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is an intern at The Root and senior journalism major at Howard University. In The Root’s two-part series, “Generation Y’s New Age Hustle,” Saaret E. Yoseph explored the Millennial work ethic by examining the independent career ventures of five young entrepreneurs and artists; an investigation of Gen Y inspired by her own sister’s entrepreneurial enthusiasm. LEFT:…

Coleman was just 10 when Diff’rent Strokes launched a career that hit its peak in its first chapter. As a child star, Gary Coleman was adorable and the show soared to the top of the ratings. The implausibility of two black boys adopted by a white millionaire was raised but never gained much traction. Coleman’s…

is an intern at The Root and senior journalism major at Howard University. Judge Williams, 67, is just how one would imagine a black fisherman described in a fairy tale: weathered skin, soiled fishing cap and a white beard that stretches down and across his upper jawline, connecting with his mustache. Captions by Brentin Mock…

is an intern at The Root and senior journalism major at Howard University. From film mastermind George Lucas, 2012’s Red Tails pays homage to the Tuskegee Airmen. Lucas, who started conceptualizing Red Tails more than 20 years earlier, sought to offer filmgoers a lesson in history without sparing the in-your-face special effectst hat come with Lucasfilm movies.…

Chana Garcia is a journalist, blogger, and cancer survivor who lives in New York City. Anderson, 39, may be better known for his comic turns in films such as Me, Myself & Irene and supporting dramatic roles in hits such as The Departed and Transformers, but he fit in nicely when longtime cast member and…

is an intern at The Root and senior journalism major at Howard University. Movie magic morphed her into Neytiri, the ultimate alien warrior babe in Avatar. However, Zoe Yadira Saldana was born a Jersey girl in 1978, to a Puerto Rican mother and a Dominican father.  (She spent part of her childhood in the Domincan…

is an intern at The Root and senior journalism major at Howard University. Born Peggy Anne Freeman in Detroit, Luna was a breakthrough cover girl on British Vogue in March 1966. A favorite of fashion photographer Richard Avedon, she presented herself as an exotic, mixed-race, otherwordly creature “from the moon.”  Luna appeared in several art…

is an intern at The Root and senior journalism major at Howard University. Mississippi’s 1st district After founding a conservative political consulting firm, McGlowan went on to analyze business and politics for Fox News. In her own words: “President Barack Obama and San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi are implementing policies that are destroying our conservative…

Sheryl Huggins Salomon is senior editor-at-large of The Root and a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based editorial consultant. Follow her on Twitter. Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1917 (she is seen here at Lena Horne Homecoming Day in August 1947). She dropped out of school at 16 to support her ailing mother and joined…

The president received an honorary degree at Hampton University’s commencement Sunday. He told graduates they had a responsibilty to raise the academic performance of African-Americans. The First Lady spoke at a the University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff, a college that began as a modest school for black students in 1873. U.S. Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor…