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7 Flawlessly Choreographed Beyoncé Songs That Will Make You Wanna Dance
Since Beyoncé’s self-titled album dropped on iTunes this past December, some videos featuring choreographed dances to her songs have surfaced. We’ve collected a few for your viewing pleasure. These folks make the wilderness look good with “Grown Woman”: Rising dance star Charlize Glass kills this rendition of Beyoncé’s “Yoncé/Partition”: And then there’s Yanis Marshall. He…
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How We Put the Negro to Bed and Woke Up Black
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal sits down with Rickey Vincent, a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, to discuss Vincent’s recently released book, Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers. Watch below:
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Rest in Peace, Uncle Phil—Fresh Prince Star James Avery Dies at 68
According to a report from TMZ, actor James Avery, best known for his six-season run on the hit NBC comedy The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, died Tuesday evening, New Year’s Eve, at the age of 68 at a Los Angeles-area hospital. He appeared in numerous shows and movies during his career, including hits such as…
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Black Men Who Won in 2013
Black men triumphed in 2013. From film to politics and music, here’s a look at how they captured America’s hearts and minds. Steve McQueen The British auteur scored seven Golden Globe nominations—including one for best picture-drama—for his groundbreaking film, 12 Years a Slave, based on the memoir of Solomon Northrup. More than one critic described…
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Idris Elba Walks in Nelson Mandela’s Footsteps
Crazy as it sounds, actor Idris Elba tells The Root, his first hesitation when approached about portraying South African leader Nelson Mandela in the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom was, “He’s light-skinned and I’m dark-skinned!” It was a trivial concern when weighed against the greater challenge of taking on the role of what Elba…
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Merry Christmas From The Root
Dear Readers, As 2013 comes to an end, The Root would like to thank all of you for your continued support. We are committed to providing honest, thought-provoking journalism as well as strong opinion and analysis, and we would like to think of the work we do as the beginning of a broader conversation about…
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Jazz Vocalist Connects Christmas Album to Loss of Her Family
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal is joined by vocalist Nnenna Freelon and John Brown to talk about their seasonal jazz collaboration, entitled Christmas, and how the death of Freelon’s parents motivated her album. Watch the interview here:
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Nominate the 2014 Young Futurists!
Who are the young black trailblazers in your community? The Root is putting the spotlight on the young African-American leaders and innovators of the future, and we want your help. We are now accepting nominations for The Root 2014 Young Futurists list, to be unveiled in February. Young Futurists are between the ages of 16 and 22 and committed…
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Here’s Megyn Kelly’s Kwanzaa Reading Assignment
It’s a shame that Fox News’ Megyn Kelly wasn’t on the air Thursday night to explain why she told her viewers Wednesday night that “Santa just is white,” so is Jesus, and “those are just facts.” She left that lump of coal in our stockings, and none of her panelists even bothered to question Kelly’s…
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An Exploration of What It Means to Be Black
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal sits down with Yaba Blay to talk about her new book, (1) Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race. Blay is an assistant professor and co-director of the Africana Studies program at Drexel University. Her book explores mixed-race identity, what exactly is blackness, what does it mean to be…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
