culture
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Justice League Is Trash and a Desperate Money Grab, but You’re Still Going to See It
The universe was giving me every sign that Justice League was going to be trash. I asked four friends, who usually love going to the movies, to go to the Justice League screening and the collective answers were “I’ve got Bible study,” “I’m mentoring” and “I’m sleeping,” until finally someone said, “I guess, since the…
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WTF Is Wrong With Alabama?
Dear Alabama, First, allow me to say that I like you. I’ve lived here for nine years, and when I told my friends and family that I planned to make a home in Alabama, the most frequent response that I received was, “But why, though?” I must admit that I don’t remember much about the…
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Wakanda Forever: On the Importance of Black Panther
The time has finally come. After waiting 20-odd years (read: my entire life), we are finally on the eve of Black Panther’s arrival. And by “eve,” I mean that finally, Black Panther will be the very next Marvel film to grace our eyeballs. Indeed. Come Feb. 16, 2018, black people across the African Diaspora will…
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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…