Uncategorized
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Get Out of My Kitchen
Last year, I cut my hair. I cut off my twists and went back to my legacy ‘do, my beloved short crop. There was no big political decision involved, no personal crisis, no spiritual journey. I just decided I wanted to spend more time in the pool for the rest of the summer, and I…
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Hair Today! Hair Forever!
Recently, one of my longtime Detroit clients stopped by my shop on her way out to a job fair taking place out of state. With a note of shame, she shared the humiliation that she and her husband were facing. Both worked for the auto industry, both were in their mid 40s and both had…
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Flashing for Cash?
I’ve joked about it countless times. Whenever I look at a bill too long I start to wonder, “If only I lost my self-respect and found a pole in its place.” Then I think to myself that stripping isn’t the way – hard work is. But isn’t doing a handstand in a G-string to collect…
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Thursday's Headlines
CNN: Two Twisters Touch Down in Mississippi CSM: Taliban Suicide Bomber Kills 11 in Pakistan IHT: France Urges N. Korea to Avoid Missile Test Because, You Know, Kim Jong Il Is a Lunatic SJMN: Oakland Leaders Gather in Response to Violent Weekend; Buzz Makes No ‘Snitch’ Reference WP: Hospitals Slow to Go to Electronic Records;…
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Sheen, Mean and Clean
Saaret Yoseph is a writer and Assistant Editor at TheRoot.com. She manages and blogs for \”Their Eyes Were Watching …\” Abolitionist, editor and diplomat Frederick Douglass was nicknamed “The Lion of Anacostia.” Douglass surely embodied the moniker’s courage, but his snowy outgrowth gave him the bearing of an Old Testament prophet. A photo essay by…
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Urban League: Obama Owes Blacks a "Solid"
The National Urban League released a statement saying that would like President Obama to deal with more black issues — what like, line dancing? Re-animating Freaknik? What? It’s as if they don’t get that what’s good for America is good for all Americans, because we are, you know — black Americans. You all know I’m…
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John Hope Franklin 1915-2009
John Hope Franklin, one of the most prolific and well-respected chroniclers of America’s torturous racial odyssey, died of congestive heart failure yesterday at the age of 94 in a Durham, N.C., hospital. It was more than Franklin’s voluminous writings that cemented his reputation among academics, politicians and civil rights figures as an inestimable historian. It…
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Who is the Most Awkward White Man on Television?
Love The Roots. Hate the show. Is there a more awkward white man on television? Natalie Hopkinson is a Washington, D.C.-based author whose current projects deal with the arts, gender and public life. She is the author of Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City. Follow her on Twitter.
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When Your Job Goes Away…
It’s a rare person who doesn’t know someone who has lost a job in this recession. Sometimes, it ‘s the person staring back in the mirror. Ironically, I’ve spent a lot of time reporting on how the worsening economic situation affects people on a human level, and last week, our office got some first-hand experience…
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I Was Wrong About Obama and Catholics
Message from KJA: Earlier today I published a post about Catholics organizing a petition to bar Obama from delivering a speech at Notre Dame’s commencement. A diligent Root reader discovered a few inaccuracies in my post and felt my post was misleading. The reader was right. I stated that the Catholic church was behind the…