culture

In her national Diet Dr. Pepper commercial, ballerina Misty Copeland, 31, declares, “I am one of a kind.” Indeed, the black ballerina, who is Italian, African and German, looks like no others in her peer group at the American Ballet Theatre. But as proud as she may be to be one of a kind, she…

Four men in their early 20s have been charged in last week’s mass shooting spree in Chicago that injured 13 people, including a 3-year-old boy. Tabari Young and Brad Jett, both 22, along with Bryon Champ, 21, and Kewane Gatewood, 20, have been charged. Young is being singled out as the shooter, according to the…

(The Root) — I don’t hate many things. I’m pretty good at keeping that emotion in check. But here’s a short list of things I hate: 1. Bigots 2. Misogynists 3. Terrorists, including American terrorists, here and abroad, and especially the ones who stand on street corners harassing women who pass by 4. The willfully…

(The Root) — On Oct. 2, 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo began a shooting spree around the Washington, D.C., area — a string of attacks that left 10 dead and three seriously wounded. The snipers terrorized D.C. for more than three weeks before being caught about 40 miles outside the city. Now…

(The Root) — As a fan of animals and a nonfan of discrimination, I was compelled to write years ago about a topic I had begun hearing about from fellow animal lovers and shelter volunteers: doggie discrimination. Before anyone laughs, the topic is very serious — in fact, deadly serious. According to anecdotal evidence compiled…

The 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were painstakingly blasé, Neil Drumming opines at Salon. There were a few eyebrow-raising moments related to “racial and sexuality politics,” but nothing pushed the envelope.  My editor also suggested that I discuss the show’s “racial and sexuality politics.” As a whole, the telecast felt safely and thankfully apolitical to me. As far…

(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. The Adoration of the Magi is one of the most enduring images in Christian art. It not only evokes…

(The Root) — Carol and Willie Fowler had reservations for 200 at the high-end fine-dining Italian restaurant and special-event space Villa Christina in their hometown of Atlanta. The dinner was originally intended to celebrate the wedding of their daughter, Tamara, but 40 days before the planned nuptials, Tamara told them the wedding was off, leaving them with…

(The Root) — It’s almost Scandal time again, and those of us who survived the withdrawal are already planning our wine-and-popcorn parties for the premiere on Oct. 3. Last season’s finale left us with tons of burning questions with which we’ve had to suffer for months. Now, with Scandal’s return a mere 10 days away,…