theroot--2020-10-20--Eric Trump Is the Dumbest Trump. Tiffany Trump: Hold My Bud Light Lime-A-Rita

Before polling began , America would have assumed that Eric Trump was the dumbest Trump .
But a new poll from “ Fuck these kids ” has found that Tiffany Trump is surging in Southern states and places where white people wear shorts all year round despite the weather .
Like the human embodiment of pajama pants with some suggestive writing across the ass , Tiffany Trump—the youngest daughter of Donald Trump—spoke at a Trump Pride event , which looked like it was attended by some 14 people , in Florida .
Because nothing says meth , stringy beach hair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks like Florida .
Newsweek notes that the event took place at Westshore Grand Hotel in Florida and a clip from Tiffany ’ s speech made the rounds on social media .
Tiffany started off strong , completely mislabeling the community she was speaking to .
“ I know what my father believes in .
Prior to politics , he supported gays , lesbians , the LGBQIIA+ community , ” Tiffany said in the 10-minute speech , in which she claimed that the president ’ s image has been ruined by “ fabricated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added : “ It saddens me .
I have friends of mine who reach out and they say ‘ How could you support your father ?
We know your best friends are gay.
’ ” On a second attempt , Tiffany , 27 , managed to only include one “ I ” as she slurred “ LGBQIIA+ , ” but is she specifically leaving out the “ T , ” which stands for “ trans ?
” Methinks not .
See , the president has a history of rolling back or completely fucking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ban transgender people from joining the military over Twitter .
In fact , here ’ s a full list of all of the fuckery the Trump administration has pulled since taking over the White House .
Newsweek notes that Marla Maples , Trump ’ s second ex-wife and mother of his less-talked-about daughter , was in attendance to see Tiffany cringey-talk about AIDS during her speech .
“ Unfortunately , one of [ Maples ’ ] best friends passed away from AIDS and what I think is so powerful when my father says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ within the next 10 years , there will be and God bless , ” Tiffany said .
Tiffany then suffered a good Twitter beating and rightfully so .
While I didn ’ t do an official study , I can say that at first glance , the digs seem to fall into one of three categories : The first is that Tiffany was on a substance that Don Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle have also been accused of being on .
It ’ s cocaine .
Tiffany was accused of being on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The second was that Tiffany was drunk : The third was a hodgepodge of comments that ranged from Tiffany is a space cadet to violence :

Before polling began, America would have assumed that Eric Trump was the dumbest Trump. But a new poll from “Fuck these kids” has found that Tiffany Trump is surging in Southern states and places where white people wear shorts all year round despite the weather.
Like the human embodiment of pajama pants with some suggestive writing across the ass, Tiffany Trump—the youngest daughter of Donald Trump—spoke at a Trump Pride event, which looked like it was attended by some 14 people, in Florida. Because nothing says meth, stringy beach hair and we ain’t wearing no masks like Florida.
Advertisement
Newsweek notes that the event took place at Westshore Grand Hotel in Florida and a clip from Tiffany’s speech made the rounds on social media. Tiffany started off strong, completely mislabeling the community she was speaking to.
“I know what my father believes in. Prior to politics, he supported gays, lesbians, the LGBQIIA+ community,” Tiffany said in the 10-minute speech, in which she claimed that the president’s image has been ruined by “fabricated lies” and social media.
Advertisement Advertisement
She added: “It saddens me. I have friends of mine who reach out and they say ‘How could you support your father? We know your best friends are gay.’”
On a second attempt, Tiffany, 27, managed to only include one “I” as she slurred “LGBQIIA+,” but is she specifically leaving out the “T,” which stands for “trans?” Methinks not. See, the president has a history of rolling back or completely fucking overlooking gay rights, including trying to ban transgender people from joining the military over Twitter. In fact, here’s a full list of all of the fuckery the Trump administration has pulled since taking over the White House.
Advertisement
Newsweek notes that Marla Maples, Trump’s second ex-wife and mother of his less-talked-about daughter, was in attendance to see Tiffany cringey-talk about AIDS during her speech.
“Unfortunately, one of [Maples’] best friends passed away from AIDS and what I think is so powerful when my father says there will be a cure for AIDS within the next 10 years, there will be and God bless,” Tiffany said.
Advertisement
Tiffany then suffered a good Twitter beating and rightfully so. While I didn’t do an official study, I can say that at first glance, the digs seem to fall into one of three categories:
The first is that Tiffany was on a substance that Don Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle have also been accused of being on. It’s cocaine. Tiffany was accused of being on cocaine. There, I said it.
Advertisement
Advertisement
The second was that Tiffany was drunk:
Advertisement
Advertisement
The third was a hodgepodge of comments that ranged from Tiffany is a space cadet to violence:


theroot--2020-10-20--I Too Have Pulled Out Some Peanuts During a Zoom Work Call, and I Don't Get Why Everyone's Mad at Je

I Too Have Pulled Out Some Peanuts During a Zoom Work Call, and I Don't Get Why Everyone's Mad at Jeffrey Toobin

It was a month ago , I think .
Maybe two .
Maybe last week .
Time is a flat circle .
I was on a Zoom call with either the people I don ’ t need to actually see in order to effectively communicate with them—which is most people .
Like eight billion people .
Or the people I might actually need to see while I ’ m talking to them—which is like six people .
I don ’ t remember which .
It was a stressful day .
The meeting was effectively over .
But one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I think , just to remind himself that he still possessed the ability to make sounds with his mouth .
Fifteen seconds of unnecessary words stretched to 17 .
And then , 10 seconds later , he was still fucking talking .
I couldn ’ t take it anymore .
And so , in front of everyone on the call , I reached down below my desk , unzipped my book bag , slowly pulled out a can of Planters Honey Roasted Peanuts from within , and began to eat them .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed .
Faces froze .
Mouths were agape .
People were incredulous .
Flabbergasted .
Jealous of the size of my can .
“ Wait , are you really just going to pull out your peanuts in front of everyone ?
” someone said .
A friend who also happened to be on the call texted “ DAMON !
!
!
WHAT ARE YOU DOING ?
?
?
EVERYONE CAN SEE YOUR PEANUTS !
!
!
” I could ’ ve allowed them to convince me to put my peanuts away—or , at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to eat them—but hunger is natural .
Everyone eats every day , even if we don ’ t want to admit it , and I will not be nut-shamed .
Still , I had to admit to myself that it wasn ’ t my proudest moment .
Regardless of how stressed out or hungry I happened to be , randomly pulling out my peanuts in front of professional colleagues just wasn ’ t cool .
No one got on the call that day like , “ You know what I ’ d love @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Honey Roasted Peanuts , that ’ s what.
” Especially when no one else had peanuts to eat .
It took some deep soul-searching to see admit that .
A week later , after I ’ d exhausted the entire can , I apologized to them for my bad manners and lack of tact , and we ’ ve been able to move forward .
I still get tempted on Zoom calls , every now and then , to pull out my peanuts .
My peanuts are always only a foot away .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ must eat in front of people , I ’ ve learned to at least switch to my spare Chromebook instead of my work Macbook .
Anyway , when I heard yesterday that The New Yorker ’ s Jeffrey Toobin also pulled out his peanuts while unknowingly still on a Zoom call , I nodded in recognition and felt secondhand embarrassment for him .
Just as I discovered that no one wanted to see my peanuts , I ’ m sure no one wanted to see Toobin ’ s either .
And I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ today , he ’ s upset with himself for not at least waiting until the window was closed to begin eating .
We ’ ve all been there before because peanuts are good !
But they ’ re not that good .

