culture

On Days 1 and 2 of the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival, which took place this past weekend in San Bernadino, Calif., two surprise performers stole the show from all the other artists, and they did so without appearing in the flesh. Similar to last year’s Tupac hologram performance at Coachella alongside Dr. Dre and…

(The Root) — “W. Kamau Bell is one of America’s few leftist black male feminists from San Francisco with his own television talk show, and for that alone he should be treasured,” Salon wrote last year. He’s also a straight, married young dad who’s an outspoken proponent of marriage equality and gay rights. Welcome to…

(The Root) — You know how sometimes you just know something, even when you have no proof? Call it a “feeling” in my gut or the past being a predictor of the future. But whatever it was, when I heard about 7-year-old Tiana Parker, who was being harassed by her school because of her locks,…

(The Root) — The doors of Birmingham, Ala.’s 16th Street Baptist Church are open seven days a week, and almost every day, visitors from across the country and around the world come to see the place where a bomb killed four little girls Sept. 15, 1963, at the height of the struggle for civil rights…

(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.  A young black woman, her face timeless yet somehow familiar, looks down with a sideways glance, her lips parted…

Have you seen Pariah? The 2011 coming-of-age film about a young lesbian was a Sundance darling. What about An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, a film that blended real-life actors with animation to tell the story of a man grief-stricken over a breakup? Or maybe you saw Medicine for Melancholy, a romantic indie film about two…

This past Friday, police arrested the two men who they suspect are responsible for the killing of 1-year-old Antiq Hennis of Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the Daily News. Although they received no help from Antiq Hennis’ father, Anthony Hennis, who was the original target and believed to have key information, police were able to track…

No one can grant anyone else permission to use the n-word, Gene Demby argues at the NPR blog Code Switch. There isn’t a consensus on whether or not black people should use it, and although white people aren’t encouraged to use it, there’s wiggle room there, too, depending on the person and context. There’s this…

Even though celebs like Nicki Minaj frequent strip clubs, black women should think critically about supporting such venues, Monique John argues at For Harriet. Historical exploitation of the black female body makes the decision all the more personal, political and complicated. Nicki Minaj. Rihanna. Diamond. Young B. These celebrities have made going to the strip…