What’s more exciting than any work of fiction? The news that one of our favorite essayists, colleagues and play…
With all the writing we do here at The Root, it’s a wonder we find time to read. But for many members of our staff,…
He has clapped back at our hate mail weekly; regularly educates us on the inextricable links between American…
It has been seven years since the tragic death of iconic singer Whitney Houston, and now her best friend, Robyn…
She’s one of the most influential figures in American letters and a hero of the Harlem Renaissance. Now, Zora Neale…
Bassey Ikpi’s I’m Telling The Truth, But I’m Lying, the 43-year-old’s journey into her mental health struggle, is…
After attempting to deliver us all from evil with the beautifully written Between the World and Me, and his essay…
“I didn’t expect to know this much about your dick.”
Back on May 15, we announced that as a way to engage the online VSB community with the in-person monthly book club…
Since November 2018, VSB has teamed with Mahogany Books, an online and brick-and-mortar, black-owned bookstore…
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Angie Thomas, author of the breakout novel The Hate U Give, remains steadfast about the types of stories she wants…
“A writer’s life and work are not a gift to mankind; they are a necessity,” Toni Morrison writes in the prologue of…
We all know by heart Michelle Obama’s public story: The girl from the South Side of Chicago, raised by incredibly…
On Reading Kiese Laymon’s Singular and Indestructible Heavy on the 5th Anniversary of My Mom’s Death
With his devastating and resplendent and transcendent Heavy, Kiese Laymon conjured, created and gave us a thing that…
I was tiptoeing past my mama’s bedroom—hoping not to disturb her afternoon nap, a crime I’m accused of committing…
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My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” —Psalm 42
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Vibrantly glowing inside a dark hall, a small ball of fire burned suspended midair. The flaming orb bounced upward,…
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“And that was when Mr. Bailey groped you?” the human resources manager’s face showed no trace of emotion. He had put…
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