Damon Young on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Damon Young to The Root

It was a month ago, I think. Maybe two. Maybe last week. Time is a flat circle. I was on a Zoom call with either the people I don’t need to actually see in order to effectively communicate with them—which is most people. Like eight billion people. Or the people I might actually need to see while I’m talking to them—which is like six people. I don’t remember which.
It was a stressful day. The meeting was effectively over. But one of the people on the Zoom was still talking, I think, just to remind himself that he still possessed the ability to make sounds with his mouth. Fifteen seconds of unnecessary words stretched to 17. And then, 10 seconds later, he was still fucking talking. I couldn’t take it anymore. And so, in front of everyone on the call, I reached down below my desk, unzipped my book bag, slowly pulled out a can of Planters Honey Roasted Peanuts from within, and began to eat them.
Advertisement
Immediately, the mood of the call changed. Faces froze. Mouths were agape. People were incredulous. Flabbergasted. Jealous of the size of my can. “Wait, are you really just going to pull out your peanuts in front of everyone?” someone said. A friend who also happened to be on the call texted “DAMON!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? EVERYONE CAN SEE YOUR PEANUTS!!!”
I could’ve allowed them to convince me to put my peanuts away—or, at least, wait until after the call to eat them—but hunger is natural. Everyone eats every day, even if we don’t want to admit it, and I will not be nut-shamed.
Advertisement Advertisement
Still, I had to admit to myself that it wasn’t my proudest moment. Regardless of how stressed out or hungry I happened to be, randomly pulling out my peanuts in front of professional colleagues just wasn’t cool. No one got on the call that day like, “You know what I’d love to see today? Damon’s Honey Roasted Peanuts, that’s what.” Especially when no one else had peanuts to eat. It took some deep soul-searching to see admit that. A week later, after I’d exhausted the entire can, I apologized to them for my bad manners and lack of tact, and we’ve been able to move forward. I still get tempted on Zoom calls, every now and then, to pull out my peanuts. My peanuts are always only a foot away. But, if nature demands and I must eat in front of people, I’ve learned to at least switch to my spare Chromebook instead of my work Macbook.
Anyway, when I heard yesterday that The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin also pulled out his peanuts while unknowingly still on a Zoom call, I nodded in recognition and felt secondhand embarrassment for him. Just as I discovered that no one wanted to see my peanuts, I’m sure no one wanted to see Toobin’s either. And I’m certain that, wherever he is today, he’s upset with himself for not at least waiting until the window was closed to begin eating. We’ve all been there before because peanuts are good! But they’re not that good.


theroot--2020-10-20--Here’s an Exclusive Excerpt of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Newest Fiction (You’re Welcome!)

For Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie fans , it ’ s been a long seven years since Americanah , her last novel , and winner of the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction .
She ’ s been active on Instagram and it ’ s always a joy to revisit her catalog of beautiful writing—Purple Hibiscus , Half of a Yellow Sun , The Thing Around Your Neck , among them .
Thanks to the pandemic , HBO ’ s adaptation of Americanah was unfortunately unceremoniously canceled , but Adichie and Amazon are giving us a new reason to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ onto this last quarter of 2020 .
“ Zikora ” is a 35-page short story soon to be released as part of Amazon Original Stories .
When the titular character , a powerful lawyer from Nigeria living in Washington , DC , finds out she ’ s pregnant , her lover abandons her .
The dream life she worked for speedily unraveled , she processes through the loss of her relationship at the same time her demanding mother shows up to help Zikora prepare to become a mom herself .
I sifted through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , trying to find a reason .
Was it how I had told him ?
Was it because I said it so lightly , so playfully , that there was no question of how I felt ?
Did he know too , as I knew , that I was pregnant even as I was telling him that I might be ?
It had never occurred to me not to have the baby , and he must have heard it in my voice .
The knowledge came to him as an already-sealed box .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make decisions together , and it amused me sometimes , how seriously he meant this , even for small things like which table to select when making a restaurant reservation online .
“ Okay babes ?
” he would ask , and wait for my nod .
Was he recoiling because I had made this decision already ?
If he was going to have a child , of course he should have a say , but how much of a say , since the body was mine , since in creating a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the woman and so little of the man .
The full story will be available on Amazon on October 27 , and Prime members and Kindle Unlimited subscribers will be able to download it for free , free , wonderful free ( non-members who purchase “ Zikora ” can preorder and have the option to add digital audio at no additional cost ) .
Exclusive to The Root , in addition to the excerpt above , Amazon Original Stories has gifted us an exclusive audio clip below ( !
!
! )
to @ @ @ @

For Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie fans, it’s been a long seven years since Americanah, her last novel, and winner of the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. She’s been active on Instagram and it’s always a joy to revisit her catalog of beautiful writing—Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing Around Your Neck, among them. Thanks to the pandemic, HBO’s adaptation of Americanah was unfortunately unceremoniously canceled, but Adichie and Amazon are giving us a new reason to be excited—and a much-needed bit of sunbeam thrown onto this last quarter of 2020.
“Zikora” is a 35-page short story soon to be released as part of Amazon Original Stories. When the titular character, a powerful lawyer from Nigeria living in Washington, DC, finds out she’s pregnant, her lover abandons her. The dream life she worked for speedily unraveled, she processes through the loss of her relationship at the same time her demanding mother shows up to help Zikora prepare to become a mom herself.
Advertisement
An excerpt:
Here’s an Exclusive Excerpt of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Newest Fiction
I sifted through my memories, as though through debris, trying to find a reason. Was it how I had told him? Was it because I said it so lightly, so playfully, that there was no question of how I felt? Did he know too, as I knew, that I was pregnant even as I was telling him that I might be? It had never occurred to me not to have the baby, and he must have heard it in my voice. The knowledge came to him as an already-sealed box. He said so often that we had to make decisions together, and it amused me sometimes, how seriously he meant this, even for small things like which table to select when making a restaurant reservation online. “Okay babes?” he would ask, and wait for my nod. Was he recoiling because I had made this decision already? If he was going to have a child, of course he should have a say, but how much of a say, since the body was mine, since in creating a child, Nature demanded so much of the woman and so little of the man.
Advertisement Advertisement
The full story will be available on Amazon on October 27, and Prime members and Kindle Unlimited subscribers will be able to download it for free, free, wonderful free (non-members who purchase “Zikora” can preorder and have the option to add digital audio at no additional cost). Exclusive to The Root, in addition to the excerpt above, Amazon Original Stories has gifted us an exclusive audio clip below (!!!) to build the anticipation.


theroot--2020-10-20--Everybody Poops, but Not Everyone Has a Bidet. Change That With the BioBidet Bliss, Now 57% Off

When we ’ re huddled around the fire , telling our grandchildren about the beginnings of the 2020 pandemic , there ’ s no doubt the Great Toilet Paper Shortage will get at least a nod .
Once people got wind of that , bidets started going out of stock , too .
It makes sense ; your apartment ’ s already got water flowing , toilet paper stock is one less thing to worry about having to trek into the store for , and you ’ re saving a bit of paper along the way .
Right now , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 1,500 to $ 640 .
Still a big ol ’ yikes from me , but if you want a bidet with an on-demand heating system , stainless steel nozzle , wireless controls , and motors , go for it .
Not all bidets are this pricey , and a quick search on Amazon shows there ’ s plenty of good ones you can get for a lower price .
Here ’ s one for $ 43 , another for $ 29 , and a flashy one for $ 90 ; take your @ @

Jordan McMahon on Kinja Deals, shared by Gabe Carey to The Root

BioBidet Bliss BB2000 | $640 | Amazon
When we’re huddled around the fire, telling our grandchildren about the beginnings of the 2020 pandemic, there’s no doubt the Great Toilet Paper Shortage will get at least a nod. Once people got wind of that, bidets started going out of stock, too. It makes sense; your apartment’s already got water flowing, toilet paper stock is one less thing to worry about having to trek into the store for, and you’re saving a bit of paper along the way. Right now, the BioBidet Bliss BB2000 is down from $1,500 to $640. Still a big ol’ yikes from me, but if you want a bidet with an on-demand heating system, stainless steel nozzle, wireless controls, and motors, go for it.
Not all bidets are this pricey, and a quick search on Amazon shows there’s plenty of good ones you can get for a lower price. Here’s one for $43, another for $29, and a flashy one for $90; take your pick.


