Modeled and worked as on-air talent for a little over two decades (before becoming an editor at The Root). Aside from feeling some kind of way about being called an “expensive prop,” the rest is dead-on...though it was typically the art director’s approval we were waiting on.

First and foremost, Happy Birthday! Second, I also love West Side Story. (And lowkey have had a soft spot for Show Boat since childhood, which is problematic for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that Lena Horne was robbed of the opportunity to play the part-Black woman in favor of her friend Ava…

So, I’m assuming you got so annoyed by my take that you missed (or conveniently opted to omit) the remainder of the graph, where I also said: “Simply that it might be nice if, instead of us all marveling cocking our heads at Hager’s good taste in books and willingness to bring this oft-banned, unequivocally Black…

Heard, and appreciated—I’ll pass that along! Happy Holidays!

Ummm...because I was blissfully ignorant it existed before now, and would now like to un-know that?

Sure. Thanks for flagging!

Hmm...try this? https://www.scribd.com/document/485147985/It-s-Lit-e9-Jason-Reynolds-l-docx-1

The zebra flares grow on you... The rest? All set with that.

https://www.theroot.com/black-and-latino-businesses-disproportionately-denied-p-1843549289

To be fair, the baby doll she’s modeled after is bald, and as someone who was bald until almost age two (and now has a head full of hair), us bald Black babies need representation, too! 😂

I may or may not already be stalking these...

She told Christina she’s not stupid—and in a previous ep, said that most of the time, she’s been perfectly satisfied as her Black, female self. Do we honestly think she believes white womanhood is the end-all-be-all—and that she wouldn’t rather see the magic in more responsible, less oppressive hands?

Honest, non-Black-and-white question: How does that logic track for the outcome of the Holocaust? I’m no advocate for violence, but it seems illogical to believe that people willing to use force respond to anything but opposite and equal or overwhelming force; the issue being that equal or overwhelming force is often…

I mean, I haven’t read the book (which I understand we’ve already deviated heavily from), but am I the only one who wonders if Ruby ain’t sneak-learning magic and lowkey planning to subvert Christina’s whole ascension plan by co-opting her body and dying her hair red? She seemed mighty curious and observant of the…

Nope. That was an editorial error, but they drop on Friday, November 13.

No problem—I can understand the need to defend your friend, her memory, and your community, and I’m so, so sorry for your (and our) loss. All the best.

Well known as it may have been to you, I was unaware, so thanks for calling our attention to it. Removing.

Thank you for reading it as intended.

Well, there certainly shouldn’t be, since we actually predated them by several months in launching It’s Lit! as an official silo at The Root in 2018.

We’re actually just learning that...as well as the fact that we actually predated them by several months in launching It’s Lit! as an official silo at The Root in 2018, as explained here: https://www.theroot.com/read-write-revolt-the-root-launches-the-its-lit-pod-1845176096?rev=1601055154094