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In Memoriam: The Ones We Lost in 2011
Horton was a founding member and lead singer of the Marvelettes, the first girl group signed to Berry Gordy’s fledgling label, Motown Records. The group’s 1961 hit “Please Mr. Postman” gave Motown its first No. 1 song and paved the way for the label’s other girl groups — the Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas.…
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Black Bucket List: Top 10 Destinations
James Weeks, a freedman, purchased land in 1838 in what is now Bed-Stuy. He established Weeksville, a village of free African Americans — laborers, laundresses, craftsmen, doctors, entrepreneurs and professionals. The community was “rediscovered” by community activists in 1968, and in 2005 the Weeksville Heritage Center restored four houses, which feature furnishings, clothing, artifacts and…
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2011: The Revolutions Were Televised
In December 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a young vegetable seller, sets himself on fire in protest after police confiscate his cart and beat him. He later dies. Citizens take to the streets to decry high unemployment, corruption and police violence. Many are killed as the government cracks down on the protests. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali,…
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Black Artists: Art Basel Miami Beach 2011
Thomas is a visual artist and photographer whose work often merges race, history and popular culture. And One looks at labor within the basketball world. Thomas was most recently a fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University (headed by The Root’s editor-in-chief, Henry Louis Gates Jr.), where he completed a project on…
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Herman Cain's Top 10 Greatest Hits
Lauren is a former Deputy Editor of The Root. Herman Cain recently went on the offensive — telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that an acquaintance (who turned out to be Atlanta businesswoman Ginger White) would soon be alleging that they had a 13-year affair. It’s a change of pace from recent weeks, during which Cain has…
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Black Celebs Leading the Fight Against AIDS
Actor Glover has a long history of activism, supporting causes from raising awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur to supporting union and farm workers. So it’s little wonder that the Lethal Weapon star is an outspoken supporter of HIV awareness and prevention. A member of the Black AIDS Institute’s board of directors and a…
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Admin Test Slideshow
Cool-Breeze Air Conditioning supervisor Mike Trent (left) and recently hired Mike Turner install an air conditioner in a Miami Beach hotel on Jan. 6, 2012. The most recent jobs report indicated that 200,000 jobs were created in December, and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 percent. Former Boyz II Men member Michael McCary (second from…
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Exclusives From the 2011 Soul Train Awards
The Root: What were your thoughts on Heavy D’s death? KB: Just to see someone like that that’s here today and gone the next day is really, really shocking. I don’t know anyone on the planet who ever said anything bad about Heavy D. Everyone loved him. That’s why I’m here to pay tribute to…
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A Tribute to Hip-Hop's Pioneers
Considered the father of hip-hop, the Jamaican-born disc jockey created the “breakbeat” through experimentation at dance parties, during which he’d break the song by isolating and repeating the beats, which would extend the song and create a new track that would keep the dance floor moving. The legendary Bronx, N.Y.-born disc jockey’s Planet Rock with…
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A Star-Studded Send-Off for Heavy D
If you want to see what’s hot on black Twitter, check out The Chatterati.Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter. Hamilton, who sang “A Change Is Gonna Come” as a tribute to Heavy D at his funeral, arrives at the Grace Baptist Church in Mount…