theroot--2020-10-20--Life Without Dak Is Death In Disguise

Life Without Dak Is Death In Disguise

After ridding themselves of Jason Garrett , hiring Mike McCarthy and gifting Dak Prescott with a shiny new toy in world-beater CeeDee Lamb , expectations were high in Cowboys country .
But after Dak went down with a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 , reality is settling in and the Cowboys ’ new normal is brimming with anything but hope .
With Andy Dalton at the helm of McCarthy ’ s offense on Monday , fans at home were treated to a porous offensive line , Ezekial Elliot serving up fumbles like a cafeteria lady , and Dalton padding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feeble attempt to conceal the stench of his putrid play during the rest of the game .
By the time the dust settled , the Cardinals were circling over the Cowboys ’ corpse like a vulture , and the final score—38-10—doesn ’ t even begin to tell the tale of how disastrous Dallas looked .
“ I can ’ t really—even—um—I don ’ t know why , ” Elliott muttered to reporters , struggling to explain the back-to-back fumbles he committed early in the game .
“ I want to say I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on me .
I need to be better for this team.
” With a career-high four fumbles in six games so far this season , I think it ’ s safe to call that an understatement .
“ We ’ re the worst in the league taking care of the football , ” McCarthy fumed .
“ It ’ s frustrating.
” Yes , the Cowboys still somehow sit atop the atrocious NFC East with a 2-4 record .
But both of those wins , against the Giants and Falcons , were against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And it ’ s not like Dak had the Cowboys firing on all cylinders prior to his injury—thanks , in part , to a defense that ’ s coughing up 36.3 points per game—but if Dalton and his two interceptions Monday night are the answer , then the question must be : “ Who ’ s the worst team in the league right now ?
” The Cowboys are off to their worst start since their dreadful 2015 campaign that featured a rotating cast of quarterbacks that included everyone from Matt Cassell to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contract comes with a rebate , I ’ m sure Jerry Jones spent his morning mailing off the receipt .
There ’ s also this ominous stat courtesy of ESPN : That sound you hear is another season in Dallas going down in flames .
“ I don ’ t think we can use that as an excuse , ” Elliott said of Dak ’ s absence .
“ I ’ m just going to keep saying it over and over .
I started the game out with two fumbles , gave the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ momentum they need to go take off.
” If anything , this just provides Dak with more leverage at the bargaining table this offseason after he ’ s fully recovered from a compound fracture and dislocated right ankle .
But in the interval , you might want to cover your eyes , because it ’ s only gon na get uglier from here .

After ridding themselves of Jason Garrett, hiring Mike McCarthy and gifting Dak Prescott with a shiny new toy in world-beater CeeDee Lamb, expectations were high in Cowboys country. But after Dak went down with a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5, reality is settling in and the Cowboys’ new normal is brimming with anything but hope.
With Andy Dalton at the helm of McCarthy’s offense on Monday, fans at home were treated to a porous offensive line, Ezekial Elliot serving up fumbles like a cafeteria lady, and Dalton padding his numbers in garbage time in a feeble attempt to conceal the stench of his putrid play during the rest of the game.
Advertisement
By the time the dust settled, the Cardinals were circling over the Cowboys’ corpse like a vulture, and the final score—38-10—doesn’t even begin to tell the tale of how disastrous Dallas looked.
“I can’t really—even—um—I don’t know why,” Elliott muttered to reporters, struggling to explain the back-to-back fumbles he committed early in the game. “I want to say I’m sorry. This one’s on me. I need to be better for this team.”
Advertisement Advertisement
You think?
With a career-high four fumbles in six games so far this season, I think it’s safe to call that an understatement.
Advertisement
“We’re the worst in the league taking care of the football,” McCarthy fumed. “It’s frustrating.”
Advertisement
Yes, the Cowboys still somehow sit atop the atrocious NFC East with a 2-4 record. But both of those wins, against the Giants and Falcons, were against teams with a combined 2-10 record. And it’s not like Dak had the Cowboys firing on all cylinders prior to his injury—thanks, in part, to a defense that’s coughing up 36.3 points per game—but if Dalton and his two interceptions Monday night are the answer, then the question must be: “Who’s the worst team in the league right now?”
The Cowboys are off to their worst start since their dreadful 2015 campaign that featured a rotating cast of quarterbacks that included everyone from Matt Cassell to Corey Feldman and if McCarthy’s contract comes with a rebate, I’m sure Jerry Jones spent his morning mailing off the receipt.
Advertisement
There’s also this ominous stat courtesy of ESPN:
The Cowboys are 6-19 in their past 25 games started by a backup quarterback, dating to 2010. McCarthy has a 6-12-1 record with his backup quarterback. These aren’t good things with 10 games to play.
Advertisement
That sound you hear is another season in Dallas going down in flames.
“I don’t think we can use that as an excuse,” Elliott said of Dak’s absence. “I’m just going to keep saying it over and over. I started the game out with two fumbles, gave the ball away and gave them all the momentum they need to go take off.”
Advertisement
If anything, this just provides Dak with more leverage at the bargaining table this offseason after he’s fully recovered from a compound fracture and dislocated right ankle. But in the interval, you might want to cover your eyes, because it’s only gonna get uglier from here.


theroot--2020-10-20--Trump Stopped a Top Secret Intelligence Briefing to Order a Milkshake

Maybe the president of people who know what the hell malts are was just trying to bring the Proud Boys to the yard when he halted a highly classified briefing about Afghanistan to invite a waiter into the proceedings to order a milkshake .
According to Politico , shortly after the president of people who make boxed mac-and-cheese took office in 2017 , he stopped senior defense and intelligence officials to ask the important and world-saving question : “ Does anyone want a malt ?
” This might ’ ve been because the president of people who profit from his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New Jersey golf club .
While senior officials were looking at each other like , “ is this motherfucker serious ?
” Trump explained “ We have the best malts , you have to try them , ” before inviting a waiter into the code-word-secure briefing room because he ’ s a seven-year-old with codes to nuclear weapons .
This wasn ’ t just a normal briefing , as the head of the CIA ’ s Special Activities Center , “ a little known unit ” that is “ responsible for operations that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. government does not want to be overtly associated , ” Spec Ops Magazine explains , was in attendance .
Politico notes that the “ The malt episode ... became legendary inside the CIA , said three former officials , ” as “ it was seen as an early harbinger of Trump ’ s disinterest in intelligence , which would later be borne out by the new president ’ s notorious resistance to reading his classified daily briefing.
” This is why big pictures were added to the president ’ s briefings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ child .
But does anyone find any of this shocking as this is the same man who had a button installed that he could press so the White House butler could bring his untanned ass a Diet Coke ?
Basically , the country is being run by a less intelligent Ricky Stratton .

Maybe the president of people who know what the hell malts are was just trying to bring the Proud Boys to the yard when he halted a highly classified briefing about Afghanistan to invite a waiter into the proceedings to order a milkshake.
According to Politico, shortly after the president of people who make boxed mac-and-cheese took office in 2017, he stopped senior defense and intelligence officials to ask the important and world-saving question: “Does anyone want a malt?”
Advertisement
This might’ve been because the president of people who profit from his presidency was having this meeting at his New Jersey golf club. While senior officials were looking at each other like, “is this motherfucker serious?” Trump explained “We have the best malts, you have to try them,” before inviting a waiter into the code-word-secure briefing room because he’s a seven-year-old with codes to nuclear weapons.
This wasn’t just a normal briefing, as the head of the CIA’s Special Activities Center, “a little known unit” that is “responsible for operations that include clandestine or covert operations with which the U.S. government does not want to be overtly associated,” Spec Ops Magazine explains, was in attendance.
Advertisement Advertisement
Politico notes that the “The malt episode...became legendary inside the CIA, said three former officials,” as “it was seen as an early harbinger of Trump’s disinterest in intelligence, which would later be borne out by the new president’s notorious resistance to reading his classified daily briefing.” This is why big pictures were added to the president’s briefings because the president is literally a fucking child.
But does anyone find any of this shocking as this is the same man who had a button installed that he could press so the White House butler could bring his untanned ass a Diet Coke? Basically, the country is being run by a less intelligent Ricky Stratton.


theroot--2020-10-20--The Safe Negro Guide to Lovecraft Country: 'Full Circle'

