Politics

OM, SWEET OM:I took my first yoga class 16 years ago and never looked back. I loved the combination of strength training with length training. It made me think about my relationship to gravity in healthy ways. One of the first instructors was black, and I recall doing sun salutes to Mary J. Blige, and…

HILLARY’S SCARLETT O’HARA ACT: It has been a rollercoaster year, and this feels a bit like picking your favorite baby, but I have three picks for The Root. I have always been a fan of Hillary Clinton. But in the heat of the Democratic primary campaign, when the white entitlement was flying everywhere, I was…

THE LATEST WAVE OF BLACK GENIUS: Veronica Chambers’ piece, “The Latest Wave of Black Genius,” is my all-time favorite on The Root . I actually brought it up during my job interview to work here. Since I’m a big Erykah Badu fan, the image of her with her oversized afro sticking out of a large,…

THE REAL PRIZE : I was torn between two essays, both by Kim McLarin—one of The Root’s gems, by the way. I loved her playful but devastating response to Whiteygate. So much about America’s purported conversation on race is simply absurd, and Kim beautifully illustrated that fact with her mocking attempt to take America’s bizarre…

GOODBYE TO A STANDUP BROTHER : Since his sudden and untimely death on June 13, it’s been said that no newsman would have enjoyed Campaign 2008, and its historic climax, more than Tim Russert. Gwen Ifill’s smart and surprisingly emotional reflection, “Goodbye to a Stand-Up Brother,” on the death of NBC’s Washington bureau chief is…

Want to know how many folks are expected for the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009? Well, it depends on whom you ask. Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty predicts at least 3 million people could be crammed onto the National Mall for the swearing-in ceremony. Law enforcement agencies expects about 1 million folks will witness the…

“He totally just wrote me off like I’m that nigga to steal on.” – Charlie Murphy “I’m Rick James, he’s Charlie Murphy.” – Rick James If the Iraqi justice system worked anything like ours, Muntader al Zaidi, reporter for the Al-Baghdadiya network and erstwhile thrower of hard-soled dress shoes at President George W. Bush, would…

It’s easy to forget about Canada these days. Despite the fact that many Americans can actually see it from their windows, most of us get little news about our neighbor. With so much chaos in the world—a global financial meltdown, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terror attacks in Mumbai, riots in Greece—the lack of focus…

Dear Transition Team, Okay, so you haven’t granted The Root an interview yet, but we’re willing yo wait our turn if you sit down with Damon Weaver, a 10-year-old student reporter at Canal Point Elementary in Palm Beach, Fla., who is coming to Washington for the inauguration. Yes, he’s only in the fifth grade, but…