Opinion
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Atlanta Is the Real Wakanda
Everyone believes in heaven. The Norse called it Valhalla. Greeks called it Elysium or Olympus. But the concept of heaven is not necessarily reserved for the afterlife. Shangri-La, Atlantis, El Dorado, Camelot and the Garden of Eden all exist in the imaginations of many. Regardless of society, religion or culture, people eventually create an idealized…
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When It Comes to Blackness, All Roads Lead to and Through East St. Louis. Period.
Firstly, I want to make this clear: People often (always) confuse East St. Louis and St. Louis—they are not the same city. Kind of like assuming all black people look alike or just because our names are close than we must be sisters—nah. East St. Louis is literally “east” of St. Louis and is housed…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Just the Tips
Before we get into this week’s emails, tweets, DMs, and comments, many of my mailbag readers know that I am very carol-centric. I believe that no holiday is complete if it doesn’t have a song that people sing to celebrate it. “Silent Night” is for Christmas; “Auld LangSyne” is for New Years Day. “America the…
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Philadelphia, Where Blackness Transcends
If we needed a Capital of Blackness, we’d make it Philadelphia. Philly is the soundtrack to blackness, every facet of black life rolled into a hoagie of diasporic oneness. Every elastic, painful, ebullient chord, like Gerald Price’s mystically floating fingers across piano keys at Zanzibar Blue, or young brothers freestyle battling elder cats on trumpet…
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A History of Heroes
I became black at age 7. I was in second grade, missing two front teeth, and talking a mile a minute to my mom while she stood at the stove, telling her about my newest school project. I’d been instructed that day by my teacher, Ms. Jefferson, to go into our extensive elementary library and…
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To Be Black And Beautiful And Queer at an HBCU… And After Graduation
“Nobody will love you the way an HBCU will love you,” my grandmother insisted as I was drowning in college applications during my senior year at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Before that, I had only been thinking of applying to conservatories—acting programs deemed the best by reviewers and the like. To quell my…
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Apparently, White People Need 'Grace' and 'Empathy' From Black People
My uncle be lying. When I was a kid, my uncle James, whom we called “Junior,” owned a Rottweiler named Duchess. Duchess was huge, well-trained and house-broken but my mother and sisters were all afraid of dogs, so it was usually my responsibility to feed and care for Duchess whenever my uncle was out of…
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Blackness in Los Angeles Is Historic and Trendsetting
Arguments have been made recently that Washington, D.C., Birmingham, Ala., and Harlem are the blackest cities in America. Those arguments are not without merit. Each of those cities has made significant contributions to black history, without a doubt. I would like to posit that my hometown, Los Angeles, is so iconic, so full of black…
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Should You Wear Blackface? A Guide
I was yesterday years old when I realized how much white people love blackface. I had always known it was a popular Caucasian Halloween activity because every year, a high school teacher or a bank executive pops up dressed as Kanye West or Esther Rolle at the local all-whites fall festival. It’s funny that these…