I have been telling y ’ all from the very beginning of our journey through HBO ’ s Lovecraft Country : Genre matters .
So ( major spoiler alert ) , Tic and Ruby are dead ?
Lies from the pit of hell !
This is another reason why genre ( and the knowledge of its tropes ) is important .
Ain ’ t nobody ever really dead in a horror series .
Buffy died—TWICE—on her own damn show .
Supernatural ’ s Sam & Dean Winchester die so much that the reapers ( entities who collect the dead and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) refused to bring them back again ... because they were tired of their bullshit ( you know it was a Black woman reaper ) .
Think about it : Leti died in the second episode ( and again in the finale ) , Hippolyta has reincarnated herself repeatedly throughout the time/space continuum , George died and popped up in an alternate universe , and Christina done died at least 50-11 times ( she took a header through a windshield , people ! )
Death not being an end also ties in with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are made—it is only a transition and one can have as full a life beyond the veil .
As Dora tells Tic when speaking of his self-sacrifice : “ This is a beginning , not an end.
” Tic was literally crucified as a Christ figure—and what does Christ do ?
*stage whisper* Come .
Back .
Meanwhile , we know Ruby ain ’ t dead because in order for Christina to make the potion from her blood , she has to be in a comatose state !
Come on , y ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know , I ’ m a fat-bodied , brown-skinned Black woman and if Ruby was being mistreated , I would lead the charge .
But the writers are likely opening the path for an even more interesting storyline for this breakout character next season , a journey showrunner Misha Green has teased interest in continuing .
Green has taken the time to earn our trust as a creator—why are we going through her phone like she ’ s cheating on us ?
In fact , Green took a little more time just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as she and I discussed how deeply she trusts the Lovecraft Country audience with such rich and layered material .
“ We ’ re all so adept at how you tell stories and probably predict what is happening in the show before it even happens , ” she told me .
“ So I don ’ t think there was ever a need to trust them because I always trusted them.
” There you have it : she trusts us , so why aren ’ t we returning the favor ?
Reflecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I would like to revise my previous thesis that Lovecraft Country is a meditation on Black trauma and its effects .
That is not wrong ; but I believe a truer statement is that it is a meditation on rage , most especially the righteous rage of the women in the series—and even more specifically distilled down to the Black women .
As ancestor Audre Lorde teaches in her powerful essay , “ The Uses of Anger , ” righteous rage acts as a catalyst , “ focused with precision it can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progress and change.
” Green insists that the entire season of Lovecraft Country has been a rumination on righteous rage— “ and how do you channel that to change the situation ?
” she asks .
The prominence of Tic ’ s maternal ancestors and their plan to stop Christina demonstrates how the “ just love ” from last week ’ s episode has led to the empowered knowledge we see manifest in the finale .
Green asks us to consider , “ Is that something we should be afraid of ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answer , but the final scene of the young Dee squeezing Christina ’ s throat until her eyes pop and her larynx bursts certainly gives us pause .
Green uses the gore and terror of the horror genre to access our stories , largely blocked by trauma .
Dr. Andre Carrington , Associate Professor of English at UC-Riverside , reminds us that “ [ t ] rauma frustrates our ability to tell stories ...
Horror turns that around where [ we are ] witnessing and remembering ... the violence of the past..instead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its cause.
” This is the power of genre in processing trauma , a power that Green relishes .
“ That ’ s partially why I love the horror genre so much ; because it is a safe space to contend with ... those emotions [ from the trauma ] , ” she shared with me .
Horror gives us the opportunity to commune with the ghosts of our ancestors without the burden of grief .
In horror , we can skin the white enslaver who raped his way into our ancestral line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we can stab our lover ’ s killer with a sword , just after she has bathed in the lifeblood that drains from his body .
Horror offers agency mobilized by rage .
So much of this season has been about achieving just the right balance of righteous rage , just love , and empowered knowledge—for as Lorde reminds us , this balance must be “ expressed and translated into action in the service of our vision and our future [ as ] a liberating and strengthening act of clarification.
” The importance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theme throughout the season , but it is in the season finale that it reaches its zenith .
Determined to achieve immortality , Christina has the rage of a birthright denied and empowered knowledge but she is made dangerous because she lacks the just love of her ancestors—and therefore develops none in return .
The power of the ancestors is also denied to our dear Ruby , who is overwhelmed with righteous rage .
Cultural critic Demetria Lucas discusses this rage , reminding us how Ruby enacts “ a rape scene towards the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But Ruby also has just love , as seen through her determination to protect her sister and unborn nephew through the promise she extracts from Christina and the attempted theft of Christina ’ s blood that causes her own ( temporary ) demise .
Yet , Ruby has no enduring connection with her ancestors ; in fact , Leti only receives that connection through Tic , as her and Ruby ’ s own family has long been fractured and cut off from its past .
The results of the lack of ancestral empowered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find Ruby in Christina ’ s lab ; Ruby literally hungers for the knowledge , the theory , the intentionality needed as Christina outlines her plans for Tic ’ s ruin and her own magical ascension .
Instead , the ever-escaping Hanna becomes the primordial example of how to achieve the balance of righteous rage , just love , and empowered knowledge : “ The fire was my rage made manifest , that it could be tamed , ” she tells Tic in the opening scene of the season finale .
“ Once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our ancestors , I realized this magic was not something to be feared ... but a gift to pass on.
” Hanna materializes her rage , uses just love to make it a safe space for her loved ones , and learns to shift her own perspective on magic in order to create an empowered system of knowledge , turning it into a gift of love for her descendants .
It is necessary to highlight that it takes work for Hanna to reach a place of balance , it does not happen right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previous episodes , blames the existence of the book for her family ’ s woes , bespelling it to prevent its use by those descendants who could have used its powerful knowledge .
Could you even begin to imagine what Nana Hattie could have done to those white folks in Tulsa with even a few spells under her belt and the language of Adam to give power to those incantations ?
But Hanna must learn and grow from her own experience and those of the generations that follow .
In Hanna ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concept of ancestors ’ responsibilities to grow and do the work to become stronger for themselves and their descendants , even in the afterlife .
The finale centers on the generational power of Black women to change the path of history ; the natural culmination of these characters ’ purposeful move from the margins of the show to the most catalytic forces in the plot .
Remember , we started this show focused on Tic ’ s journey , and though we come to its conclusion in this final episode , he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story of his demise .
Green admits this is intentional .
“ I think that Black women are so important to the story we tell in history , ” she says .
“ I feel like I look back [ on ] so many moments ... there was a community of Black women making those moments happen and being a part of those moments.
” With Lovecraft Country , Green channels her own righteous rage , using horror to shift the center of history from whiteness and maleness to the Black women who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maternal ancestors temporarily separate Tic and Leti to help them understand that they have separate yet intertwined purposes in defeating Christina and removing the vice grip white folks have on magic .
Tic is empowered by both Hanna and his mother , Dora , who gives him guidance and the emotional fortitude to make the ultimate sacrifice .
Hanna explains the legacy of the gift as Dora reveals that he is the gift .
Yet Tic ’ s gift would be moot without the practical knowledge to empower it , and this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hattie is actually the most important function of their time in the ancestral space .
Yes , Tic ’ s death is the gift , but it means nothing without the power of the word to undergird and contextualize his sacrifice .
Someone must always live to tell the tale .
If Tic is our Christ figure , Leti is his Mary Magdalene .
Christian themes continue throughout the final episode as , like Hanna , Leti must learn to reconcile her already challenged Christianity with multiple spiritualities necessary to save herself and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line alive—a journey Green has also taken her audience on throughout this season .
Dr. Carrington appreciates this complexity : “ Unlike The Exorcist and unlike Lovecraft ’ s writing , there isn ’ t the antagonism of belief systems ... where one [ system ] has to be evil in order to show how good the other one is , ” he says .
Leti ’ s core belief system expands to recognize the fluidities of Christianity and to open space for other systems of belief , as she explains : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been chasing faith when I should have been discovering it in myself .
Because that ’ s where He is , in all of us.
” Leti asks Tic to be baptized with her before they head off to battle , and it is here that Tic ’ s positioning as a Christ figure reemerges as he sits in the pew , contemplating his faith and his fate , reminiscent of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane .
In the next scene , Nina Simone ’ s “ I Am Blessed ” plays @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowing that he will soon be hung on a wooden structure and bled to offer everlasting life ... to Christina .
While this is all going on , we must be continuously aware of the child Leti carries .
It is him , not Tic , who brings his mother to the ancestral plane ; young George is participating in his own liberation , though he has yet to be born .
Green reminds us that “ Our present moment is our past moment , you know , and it ’ ll be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future moment if we don ’ t acknowledge that.
” The incorporation of future George ’ s agency shows the past being actively recovered , the present being healed of trauma , and transitioning into a powerful and ( hopefully ) healthful future .
This is Afrofuturism personified : the conflation of time within the collapsing of generations , all moving towards one unified goal , the liberation of their family and their people .
Though Hippolyta is the first to effectively articulate the rage of the many female characters in the show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who gets the last word on rage in the end .
I loved the reckoning she has with Hippolyta , for they are both right .
I enjoyed that we got to see a Black girl rage against her mother freely without being gaslit , diminished , or physically punished for daring to “ talk back.
” Here we see that Hippolyta is establishing a new pattern , refusing to let her daughter be diminished the ways she herself experienced for so much of her life .
For the time being , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to draw .
Yes , her mother gifts her a bionic arm , but when we see her in the dark car , she is reading , not drawing as in so many of her other solo scenes .
Here , Dee begins to remind me of Toni Morrison ’ s warning of her titular character , Sula : “ Like any artist without form , she became dangerous.
” But we are left with the question of how to characterize that danger .
Is it only towards white folks ?
Dee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ love for her family is just .
And she is receiving empowered knowledge her mother received from her own ancestors .
But we are left with the question of balance and must speculate on what we have left for our future generations .
Dee and the yet unborn George are descendants who have fully participated in this revolution for liberation .
So it becomes a question , not whether they are ready for this world they have taken part in creating , but is the world ( including us ) ready for them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I recognize that I am contending with my own righteous rage at where things stand .
I am continuously aware of who we , as a people , give grace to—and who we expect nothing short of perfection from .
That shit feels gendered AF and we need to keep this conversation at the forefront : Why is Misha Green not getting her flowers ?
?
?
Jordan Peele has been declared an auteur , rightfully celebrated for resuscitating Black horror on a large scale , but I know we not gon na @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all knew what the hell was going on in Us .
I wrote two articles about it but still got hella questions yet none of this has taken away from his acclaim ; even his farts are considered genius .
Some of the response to Green ’ s creation is straight-up misogynoir .
Not the critique—because mind you , no one is above critique—but the severe lack of rapturous praise seen for this show .
( And hell , for Underground before it ! )
There has been valid criticism of Green ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ material and the Lovecraft universe at large , but even that has been overwhelmed by contrarian bullshit my editor won ’ t let me link to .
( Editor ’ s note : Why hand out clicks to contrarian bullshit when Google is free ? )
At the time of writing this , Lovecraft Country has yet to be renewed—even as less buzzy and frankly , subpar HBO series have been after just a few episodes—but my editor won ’ t let me link to that , either .
( Editor ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been few declarations of a new player in town—who , by the way , created ten densely interwoven hours of highly-watchable material—yet of her genius , we ’ ve largely heard crickets .
It ’ s like when the pastor gets up to preach and says “ Good morning , ” and all he gets is a tepid response .
Y ’ all ain ’ t gon na act like Misha Green ain ’ t up here doing the exultant work of helping us process Black trauma within the protective distance that horror @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ain ’ t worthy to be praised !
“ Contending with history , contending with those stories that have come before is part of how you move forward , ” Green contends .
“ And you can ’ t ignore that .
You can ’ t unmake it .
You know , I think that that for me , at least , what I found is that you have to contend with it to move forward.
” Glossary : a list of terms and descriptions to help you along your journey into Lovecraft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ artist who is responsible for the drawings attributed to Dee throughout the series .
She is the woman behind the visuals of Orithyia Blue .
Hippolyta shouts her out in the episode , saying she learned to draw from a woman named “ Afua.
” Ancestral Plane - a spiritual plane that operates as a resting place for those ancestors still deeply involved in the day-to-day lives of their descendants .
In Black Panther ( 2018 ) , it was constructed as a serene meadow with a baobab tree .
I asked Green @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plane as a house engulfed in flames .
She said wanted it to be a space where “ You get mad enough to fight back.
” Salt - historically , salt has been used as a repellent of evil in the folklore in many cultures , including Ancient Rome , Ireland , and Egypt .
It has been incorporated into modern pagan practices as well as our everyday practices of bringing good luck .
The use of salt in ghost rituals has been popularized by the cult television show , Supernatural .
Recommendations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you would like to take a deeper dive , here are some media suggestions that will help you better understand the Lovecraftian universe and other themes in this episode .
Additionally , HBO ’ s Crafting Lovecraft Country will debut Monday , Oct. 26 from 11:45 pm to 12:15 am ET/PT .
Per a press release from HBO , this behind-the-scenes presentation will feature “ exclusive interviews with showrunner and executive producer Misha Green , along with the series cast and crew .
“ [ T ] he special will give audiences a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” the release continues .
“ The behind-the-scenes presentation also dives into Green ’ s ambitions and processes , explores the adaptation of the novel and examines the historical references woven in the show.
” The special will air on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max .

