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Lauren is a former Deputy Editor of The Root. Paris Dennard of the Republican National Committee; the NAACP’s Stephanie Brown; Gary Flowers of the Black Leadership Forum; Charles Ellison, host of The New School on XM/Sirius radio; panel moderator and BET White House correspondent Andre Showall; and communications professional and 2008 Barack Obama campaign aide…

Lauren is a former Deputy Editor of The Root. Shaquille O’Neal, with Hoops, his reality-star girlfriend, dressed as a character he calls Shaqueeta. Even better than seeing Shaq in a dress is seeing him lip-sync to Beyoncé while wearing a dress. He posted a video of his performance on Twitter over the weekend. Janet Jackson…

Comedians Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart perform at “The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” on the National Mall. Nice pants, Mr. Colbert! The stage for the “Restore Sanity and/or Fear” rally.  Black Thought of the Roots performs. The Roots were the “house band” for the event. John Legend, one of the 2010 honorees of…

Lauren is a former Deputy Editor of The Root. Ntozake Shange’s work was first staged in 1975 in San Francisco. Two years later, the choreopoem was published as a book, creating countless fans of Shange’s work. Tyler Perry would not have been most For Colored Girls fans’ first choice as writer and director of a…

Oh, thank you for calling it fabulous! Since you threw in that compliment, it’s now totally fine to call what appears to be a natural head of curly hair “ghetto.” To the Kohl’s costume buyer who chose this one: Your “Ignorant Awesome” costume is on its way. (To the retailer’s credit, it has now pulled the wig…

Lauren is a former Deputy Editor of The Root. The final attendance count of the event is still under dispute. The National Park Service estimated attendance at 400,000, which officials later admitted was low. Nation of Islam organizers maintained that they reached their million-man goal. No matter the final number, the photos don’t lie —…

Iba N’Diaye (1928-2008), Le Poet. N’Diaye was a French-Senegalese artist who worked mostly in Paris. Opposed to the primitivist art movement that newly independent African nations favored, he became one of the pioneers of contemporary African art.  For more on his work, go here. Captions by Joel Dreyfuss Diagne Chanel, La Fin d’un Primitif, 1997. Chanel, who was born in…

Now in her third season, thanks to a loving nudge from Andre Leon Talley, Laura Smalls shines with beautiful clothing for elegant women. One of her little white dresses (a trend for spring season) includes a fit-and-flare bodice and a delicate hood. Captions by Harriette Cole Evening wear is a Laura Smalls specialty. This bronze…

Sheryl Huggins Salomon is senior editor-at-large of The Root and a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based editorial consultant. Follow her on Twitter. Thousands pledged allegiance to the flag during the One Nation Working Together rally. The gathering in Washington, D.C., was organized by the NAACP, National Council of La Raza, AFL-CIO and other civil rights and labor groups. MSNBC’s Ed…