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Call of Duty: 17 Top Black Military Officers
For Veterans Day, we wanted to recognize some of the top African-American military officers in the U.S. armed forces who are serving their country with distinction, even as black officers in the military’s upper ranks remain a rarity. Last year Army Gen. Austin became the 12th commander of Central Command—and the first African American to hold…
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Mo’Ne Davis Becomes 1st Little Leaguer to Snag Cover of Sports Illustrated
Philadelphia pitching phenom Mo’Ne Davis can add another major accomplishment to her trophy case. The 13-year-old ball slinger, who regularly throws pitches 70 mph—the equivalent of throwing in the low 90s in Major League Baseball—has become the first Little Leaguer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. “Last week, this week, maybe next week, she’s owned…
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Black Little League Players Dominate at the Start of the World Series
In the opening days of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., young black ballplayers dominated in a sport that doesn’t always get a lot of love from the African-American community. Friday, 13-year-old pitching sensation Mo’Ne Davis of Philadelphia, became the first girl to throw a shutout in LLWS history. She struck out eight and…
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How Did a Chinese-American Woman Become a Black Power Activist?
Every once in a while, someone comes along who challenges your assumptions and forces you to rethink everything you thought you knew about history, culture and identity. Take, for instance, Grace Lee Boggs. Before Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X emerged as leaders in the civil rights movement, Boggs—a 99-year-old Detroit resident born to…
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How US Evangelicals Inflame Hatred of Gays in Africa
In February, when Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed an anti-gay bill that imposed harsh prison terms for acts of homosexuality, most Americans were probably clueless about the bill’s ties to U.S. conservative Christians. In the documentary God Loves Uganda—which airs Monday on PBS—Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams shines a light on the U.S. evangelical…
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15 Black Environmentalists Show Why You Should Care About Earth Day
Climate change and the environment may not sound like priority issues for communities of color, but they should be. Consider this: Because communities of color are more likely to suffer the health effects of pollution and are less likely to have access to fresh foods—which in turn leads to health issues such as asthma, obesity,…
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6 Reasons 12 Years a Slave Mattered
When 12 Years a Slave opened nationally last November, it launched endless conversations about the legacy of slavery and race in America. Director Steve McQueen’s hauntingly graphic depiction of slavery even made some people declare they were sitting this one out because they couldn’t bear to watch. This may have included some Oscar voters, which…
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15 Unbreakable Records by Black Athletes
Usually when Chamberlain is on a list like this, it’s for the seemingly untouchable 100-point game in 1962. Though only Kobe Bryant has come close in recent years (81 points in 2006), we can envision a future when some three-point slinging, euro-stepping, baseline-driving wunderkind breaks that record—especially if the NBA keeps passing rules under which a…
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Throwback Thursday: These 6 Debuts Changed Music Forever
If the years that shook the musical landscape were measured on a magnitude scale, 1994 would rate an earth-shattering 10. Twenty years ago, six artists from the world of hip-hop and R&B dropped debut albums that not only signaled each artist’s arrival but also changed music altogether. 1. Ready to Die, the Notorious B.I.G. Released…
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We Love Downton Abbey So Much, We’re Calling It ‘Brownton Abbey’
Downton Abbey returned for its fourth season last night, and no one seemed happier about it than black Twitter. According to The Root’s Chatterati, Sunday night’s broadcast was the third-most-tweeted topic by black Twitter during the show’s two-hour premiere. So how did black folks get so obsessed over this 1920s British period drama, which introduces…