I have been telling y’all from the very beginning of our journey through HBO’s Lovecraft Country: Genre matters. So (major spoiler alert), Tic and Ruby are dead? Lies from the pit of hell! This is another reason why genre (and the knowledge of its tropes) is important. Ain’t nobody ever really dead in a horror series. Buffy died—TWICE—on her own damn show. Supernatural’s Sam & Dean Winchester die so much that the reapers (entities who collect the dead and bring them over to the other side) refused to bring them back again...because they were tired of their bullshit (you know it was a Black woman reaper).
Think about it: Leti died in the second episode (and again in the finale), Hippolyta has reincarnated herself repeatedly throughout the time/space continuum, George died and popped up in an alternate universe, and Christina done died at least 50-11 times (she took a header through a windshield, people!) Death not being an end also ties in with the African diasporic belief of how ancestors are made—it is only a transition and one can have as full a life beyond the veil. As Dora tells Tic when speaking of his self-sacrifice: “This is a beginning, not an end.” Tic was literally crucified as a Christ figure—and what does Christ do? *stage whisper* Come. Back.
Advertisement
“You gonna save ‘em all!” — Hanna to Tic
Meanwhile, we know Ruby ain’t dead because in order for Christina to make the potion from her blood, she has to be in a comatose state! Come on, y’all! In case you didn’t know, I’m a fat-bodied, brown-skinned Black woman and if Ruby was being mistreated, I would lead the charge. But the writers are likely opening the path for an even more interesting storyline for this breakout character next season, a journey showrunner Misha Green has teased interest in continuing. Green has taken the time to earn our trust as a creator—why are we going through her phone like she’s cheating on us?
Advertisement Advertisement
In fact, Green took a little more time just ahead of Sunday night’s finale, as she and I discussed how deeply she trusts the Lovecraft Country audience with such rich and layered material.
“We’re all so adept at how you tell stories and probably predict what is happening in the show before it even happens,” she told me. “So I don’t think there was ever a need to trust them because I always trusted them.” There you have it: she trusts us, so why aren’t we returning the favor?
Advertisement
Reflecting on my 9-week analysis of this series, I would like to revise my previous thesis that Lovecraft Country is a meditation on Black trauma and its effects. That is not wrong; but I believe a truer statement is that it is a meditation on rage, most especially the righteous rage of the women in the series—and even more specifically distilled down to the Black women. As ancestor Audre Lorde teaches in her powerful essay, “The Uses of Anger,” righteous rage acts as a catalyst, “focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change.” Green insists that the entire season of Lovecraft Country has been a rumination on righteous rage—“and how do you channel that to change the situation?” she asks.
“This book belongs to our family, and together, we gonna use this book to protect our family.” — Tic to Montrose
Advertisement
The prominence of Tic’s maternal ancestors and their plan to stop Christina demonstrates how the “just love” from last week’s episode has led to the empowered knowledge we see manifest in the finale. Green asks us to consider, “Is that something we should be afraid of?” She doesn’t offer a definitive answer, but the final scene of the young Dee squeezing Christina’s throat until her eyes pop and her larynx bursts certainly gives us pause.
Green uses the gore and terror of the horror genre to access our stories, largely blocked by trauma. Dr. Andre Carrington, Associate Professor of English at UC-Riverside, reminds us that “[t]rauma frustrates our ability to tell stories...Horror turns that around where [we are] witnessing and remembering...the violence of the past..instead of suffering its symptoms without connecting it to its cause.” This is the power of genre in processing trauma, a power that Green relishes.
Advertisement
“That’s partially why I love the horror genre so much; because it is a safe space to contend with...those emotions [from the trauma],” she shared with me. Horror gives us the opportunity to commune with the ghosts of our ancestors without the burden of grief. In horror, we can skin the white enslaver who raped his way into our ancestral line without consequence. And in horror, we can stab our lover’s killer with a sword, just after she has bathed in the lifeblood that drains from his body. Horror offers agency mobilized by rage.
So much of this season has been about achieving just the right balance of righteous rage, just love, and empowered knowledge—for as Lorde reminds us, this balance must be “expressed and translated into action in the service of our vision and our future [as] a liberating and strengthening act of clarification.” The importance of the ancestors has been a recurring theme throughout the season, but it is in the season finale that it reaches its zenith. Determined to achieve immortality, Christina has the rage of a birthright denied and empowered knowledge but she is made dangerous because she lacks the just love of her ancestors—and therefore develops none in return.
Advertisement
“This isn’t generational hate. Our families are not at war. This has never been personal.” Christina to Scoobies
The power of the ancestors is also denied to our dear Ruby, who is overwhelmed with righteous rage. Cultural critic Demetria Lucas discusses this rage, reminding us how Ruby enacts “a rape scene towards the rapist [her manager].” But Ruby also has just love, as seen through her determination to protect her sister and unborn nephew through the promise she extracts from Christina and the attempted theft of Christina’s blood that causes her own (temporary) demise. Yet, Ruby has no enduring connection with her ancestors; in fact, Leti only receives that connection through Tic, as her and Ruby’s own family has long been fractured and cut off from its past. The results of the lack of ancestral empowered knowledge are evident in each scene we find Ruby in Christina’s lab; Ruby literally hungers for the knowledge, the theory, the intentionality needed as Christina outlines her plans for Tic’s ruin and her own magical ascension.
Advertisement
Instead, the ever-escaping Hanna becomes the primordial example of how to achieve the balance of righteous rage, just love, and empowered knowledge: “The fire was my rage made manifest, that it could be tamed,” she tells Tic in the opening scene of the season finale. “Once I made this a safe place for our ancestors, I realized this magic was not something to be feared...but a gift to pass on.” Hanna materializes her rage, uses just love to make it a safe space for her loved ones, and learns to shift her own perspective on magic in order to create an empowered system of knowledge, turning it into a gift of love for her descendants.
“And then I named myself ‘Mother.’ And it brought me back here, to you.” — Hippolyta to Dee
Advertisement
It is necessary to highlight that it takes work for Hanna to reach a place of balance, it does not happen right away. She, like Leti in previous episodes, blames the existence of the book for her family’s woes, bespelling it to prevent its use by those descendants who could have used its powerful knowledge. Could you even begin to imagine what Nana Hattie could have done to those white folks in Tulsa with even a few spells under her belt and the language of Adam to give power to those incantations? But Hanna must learn and grow from her own experience and those of the generations that follow. In Hanna’s characterization, Green is demonstrating the diasporic concept of ancestors’ responsibilities to grow and do the work to become stronger for themselves and their descendants, even in the afterlife.
“[Family] is a willingness to sacrifice everything that is necessary to protect it.” — Leti to Ruby
Advertisement
The finale centers on the generational power of Black women to change the path of history; the natural culmination of these characters’ purposeful move from the margins of the show to the most catalytic forces in the plot. Remember, we started this show focused on Tic’s journey, and though we come to its conclusion in this final episode, he is still an almost ancillary figure in the story of his demise. Green admits this is intentional.
“I think that Black women are so important to the story we tell in history,” she says. “I feel like I look back [on]so many moments...there was a community of Black women making those moments happen and being a part of those moments.” With Lovecraft Country, Green channels her own righteous rage, using horror to shift the center of history from whiteness and maleness to the Black women who have too often been silenced.
Advertisement
