What does it mean to be a powerful woman? This is the question New York magazine’s Women and Power issue explores, interviewing and profiling some of the world’s most well-known women—and many who wield the power behind the scenes.

It’s no rare thing to be shoe-obsessed, but when it comes to the sneaker-obsessed, writer, producer and actress Lena Waithe is one of a rare breed. Waithe owns over 100 pairs, using her kicks to accent an eclectically casual wardrobe primarily comprised of “queer designers who happen to be brown and makin’ shit,” as…

“Tonight’s honorees represent our radiance and our royalty … Thank you all for showing the world how bright we shine and how hard we rock,” said Black Girls Rock! founder Beverly Bond, speaking to the audience at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center during the Black Girls Rock! Awards, which aired on BET on Sunday…

The ceremony won’t be televised until Sept. 9, but on Sunday night at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, N.J., black girl magic was on full display as an array of our established and future icons hit the red carpet for Black Girls Rock! 2018.

Lena Waithe doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for who she is, how she loves or why she cut her famous locs last month; but the writer, actress and producer graciously gave one to Vanity Fair’s cameras while on the red carpet for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Grants Banquet on Thursday night.

Unless you have been living under a social media rock for the better part of the last ten years, you’ve probably heard of Kid Fury. He is the co-host of the popular podcast The Read, but before that, he was a successful vlogger on YouTube with his “Furious Thoughts” videos. The internet sensation can now add another…

For many around the country, the brutal murder of Nia Wilson, an 18-year-old black woman killed last Sunday night at a BART station platform in Oakland, Calif., hit close to home.

Sometimes, you just gotta let it all go ... which is exactly what writer, producer and actor Lena Waithe did over the weekend when she traded her trademark locs with shaved sides for a low fade with a curved side part, created by Barber Doll the Slayer.

Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the “unbought and unbossed” Shirley Chisholm to Saturday night’s MTV Movie & TV Awards, Trailblazer Award honoree Lena Waithe proved that she will always use her platform to elevate the marginalized, transforming her moment at the podium into a tribute to the gay and transgender icons…

On the heels of becoming the first black woman to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, Lena Waithe will be honored with the Trailblazer Award at next month’s MTV Movie & TV Awards.

Go down a wormhole, but make it fashion. This was pretty much how I spent Tuesday night, watching video after video on Vogue’s YouTube channel, where all of our Met Gala faves were featured talking fashion, true confessions, and their takes on the night’s theme, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”

Monday night’s 2018 Met Gala in New York City was an incredible opportunity for deeply spiritual fashion moments. The theme? “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” But while the theme was ripe with possibility, some of our faves fell—dare we say it?—a bit short on delivery.

By now you know that we love red carpets here at The Glow Up. And you hopefully also know how much we love black people. So we are understandably excited for the return of Netflix’s Dear White People, which premieres its second season today, Friday, and celebrated the premiere Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Here’s a dynamic duo we didn’t see coming but thoroughly enjoyed Sunday night: To kick off their week in Hollywood, Calif.—coupled with the airing of The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s 10th reunion special—Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen paired up NeNe Leakes and Emmy winner and RHOA superfan Lena Waithe…

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you go see Ready Player One.

If you’re a follower of Hollywood, politics and society—or a journalist who covers all three—you’re likely familiar with Vanity Fair. Though first published from 1913 to 1936, the magazine as we know it today has been in print since 1983 and until recently was under the editorial direction of Graydon Carter, who took…

Just when we were longing for last year’s heavily melanated Oscars red carpet, the 11th Annual Essence Women in Hollywood Awards luncheon reminds us that our next surprise win may be much sooner than we think ... and we can’t wait.

While many people may have heard Mo’Nique’s “cries” about the gender and color bias in Hollywood and rolled their eyes, there were others of us who wholeheartedly agreed with her. Inequality reigns supreme in Hollywood. It’s the reason Jessica Chastain helped Octavia Spencer negotiate a higher salary. It’s the reason …

Actress Tiffany Boone gets satisfaction from showing the humanity of Chicagoans.

We here at The Root have already weighed in on Step Sisters, the Netflix movie in which a black woman teaches white coeds how to step, the African-American cultural tradition where one’s body is used as an instrument.