Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude

Michelle Obama

Donald Trump Calls President Barack Obama 'a Very Good Man' at White House Meeting

Despite previous tense clashes and years during which Donald Trump questioned President Barack Obama’s American heritage, the president-elect called the president “a very good man” in Thursday’s much-anticipated White House meeting. Trump said that he had “great respect” for Obama, saying that the two met for about an hour and a half in a meeting…

By

Breanna Edwards

Published

November 10, 2016
News

8 Years a President: Thoughts on 2 Terms of a Black President and Black First Family

It’s a tall task to assess the entirety of President Barack Obama’s two terms in office, to cull an ultimate judgment from all the success and missteps of his administration, and then measure that against the unprecedented obstructions it faced. One can point to the decline in deficit and the growth of gross domestic product,…

By

The Root Staff

Published

November 1, 2016
President Obama and First Lady, Please Do These 10 Blackest Things Before You Leave

The Obamas haven’t been the typical presidential family. From moving Michelle’s mama into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to hosting rappers and poetry sessions, this couple has done away with tradition and brought some much-needed life (and color) to the White House. Now, with only a few months until they leave the Oval Office, there are 10…

By

Chanté Griffin

Published

October 27, 2016
News

Sometimes It’s Perfectly OK to Hate Those Who Believe in Your Oppression

When Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high,” she offered a succinct and strong defense of dignity. The idea is that simply because someone else—in this case, Donald Trump—resorts to a certain level of campaigning that many find debasing doesn’t mean everyone else should join him in the mud pool. It’s a…

By

Michael Arceneaux

Published

October 26, 2016
Very Smart Brothas

Michelle Obama Is The Best Thing About America

A few weeks from now, the country will decide if Donald Trump — a unabashed bigot, racist, misogynist, xenophobe, charlatan, and chickenhawk — will be our next President; the person we choose to be America’s representative to the rest of the world; essentially the most important motherfucker on Earth. He will probably (hopefully) lose the election.…

By

Damon Young

Published

October 13, 2016
Michelle Obama on Donald Trump’s Sexual Assault Comments: ‘They Have Shaken Me to My Core’

President Obama has “Luther” as his anger translator, and Hillary Clinton has Michelle Obama as her “tell it like it is” translator. During a stop on Clinton’s campaign trail Thursday, the first lady gave a speech that blew away the crowd. Obama’s powerful and emotional speech came down on Donald Trump’s vulgar comments about women…

By

Yesha Callahan

Published

October 13, 2016
Very Smart Brothas

On Slowly But Surely Accepting The Fact That President Obama Kinda Sucks When Talking To And About Black People

A few months ago, I was asked to contribute to The Meaning of Michelle — a collection of essays about Michelle Obama’s influence and legacy. My chapter (“Crushing on Michelle: Or the Unapologetic Power of Blackness”) makes a reference to the psychic impact the Obama family’s presence has had on Black America, and how our collective cathartic…

By

Damon Young

Published

October 3, 2016
Very Smart Brothas

Michelle Obama's Embrace Of Feckless War Criminal George Bush Is The Blackest Thing That Ever Happened Last Week

There’s no escaping capital letter Whiteness. Not here, at least. This is an immutable fact about America that Black Americans instinctively and grudgingly process and attempt to navigate through. Of course, there are spaces large and small we can create (and have created) that offer a suitable — if temporary — respite from it. Spaces…

By

Damon Young

Published

September 26, 2016
News

A Historic Museum Featuring #APeoplesJourney Opens on the National Mall

Saturday morning marked a monumental day for America, a day that many believed would never come: the opening day of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution. NMAAHC was established by an act of Congress in 2003 under the authorization of President George W. Bush. But that, of course, was not…

By

The Root Staff

Published

September 25, 2016
Very Smart Brothas

10 Breakups That Would Totally Absolutely Devastate Black America More Than Brangelina's

My cousin, the unsinkable sarah huny young, and I regularly frequent the same coffee shop. But we rarely see each other there because she’s usually there early (9am to 1:30-ishpm) and I usually don’t get there until after 2pm. Today, however, I had a meeting there at noon and was able to chop it up…

By

Damon Young

Published

September 20, 2016