The maternal ancestors temporarily separate Tic and Leti to help them understand that they have separate yet intertwined purposes in defeating Christina and removing the vice grip white folks have on magic. Tic is empowered by both Hanna and his mother, Dora, who gives him guidance and the emotional fortitude to make the ultimate sacrifice. Hanna explains the legacy of the gift as Dora reveals that he is the gift. Yet Tic’s gift would be moot without the practical knowledge to empower it, and this is why Leti’s time with Mama Hattie is actually the most important function of their time in the ancestral space. Yes, Tic’s death is the gift, but it means nothing without the power of the word to undergird and contextualize his sacrifice. Someone must always live to tell the tale. If Tic is our Christ figure, Leti is his Mary Magdalene.
“If we ain’t walking towards an altar to sacrifice ourselves for something important, what is our purpose?” — Dora to Tic
Advertisement
Christian themes continue throughout the final episode as, like Hanna, Leti must learn to reconcile her already challenged Christianity with multiple spiritualities necessary to save herself and keep her unborn son’s ancestral line alive—a journey Green has also taken her audience on throughout this season. Dr. Carrington appreciates this complexity: “Unlike The Exorcist and unlike Lovecraft’s writing, there isn’t the antagonism of belief systems...where one [system] has to be evil in order to show how good the other one is,” he says.
Leti’s core belief system expands to recognize the fluidities of Christianity and to open space for other systems of belief, as she explains: “All this time, I’ve been chasing faith when I should have been discovering it in myself. Because that’s where He is, in all of us.”
Advertisement
“The answer is in your blood.” — Hanna to Tic
Leti asks Tic to be baptized with her before they head off to battle, and it is here that Tic’s positioning as a Christ figure reemerges as he sits in the pew, contemplating his faith and his fate, reminiscent of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the next scene, Nina Simone’s “I Am Blessed” plays as he reminisces over his family, knowing that he will soon be hung on a wooden structure and bled to offer everlasting life...to Christina.
Advertisement
While this is all going on, we must be continuously aware of the child Leti carries. It is him, not Tic, who brings his mother to the ancestral plane; young George is participating in his own liberation, though he has yet to be born. Green reminds us that “Our present moment is our past moment, you know, and it’ll be. And it’ll be our future moment if we don’t acknowledge that.”
“Do not cripple your son with your doubts. You need to be strong to fix her mistake.” — Hattie to Leti
Advertisement
The incorporation of future George’s agency shows the past being actively recovered, the present being healed of trauma, and transitioning into a powerful and (hopefully) healthful future. This is Afrofuturism personified: the conflation of time within the collapsing of generations, all moving towards one unified goal, the liberation of their family and their people.
Though Hippolyta is the first to effectively articulate the rage of the many female characters in the show, it is her daughter, Dee, who gets the last word on rage in the end. I loved the reckoning she has with Hippolyta, for they are both right. I enjoyed that we got to see a Black girl rage against her mother freely without being gaslit, diminished, or physically punished for daring to “talk back.” Here we see that Hippolyta is establishing a new pattern, refusing to let her daughter be diminished the ways she herself experienced for so much of her life. For the time being, at least, Dee is no longer able to draw. Yes, her mother gifts her a bionic arm, but when we see her in the dark car, she is reading, not drawing as in so many of her other solo scenes. Here, Dee begins to remind me of Toni Morrison’s warning of her titular character, Sula: “Like any artist without form, she became dangerous.”
Advertisement
“We have a choice. We can be monsters...or heroes.” — Tic to Ji-Ah
But we are left with the question of how to characterize that danger. Is it only towards white folks? Dee’s rage is righteous. Her love for her family is just. And she is receiving empowered knowledge her mother received from her own ancestors. But we are left with the question of balance and must speculate on what we have left for our future generations. Dee and the yet unborn George are descendants who have fully participated in this revolution for liberation. So it becomes a question, not whether they are ready for this world they have taken part in creating, but is the world (including us) ready for them?
Advertisement
Even in writing this column, I recognize that I am contending with my own righteous rage at where things stand. I am continuously aware of who we, as a people, give grace to—and who we expect nothing short of perfection from. That shit feels gendered AF and we need to keep this conversation at the forefront: Why is Misha Green not getting her flowers??? Jordan Peele has been declared an auteur, rightfully celebrated for resuscitating Black horror on a large scale, but I know we not gonna sit around and act like y’all knew what the hell was going on in Us. I wrote two articles about it but still got hella questions yet none of this has taken away from his acclaim; even his farts are considered genius.
Some of the response to Green’s creation is straight-up misogynoir. Not the critique—because mind you, no one is above critique—but the severe lack of rapturous praise seen for this show. (And hell, for Underground before it!) There has been valid criticism of Green’s adaptation and interpretation of her source material and the Lovecraft universe at large, but even that has been overwhelmed by contrarian bullshit my editor won’t let me link to. (Editor’s note: Why hand out clicks to contrarian bullshit when Google is free?)
Advertisement
“I realized this magic was not something to be feared...but a gift to pass on.” —Hanna to Tic
At the time of writing this, Lovecraft Country has yet to be renewed—even as less buzzy and frankly, subpar HBO series have been after just a few episodes—but my editor won’t let me link to that, either. (Editor’s note: Nope.) There have been few declarations of a new player in town—who, by the way, created ten densely interwoven hours of highly-watchable material—yet of her genius, we’ve largely heard crickets.
Advertisement
It’s like when the pastor gets up to preach and says “Good morning,” and all he gets is a tepid response. Y’all ain’t gonna act like Misha Green ain’t up here doing the exultant work of helping us process Black trauma within the protective distance that horror provides us, and that her work ain’t worthy to be praised!
“Contending with history, contending with those stories that have come before is part of how you move forward,” Green contends. “And you can’t ignore that. You can’t unmake it. You know, I think that that for me, at least, what I found is that you have to contend with it to move forward.”
Advertisement
I said, GOOD MORNING!
Glossary: a list of terms and descriptions to help you along your journey into Lovecraft Country.
Advertisement
Afua Richardson - comic book artist who is responsible for the drawings attributed to Dee throughout the series. She is the woman behind the visuals of Orithyia Blue. Hippolyta shouts her out in the episode, saying she learned to draw from a woman named “Afua.”
Ancestral Plane - a spiritual plane that operates as a resting place for those ancestors still deeply involved in the day-to-day lives of their descendants. In Black Panther (2018), it was constructed as a serene meadow with a baobab tree. I asked Green why she chose to construct her ancestral plane as a house engulfed in flames. She said wanted it to be a space where “You get mad enough to fight back.”
Advertisement
Salt - historically, salt has been used as a repellent of evil in the folklore in many cultures, including Ancient Rome, Ireland, and Egypt. It has been incorporated into modern pagan practices as well as our everyday practices of bringing good luck. The use of salt in ghost rituals has been popularized by the cult television show, Supernatural.
Recommendations: If your interest is piqued and you would like to take a deeper dive, here are some media suggestions that will help you better understand the Lovecraftian universe and other themes in this episode.
Advertisement
Film:
Monster Squad (1987), Fred Dekker
Cast A Deadly Spell (1991), Martin Campbell
Readings:
Conjure Women: A Novel (2020), Afia Atakora
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem (1994), Maryse Condé
Stigmata (1998), Phyllis Alesia Perry
Television:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003)
Supernatural (2005 - )
Additionally, HBO’s Crafting Lovecraft Country will debut Monday, Oct. 26 from 11:45 pm to 12:15 am ET/PT. Per a press release from HBO, this behind-the-scenes presentation will feature “exclusive interviews with showrunner and executive producer Misha Green, along with the series cast and crew.
Advertisement
“[T]he special will give audiences a look inside the production of Lovecraft Country,” the release continues. “ The behind-the-scenes presentation also dives into Green’s ambitions and processes, explores the adaptation of the novel and examines the historical references woven in the show.”
The special will air on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max.


