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Watch: This Black Doctor Gave Us the Blood Bank and Saved Thousands of Lives
Dr. Charles Drew was both a revolutionary in the medical field and a pioneer for black rights. And we’re honoring him this February for Black History Month.In 1940, Drew became the first African American to receive a doctorate in medical science from Columbia University in New York City. He then went on to revolutionize the…
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Episode 4: Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Memphis Sanitation Workers Go on Strike
As the families of Echol Cole and Robert Walker struggled to put their loved ones to rest, a different kind of storm was brewing in Memphis, Tenn.—and Feb. 12, 1968, was a tipping point. Cole and Walker had only been dead for about two weeks, having been crushed to death by a faulty, outdated garbage…
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Watch: Shirley Chisholm for President
Shirley Chisholm is a history-making black woman.Chisholm first made history in 1968 when she became the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, representing the 12th Congressional District of Brooklyn in New York City. Chisholm was also a founding member of both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Women’s Caucus.Chisholm had…
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Watch: These Future Attorneys Are Skipping Law School
Many industries lack racial and gender diversity, but the legal profession arguably ranks as one of the worst. About 85 percent of lawyers are white, according to the American Bar Association (pdf), and the majority are male (pdf). Crippling debt (pdf) and shrinking numbers of job prospects can make the idea of law school feel…
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Watch: How to Play a Villain With Black Lightning’s Marvin Jones
When it comes to playing a villain, some of us have got it—and, well, some of us don’t. Actor Marvin “Krondon” Jones III? Yep, he’s got it. Jones is Tobias Whale on the CW’s Black Lightning. He’s an ex-politician-turned-underworld boss of the fictional city of Freeland, and his gang is the 100. “We all have…
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Watch: Viola Davis Says Nobody Talks About Poverty
It’s no secret that Viola Davis came from meager beginnings. It’s also an understatement to call the brilliant actress’s upbringing meager. Davis has said it before and says it again, “I always say that I was a rung lower than poor; I was ‘po.’” Davis opened up about poverty at the Women in the World…
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Watch: This Heroine Paved the Way for Black Women in Comics
It’s about time that black girls see themselves represented in comics. Storm of the X-Men and Misty Knight made waves in the mid-’70s, and now we’re seeing black women shut it down in movies like Black Panther. But before these heroines hit comic book pages, there was Torchy Brown. Torchy Brown in “Dixie to Harlem”…
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Watch: This Is What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl in a White Ballet World
Isabella Soto has big dreams of becoming a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. “I saw The Nutcracker when I was 2 years old and I said I really want to do this,” said the 11-year-old. By age 5, Isabella had already realized there weren’t many dancers who looked like her in the world…
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Applebee’s Employees Fired After Racially Profiling, Falsely Accusing 2 Black Women of Dining and Dashing
Three employees at an Applebee’s restaurant in Independence, Mo., have been fired after a viral video posted to Facebook showed them profiling two black women and calling the police on them, accusing them of having done a “dine and dash” in their restaurant the night before. Alexis Brison posted a video to her Facebook page…
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Watch: Rise of a Black Panther Comic Book Writer
Evan Narcisse is the writer of the hit comic series Rise of the Black Panther. It tells the early story of Black Panther, aka T’Challa, becoming King of Wakanda. The i09 senior writer and self-proclaimed “Haitian Sensation” sat with The Root to discuss going from comic critic to breakthrough comic writer, working with Ta-Nehisi Coates…