culture
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Peabody Awards Celebrate Stories in Different Media
Storytelling across electronic media was celebrated on Monday at the 73rd annual Peabody Awards ceremony, which took place at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. Among the recipients of the esteemed award was The Root’s editor-in-chief, Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr., who accepted the award for his PBS documentary series The African Americans:…
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Two Men Arrested for Sagging Pants in South Carolina Waffle House
Two men whose pants were sagging low enough to show their boxers were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after a security guard at a South Carolina Waffle House told them to pull their pants up or leave the restaurant. According to the Smoking Gun, Andrew Gehring and Donovan Johnson, both 22, became belligerent and…
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NBA Issues Charges Against Donald Sterling, Vote Set for June 3
The divorce proceedings involving owner Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers were officially set in motion Monday when the NBA charged the embattled owner with “damaging the league and its teams with his racist comments,” the Associated Press reports. Sterling has less than 10 days to respond to charges and then a hearing will…
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Michael Jackson’s High Musical Standards Still Resonate on Xscape
The ghost of Michael Jackson appeared during Sunday night’s broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards, but the holographic stunt pales in comparison to the actual ghost of Jackson that still haunts the vaults at Sony Music. Or so Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley might say, expressing in the 20-minute making-of video that accompanies the digital release of…
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Sherri Shepherd’s Divorce: Is It a Wake-Up Call for Women?
Though she and her co-hosts regularly discuss the marital woes of other celebrities on their daytime talk show, The View, in recent days Sherri Shepherd has been noticeably silent about the relationship problems of one particular celebrity: her. Multiple outlets have reported that Shepherd’s husband of three years, Lamar Sally, filed separation papers with Shepherd and…
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PTSD in the Inner City Needs a Name That Respects Its Victims
Editor’s note: The Root has not been able to independently confirm that any researchers coined the term “hood disease.” The CBS station in San Francisco that originally reported this story has removed references to “hood disease” from its online report. It has been widely reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others…
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About Dean Baquet Not Having a College Degree
Editor’s note: In a profile about its new executive editor, the New York Times reported that Dean Baquet does not have a college degree. Baquet dropped out of Columbia University after his sophomore year after landing a summer internship at a New Orleans newspaper that he parlayed into a full-time job. The revelation took many by surprise…
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Police Commissioner Who Called Obama the N-Word Resigns
The 82-year-old police commissioner who was overheard calling President Obama the N-word and would later refuse to apologize citing that the president meets all of his criteria for being called such, has resigned amid heavy political pressure and national outrage, The Washington Post reports. Police officials confirmed to the Post that Robert Copeland turned in…
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12 Years A Mannequin: Store Displays Slave Outfit With DVD
An English supermarket is showing its patrons how to get the latest in slave fashion. According to The Independant, an Oxford, England location of English grocery store Sainbury’s put a poorly planned mannequin next to its display for the 12 Years A Slave DVD and Blu-ray release. The mannequin is dressed like Solomon Northup, tattered…
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Next Season, Let’s See SNL Do Better at Portraying Black Women
Two week after Leslie Jones’ controversial segment on slavery, I was very worried about this week’s season finale of Saturday Night Live. With the frenzy surrounding what happened between Solange, Jay Z and Beyoncé in that elevator last week, I was sure a sketch was coming. For the past week across Twitter, gossip sites and…