culture
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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…
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The Root 100 Is Tonight … and You Aren’t Ready
It’s. About. To. Go. Down. I know this because last night, despite having my dress and accessories planned weeks in advance, I found myself at the Zara store across from The Root’s office holding a pair of red-black-and-green heels. “Woke-ass heels,” as I now call them. So woke, they felt too good to be a…
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Why Is Society Intent on Erasing Black People in Fantasy and Sci-fi’s Imaginary Worlds?
Over the weekend I binge-watched 3%, a dystopian sci-fi Netflix original set in Brazil. The plot was rife with quirks and unexpected turns, but the biggest surprise of all was that the diversity in the show reflected the diversity in Brazil. The cast featured myriad shades and races, absent the stereotypical casting, such as the…
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Replacing Confederate Fables With Black-Girl Magic: UVA Honors Vivian Pinn
Editor’s note: Once a month, the National Interest column will tackle broader questions about what the country should do to increase educational opportunities for black youths. “I still remember my first trip to UVA, to the hospital, was in the ’50s,” the renowned physician Vivian Pinn recounted to board directors of the National Medical Association…