theroot--2020-10-21--Unqualified Impunity: Amy Coney Barrett Once Ruled That a Cop Wasn't Responsible for a Black Teenage

Unqualified Impunity: Amy Coney Barrett Once Ruled That a Cop Wasn't Responsible for a Black Teenager's Death Because Breathing Isn't a Constitutional Right

She does not believe George Floyd had a right to breathe .
She doesn ’ t believe that screaming the n-word is necessarily “ hostile.
” She does believe in Jesus , though .
While Judge Barrett has displayed a Mitch McConnell-like ability to evade direct questions about her legal opinions on a woman ’ s right to control her own body , whether or not poor people deserve to die if they can ’ t afford healthcare , or if Social Security is constitutional , we already know Barrett ’ s judicial positions in one important area of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Court of Appeal ’ s Seventh Circuit , the right-wing star of the literal handmaid ’ s tale has repeatedly joined her fellow conservative benchmates in asserting the right of police to do whatever they want—the Constitution be damned .
When it comes to police brutality , one does not have to speculate or engage in conjecture to know the opinion of the woman set to take Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’ s seat on America ’ s highest court .
Barrett may be able to duck and dodge questions about her well-documented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but her judicial record makes one thing obvious : Amy Coney Barrett clearly does not believe Black lives matter .
On Sept. 26 , 2015 , Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to a call after a loss prevention officer alleged that eighteen-year-old Terrell Day had stolen a watch from the Burlington Coat Factory at Indianapolis ’ Washington Square Mall .
Day ran out of the mall , followed by a police officer and a security guard who said that Day was carrying a gun , according to the Indianapolis Star .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ caught up with Day , he had collapsed on a grassy slope across the street .
IMPD officer Randall Denny arrived on the scene and noticed that the 312-pound teenager had defecated on himself and was “ sweating and breathing heavily.
” Officer Denny handcuffed Day , told him to take a few deep breaths and sat the teen in an “ upright seated position.
” But Day , still out of breath , kept laying down and eventually rolled down the slope with his hands cuffed behind his back .
“ At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer on Day ’ s person , but was lying in the grass a few feet away and out of his reach , ” according to the Seventh Circuit ruling .
“ Day complained to Sergeant Wooten that he could not breathe , ” reads the circuit court opinion .
“ Sergeant Wooten was skeptical of these complaints because Day also claimed to have done nothing wrong and was asking to be released .
All the same , Sergeant Wooten called for an ambulance to evaluate Day approximately five minutes after Day was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t go to the hospital , Wooten signed a form that said Day refused treatment , ” placed another set of handcuffs on Day and called for a police wagon to transport Day to jail .
When the wagon arrived , the officers tried to lift Day , but he was unresponsive .
The driver called a second ambulance .
Wooten waited while Day lay on the ground in his own feces .
Wooten waited while Day complained that he couldn ’ t breathe .
Wooten waited until Day was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wooten , who received CPR training by the IMPD that specifically informed him about the dangers of positional asphyxiation , which it said can occur “ when a suspect , especially a larger one , is placed on their chest or stomach , with the suspect ’ s arms and legs restrained behind the back , ” waited while Day lay on the ground in his own feces , handcuffed twice , complaining that he couldn ’ t breathe ...
When a coroner arrived on the scene , he saw no visible signs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handcuffs still on Day , he immediately knew what had happened .
The autopsy report verified it .
Eighteen-year-old Terrell Day ’ s official cause of death was listed as “ Sudden Cardiac Death.
” But it wasn ’ t just a heart attack .
“ Listed as a contributing cause , ” writes the Indianapolis Star ’ s Crystal Hill , “ was Day ’ s hands being cuffed behind his back.
” In May 2019 , a federal District Court agreed that Terrell Day ’ s mother , Shanika Day , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ruling that “ reasonable officers would know they were violating an established right by leaving Day ’ s hands cuffed behind his back after he complained of difficulty breathing .
” But then Wooten appealed and Amy stepped up .
The most conservative judge on the most conservative court .
Looking at Barrett ’ s judicial record , Five Thirty-Eight didn ’ t just categorize her as a right-leaning justice on one of America ’ s most conservative courts .
They concluded that “ Barrett is one of the more conservative judges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most conservative.
” And considering the other judges , that ’ s quite a statement .
When Franklin Wooten appealed to Barrett ’ s court , the Supreme Court nominee was flanked by two Reagan appointees who are still the greatest examples for packing the court with unqualified , conservative judges : • Daniel Anthony Manion : Like Barrett , Manion is a Notre Dame alumnus who is notorious for his inability to write , spell or quote the Constitution .
Manion was a supporter of the radical , right-wing which , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King Jr. was a communist who wanted to institute a “ Soviet Negro Republic.
” At the time of Manion ’ s , he received one of the lowest American Bar Association judgeship rankings in history .
• Frank H. Easterbrook : His ABA ranking was even because some members said was outright “ unqualified.
” The Chicago Council of Lawyers an “ arrogant and intolerant ” judge who “ disregards the facts or the law.
” But according to the data , Barrett is more of a right-wing radical than either of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s not just abortion rights .
Barrett has displayed the most far-right ideology in the areas of civil rights , criminal rights and discrimination suits .
So when Wooten appealed to the Seventh Circuit , Coney and her unqualified justices reached an astonishing conclusion : Terrell Day didn ’ t have the right to breathe .
The court accepted every fact of the case but determined that Wooten shouldn ’ t even stand trial .
They essentially ruled that Wooten was immune from the consequences of his actions because “ the only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the right of an out-of-breath arrestee to not have his hands cuffed behind his back after he complains of difficulty breathing.
” However , the judges woefully admitted that they could “ find no Seventh Circuit precedent clearly establishing such a right.
” They wrote that down on paper .
One of Shanika Day ’ s attorneys called it a “ radical departure ” from prior cases while co-counsel Faith Alvarez said the ruling put the burden of proof “ on the person who ’ s dying .
It ’ s no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” This is not even the tip of the Amy Coney Barrett iceberg .
She has also written that being called a “ stupid-ass nigger ” by one ’ s work supervisor doesn ’ t necessarily constitute a hostile work environment .
She also voted to deny employees of Autozone a rehearing after her colleagues ruled that the auto parts giant didn ’ t violate the civil rights of its Black employees by forcing them to work exclusively in Black neighborhoods .
She wrote that gun rights are as important as voting rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case , she literally argued against believing women .
In a separate decision , a woman won a lawsuit after she sued for being “ repeatedly raped by a prison guard.
” A circuit court ruled that the prison shared responsibility for the sexual assaults .
In a unanimous decision , Amy and the Conservative Court Jesters decided that the prison and the county could not be held liable because the numerous rapes “ fell outside of the guard ’ s official duties ” and “ were in no way actuated by a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s probably some other stuff too .
The problem is , we don ’ t know how much stuff .
“ There is so much we still don ’ t know about Amy Coney Barrett because she has been less than one hundred percent forthcoming with the Senate about her past and refused to release her records from Notre Dame .
That said , what we are learning about her public record as a judge is deeply disturbing , ” said Kyle Herrig , president of government watchdog Accountable US in a statement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Terrell Day deserved justice for his death , instead Coney Barrett decided Mr. Day had no legal right to have his continued complaints about not being able to breathe addressed by the officers holding him in custody .
This sort of judgment is dangerous and it does not belong in the high court.
” Anyway ...
Your next S upreme C ourt justice will probably be a right-wing zealot who believes that Jesus has a panty preference , and would rather have women die than have certain medical procedures— if they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worry , just take a deep breath ...
It might be illegal soon if Amy Coney Barrett gets her say .

