culture
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The Real Anti-Blackness of Comedy
Tiffany Haddish has had quite a year. From her breakout role in the film Girls Trip to landing her own comedy special on Netflix, Haddish has become quite the household name. Recently she had the opportunity to be the first black comedienne to host Saturday Night Live in the show’s 42-year run. While much of…
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Every Argument Against Commonsense Gun Control Broken Down to Its Idiotic Nonsense
Baby killing is bad. It is difficult for Americans to come to a consensus on almost anything. Some people think Kevin Hart is funny. There are people out there who believe Beyoncé is fair to middling in the looks department. The Root employs a full-blown Nazi. (She isn’t a white supremacist or anything, but she…
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‘Sometimes I Just Don’t Wanna Be Here Anymore’: On Black Children and Suicide
A scarred brown palm flew in the air. A squeaky preteen voice followed: “Can you tell me how to cope with suicidal thoughts? Because sometimes I just don’t wanna be here anymore.” I was sitting in front of a class of middle schoolers who were reading my book, Raw Wounds, when a student asked that…
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A Guide to Fantasy and Science Fiction Made for Black People, by Black People
Last week, Marvel unveiled a line of Black Panther character posters that snatched the souls out of every living melanated human being. Black Panther (1966) was the first black superhero in mainstream American comics, later followed by characters such as Luke Cage (1972) and Black Lightning (1977). Although Marvel’s comics feature myriad characters varying in…
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Brett Talley, Louis C.K., The Root 100 and the Whitest Week Ever
This week, while scrolling through Twitter, I ran across a video of author, explainer of blackness, and one of my picks to send in our delegation when the aliens arrive and ask black America to “take us to your leader,” Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates was speaking at a high school when a student asked him to…
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Reproductive Justice for Black Women, Latinas, More Critical Than Ever
For the past three years, the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, or COLOR, along with dozens of partners, has hosted a Halloween-themed social media conversation on Twitter about the frightening facts and the disparate outcomes in health, wealth, safety and well-being that reproductive-justice warriors like Sister Song have been fighting to address…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Gray Area
I want to dedicate this mailbag to my hangover. I think someone slipped a headache into my drink last night at The Root 100 gala. It’s either a hangover or I have sudden-onset brain cancer. That’s not a thing, is it? Or maybe it was Social Media Editor Corey Townsend screaming the lyrics to Cardi…
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Tracing Your Roots: What Are My In-Laws’ Texas Slavery Roots?
Her mother-in-law’s paternal roots lie in what was once Texas’ richest county, made so off the backs of slaves. Dear Professor Gates: My mother-in-law is in her mid-80s, and per her request, I would like to do what I can to find information about her father’s family. I have searched on Ancestry.com and I am…