
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Tracing Your Roots: Where Was Grandpa Before World War II?
A town lost to history and a family fracture are among the factors complicating a search for ancestors. Dear Professor Gates: I have been trying to research my maternal line for 10-plus years, but I have not been able to find any documentation of my great-grandfather beyond his enlistment in World War II. I have…
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The Caucasity of Outrage Because Erica Garner’s Family Won’t Talk to White Journalists
After the death of Erica Garner, the 27-year-old daughter of police-brutality victim Eric Garner, many people who were aware of her activism were left with a sense of loss. Others, including some of the writers at The Root who knew and respected Erica, were stunned at the sudden death of someone so young and so…
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Why Fox News, Littlefinger and Horse Twitter Are Beefing with The Root, Explained
Of course I do. You look concerned. Is something wrong? Oh, that? Yeah, Tucker Carlson is beefing with The Root for being racist against white people. Tucker Carlson is a white man. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to minimize Tucker Carlson. Tucker Carlson is not just a white man; he’s the white man. When…
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Vagina Valuation: What Is Yours Worth?
Last week on Twitter, I saw a tweet from a young lady bragging about how she had the Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO apps on her phone, and she wasn’t paying for any of them. “Let me tell about this good pussy,” she crowed. All I could think was, “Sis, that sounds like some…
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The Root’s 2018 Horoscope and Prediction Guide for Black America
As we embark upon a new year, instead of looking back at the dumpster fire that was 2017, The Root has decided to look forward at what lies ahead for black America. To help us with our predictions, we contacted our own psychic and fortune-teller, LaQuanda “Punkin’” Damus, a distant relative of the heralded French…