culture

(The Root) — Ethel and Eugene Arms have three children, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Now, after 49 years of marriage, the Birmingham, Ala., couple have something they’ve waited on for 50 years: prom memories. The Ullman High School sweethearts didn’t go to the prom in 1963, because for students who attended black high schools…

Colorlines‘ Imara Jones hopes that someone is paying attention to a recent report on how to fix the policy mess’s impact on communities of color.  Despite recent headlines trumpeting a return of America’s real estate market to its boom-time highs, a report released today by the Alliance for a Just Society shows how little of…

Emails released this week vindicate the former secretary of state hopeful. MSNBC‘s Morgan Whitaker, producer at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s PoliticsNation, asks where the Republicans are who accused her of incompetence and worse. Last fall Republicans launched a series of scathing attacks on Susan Rice as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations became the…

(The Root) — It’s tough being a black female athlete in America, especially if you’re crushing the competition in a predominantly white sport like tennis where fans have called you “nigger” midgame. In Venus and Serena, the new documentary that hit select theaters recently, director and producer Michelle Major and her team dug into the…

Dr. Aletha Maybank wonders in a piece for Ebony whether the celebrity-inspired buzz around prevention will help reduce racial disparities in treatment. Earlier this week, many of us were surprised to learn that Angelina Jolie made the brave choice to have a double mastectomy and then chose to share her story with the entire world…

(The Root) — The Chatterati is The Root’s new tool that uses a unique algorithm to highlight the tweets of some of the most influential African-American Twitter users, displaying up-to-the-minute topics, retweets and hashtags driving the conversation among blacks on the social network. Here’s where you come in. We’d like you to share a message and…

According to E! News, “multiple sources” have confirmed that Beyoncé and Jay-Z are expecting their second child. That would do something to explain the whole doctor-ordered-rest thing from earlier this week: Rumors first began churning that the Grammy winner was with child when, earlier this month, she walked the red carpet at the Met Gala wearing a…