culture
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Jay-Z Gets a Time 100 Cover: 'He Even Put a Ring on Beyoncé'
On Thursday, Time magazine revealed the 10th annual Time 100, its list of the 100 most influential people in the world. No one will be shocked to learn that Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett were among the African-American leaders honored from the political realm. We probably could have called Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Shonda Rhimes, Miguel, Frank…
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Iyanla and DMX: Entertainment or Exploitation?
In a piece for Clutch magazine, The Root’s contributing editor Demetria L. Lucas says the rapper clearly needs something, but it’s not for us to gawk and laugh at his situation. I don’t know exactly what is wrong with ol’ Earl “DMX” Simmons or what he needs. That’s over my head. But I know what…
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What Media Sex Appeal Means for Skylar Diggins
How things have changed in women’s basketball since the “nappy-headed hos” controversy. Colorlines‘ Jamilah King examines the media’s current fixation with the looks of the No. 3 pick in the WNBA draft. Six years ago, the biggest story in women’s basketball was about Don Imus calling the predominantly black Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy headed…
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Letter to Terrible People Who Make Tragedies Worse
Writing at Ebony, Michael Arceneaux has a few choice words — and some requests — for “Boston Marathon tragedy pimps.” I. When Something Horrible Happens To Other People, Don’t Make It About You and Your Cause Conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin used the Boston Marathon bombing to take a shot at her colleagues when…
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Have Black Americans Left Baseball?
(The Root) — While the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 has become a certified success, attracting a diverse audience on its way to becoming No. 1 at the box office during its opening weekend, black Americans are still facing barriers to the baseball field. The opening of 42 occurred several days before the annual celebration of…
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Why Don't Men Get Brokenhearted?
(The Root) — “Why is it always the women who are heartbroken and disappointed, as opposed to men?” —S.D. I’m unsure where this idea came from, but I’ve heard the assumption that “men don’t have feelings” enough to recognize that among some people, it’s a prevailing idea and one that couldn’t be further from the truth.…
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Georgia Teen Speaks Out on Integrated Prom
(The Root) — Seventeen-year-old Mareshia Rucker knows her mind and is not afraid to speak it. She’s one of the racially mixed group of student organizers who are putting together the first integrated prom at Wilcox County High School in Georgia, roughly a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Atlanta. She told The Root recently that the school,…
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Does 'Master Bedroom' Make You Think of Slavery?
Gawker is reporting on Wednesday that a survey of 10 major real estate developers in the Washington, D.C., area found that six no longer use the description “master bedroom” in the floor plans to describe the largest bedroom in the home. Why? Here’s their explanation: Because of negative associations with the word master — both…
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Apply for The Root Editorial Fellowship Program Today!
(The Root) — Is it your dream to have a cutting-edge journalism career? Are you an information hoarder with a wide-ranging news obsession — from gun control to the sequester to racism on Mad Men? Do you know who Desiline Victor is and why her story matters? Do you follow influencers on Twitter? Do you…
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No, Neither Asians nor Blacks All Look Alike
(The Root) — “I work in pharmaceutical sales in a territory that doesn’t have much racial diversity. Recently I greeted a young lady who works at one doctor’s office I visited with the wrong name. I’d confused her with the other Asian receptionist. She replied, ‘Oh, so we all look alike?’ or something to that…