The Root 100
The Root 100
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Countdown to The Root 100: Who's No. 1? Here's a Preview of the Top Honorees in Entertainment, Arts and Sports
A quick Google search reveals that gifts for 10-year anniversaries should be made of either tin or aluminum, a testament to the resilience and strength of a relationship. So it is fitting that as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Root 100âour annual list of the most influential African Americans, age 25 to 45âwe…
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Perfect 10: It's Time for Nominations to The Root 100, Which Marks Its 10th Anniversary This Year, and We Are Psyched!
We here at The Root always look forward to The Root 100, our annual list celebrating the best and brightest in the fields of social justice, politics, entertainment, sports, media, the arts, science/technology and business. But weâre really looking forward to this yearâs list with an extra level of anticipation. This year will mark the…
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The 2018Â Root 100 Gala Celebrates Another Year of Black Excellence!
We celebrate black excellence every day here at The Root, but thereâs one event where we celebrate the most influential black Americans of the year: our annual Root 100 gala. 2018’s list of luminaries, nominated in part by our faithful readers, span all walks of life: from activists to artists, singers to scientists, politicians to…
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Tarana Burke Tops The Root 100, Our Annual List of the Most Influential African Americans
Check out The Root 100, our annual celebration of black excellence.
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The Root 100 No. 1s: BeyoncĂ© Will Forever Be Bey-ond. Sheâs So Fly, They Named a Fly After Her
What can be said about Queen Bey that hasnât already been said, done, sung, texted, tweeted, explicated, unpacked, imagined? In an age when there are very few true superstars, she stands alone; one of a few black women, one of a few of her generation. Who else but a few aging rock stars is able…
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Shonda Rhimes Changes the Face of Television Forever
The pop-cultural impact of Shonda Rhimes cannot be overstated, although at this point, itâs hard to imagine TV without her forceful, casually diverse, complicated and occasionally ruthless characters who fall outside of what was heretofore the ânormâ (read: white, heterosexual male protagonists and their stories). In fact, one could argue that the writer, producer and…
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Ta-Nehisi Coates Wanted to Be âthe Baddest Motherfucking Writer on the Planetâ
It is a rare piece of long-form journalism that breaks the internet. But thatâs exactly what happened when Ta-Nehisi Coatesâ keen, decisive reportage, âThe Case for Reparations,â dropped in June 2014, compelling the editors at The Root to give him that yearâs No. 1 spot. Part of his The Root 100 bio read: Two years…
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Ben Jealous, a Supreme Builder of Bridges Over Left and Right
Benjamin Todd Jealous first made a national name for himself in 2008 when, at age 35, he became the youngest leader of one of Americaâs oldest and most esteemed civil rights bodies, the NAACP. Before Jealous began his five-year tenure of the then-99-year-old organization, it was clear that the NAACP had calcified into a shell…
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The Root 100 No. 1s: Melissa Harris-Perry Lets the World Know She Is Not Your Mammy
The indomitable Melissa Harris-Perry, once the voice of the weekends through her two-hour show on MSNBCâat once ritual before brunch or church or work and a much-needed respite from the unceasing whiteness of political punditryâgave us #Nerdland, that delicious slice of TV that wasnât white-centered, wasnât male-centered and was here for all the blerds who…