For the first time ever, The Root teamed up with Very Smart Brothas and The Glow Up for a panel event all about black folks and the great outdoors. We tapped OWN publicist James Ward III and marketing and advertising professional Crystal Marie McDaniels, as well as our own Maiysha Kai, Damon Young and Panama Jackson…

It’s no coincidence that The Root is throwing a party with a purpose on the first day of Black History Month in one of America’s cities that is richest in black culture—New Orleans. It’s a city so bold, it doesn’t need its state attached to it. NOLA’s history is saturated in blackness—from Tremé to Congo Square, from…