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  • The Root Is in Los Angeles for the BET Awards and Has No Idea What to Wear

    What to wear? What to wear? First things first: Iā€™m not cool. Iā€™ve never been cool. Not gonna be cool. Couldnā€™t be cool if I tried. And the BET Awardsā€”as well as the various colorfully dressed, still flat-and-tight-stomached young people who attend itā€”are cool. (Even when I was a young-ā€™nā€™-flat-stomached little thing, I wasnā€™t cool.)…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Artist Nick Cave Teaches Me How to ā€˜Let Goā€™ at The Let Go

    I needed this. Thatā€™s what I told myself as I walked into the Park Avenue Armory on Wednesday, June 6, to see the premiere of performance artist Nick Caveā€™s newest installation: The Let Go. I didnā€™t really know what to expect. I knew that there would be music and, obviously, dance, considering Caveā€™s background as…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Note From the Editor

    This Monday, The Root separated from our associate editor, Kirsten West Savali, because of an editorial-standards issue. After the Drug Policy Alliance discovered and brought to our attention a previously undisclosed and improper arrangement, Gizmodo Media Group conducted a thorough investigation and made the difficult decision to terminate her. Because of this, we will be…

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    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • I Lost 10 Pounds and It All Went to My Head at Harlem Stageā€™s #Disrupters Gala

    It really doesnā€™t take much with me. For most of my adult life, Iā€™ve battled with my size. And it doesnā€™t help that the medication that keeps me on an even keel also makes me gain weight. So when I started taking antidepressants to bring my mood up a bit, I found a great, positive…

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    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Kendrick Lamar Gets His Pulitzer, but Itā€™s Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy Who Is a Prize

    There are no acceptance speeches at the Pulitzers. You get your prize. You pose for your photo and you politely exit the stage. Yet there was definitely something different about this yearā€™s award luncheon at Columbia Universityā€™s Low Library on Wednesday, where hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar strolled in about 30 or 40 minutes into the…

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    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Queen Sugar and Ava DuVernay Had the Sweetest Garden Party in NYC

    First things first: When it comes to Queen Sugar and director Ava DuVernay, Iā€™m a total fan. I am biased. I am prejudiced. I am not objective at all. I love the show she created, which is beautiful and heartfelt. I love the actors who were cast to star in it, who are charming and…

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    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • 4 Hospitalizations, 3 Diagnoses, 2 Scared Parents and 1 Very Sad Woman

    Editorā€™s note: Until recently, mental health and illness were taboo subjects in the black community. But thanks to the efforts of those brave enough to speak on it, thatā€™s changing. In that vein, The Root team is taking this week during Mental Health Awareness Month to write about how mental health has touched our lives.…

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    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Itā€™s an Explanation, Not an Excuse

    Itā€™s an Explanation, Not an Excuse

    ā€œHe needs someone to treat him like the teacher treated Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker,ā€ I said. The ā€œheā€ I was referring to was Kanye West and his latest ā€œMake America great againā€-fueled, ā€œdeep thoughtsā€ tweets that scream mania, but he insists heā€™s fine. (That is so something a manic person would say. When…

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    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Once UponĀ Once on This Island With Tamyra Gray

    There are probably a few ways to read the wondrous musical Once on This Island, which originally debuted in 1990 and was revived on Broadway in New York City in December 2017. Perhaps itā€™s a lesson about following your heart against incredible odds. Maybe itā€™s a tale about the occasional perils of falling in love…

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    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • How Physics Works and Other Things I Learned at All Star Codeā€™s 5th-Anniversary Celebration

    So Iā€™m at All Star Codeā€™s fifth-anniversary event at the High Line Hotel in New York City on Wednesday, and one of the programā€™s students, Alex Reyes, asks me if I know how the video game ā€œPongā€ works. Iā€”who havenā€™t thought about ā€œPong,ā€ a table tennis simulation game, in eonsā€”realize that I have no clue…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

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Danielle C. Belton