Amy Coney Barrett is a right-wing extremist.
She does not believe George Floyd had a right to breathe. She doesn’t believe that screaming the n-word is necessarily “hostile.”
She does believe in Jesus, though.
While Judge Barrett has displayed a Mitch McConnell-like ability to evade direct questions about her legal opinions on a woman’s right to control her own body, whether or not poor people deserve to die if they can’t afford healthcare, or if Social Security is constitutional, we already know Barrett’s judicial positions in one important area of the law. As a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeal’s Seventh Circuit, the right-wing star of the literal handmaid’s tale has repeatedly joined her fellow conservative bench mates in asserting the right of police to do whatever they want—the Constitution be damned.
When it comes to police brutality, one does not have to speculate or engage in conjecture to know the opinion of the woman set to take Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on America’s highest court. Barrett may be able to duck and dodge questions about her well-documented anti-choice stance or her pro-death healthcare views, but her judicial record makes one thing obvious:
Amy Coney Barrett clearly does not believe Black lives matter.
He Couldn’t Breathe
On Sept. 26, 2015, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to a call after a loss prevention officer alleged that eighteen-year-old Terrell Day had stolen a watch from the Burlington Coat Factory at Indianapolis’ Washington Square Mall. Day ran out of the mall, followed by a police officer and a security guard who said that Day was carrying a gun, according to the Indianapolis Star.
When the discount outlet watch recovery team caught up with Day, he had collapsed on a grassy slope across the street. IMPD officer Randall Denny arrived on the scene and noticed that the 312-pound teenager had defecated on himself and was “sweating and breathing heavily.” Officer Denny handcuffed Day, told him to take a few deep breaths and sat the teen in an “upright seated position.” But Day, still out of breath, kept laying down and eventually rolled down the slope with his hands cuffed behind his back. “At this point, the gun was no longer on Day’s person but was lying in the grass a few feet away and out of his reach,” according to the Seventh Circuit ruling.
Then Sgt. Franklin Wooten arrived.
“Day complained to Sergeant Wooten that he could not breathe,” reads the circuit court opinion. “Sergeant Wooten was skeptical of these complaints because Day also claimed to have done nothing wrong and was asking to be released. All the same, Sergeant Wooten called for an ambulance to evaluate Day approximately five minutes after Day was initially detained. After paramedics said Day didn’t go to the hospital, Wooten signed a form that said Day refused treatment,” placed another set of handcuffs on Day and called for a police wagon to transport Day to jail. When the wagon arrived, the officers tried to lift Day, but he was unresponsive. The driver called a second ambulance.
But Wooten waited.
Wooten waited while Day lay on the ground in his own feces. Wooten waited while Day complained that he couldn’t breathe. Wooten waited until Day was a listless Black thing. Sgt. Franklin Wooten, who received CPR training by the IMPD that specifically informed him about the dangers of positional asphyxiation, which it said can occur “when a suspect, especially a larger one, is placed on their chest or stomach, with the suspect’s arms and legs restrained behind the back,” waited while Day lay on the ground in his own feces, handcuffed twice, complaining that he couldn’t breathe...
For forty-two minutes.
When a coroner arrived on the scene, he saw no visible signs of trauma but when he saw the handcuffs still on Day, he immediately knew what had happened. The autopsy report verified it. Eighteen-year-old Terrell Day’s official cause of death was listed as “Sudden Cardiac Death.” But it wasn’t just a heart attack.
“Listed as a contributing cause,” writes the Indianapolis Star’s Crystal Hill, “was Day’s hands being cuffed behind his back.”
In May 2019, a federal District Court agreed that Terrell Day’s mother, Shanika Day, had the right to sue Franklin Wooten, ruling that “reasonable officers would know they were violating an established right by leaving Day’s hands cuffed behind his back after he complained of difficulty breathing.”
But then Wooten appealed and Amy stepped up.
The most conservative judge on the most conservative court.
Amy Coney Barrett is a right-wing radical.
Looking at Barrett’s judicial record, Five Thirty-Eight didn’t just categorize her as a right-leaning justice on one of America’s most conservative courts. They concluded that “Barrett is one of the more conservative judges on the circuit — and maybe even the most conservative.”
And considering the other judges, that’s quite a statement.
When Franklin Wooten appealed to Barrett’s court, the Supreme Court nominee was flanked by two Reagan appointees who are still the greatest examples for packing the court with unqualified, conservative judges:
But according to the data, Barrett is more of a right-wing radical than either of these mediocre white men. And it’s not just abortion rights. Barrett has displayed the most far-right ideology in the areas of civil rights, criminal rights and discrimination suits. So when Wooten appealed to the Seventh Circuit, Coney and her unqualified justices reached an astonishing conclusion:
Terrell Day didn’t have the right to breathe.
The court accepted every fact of the case but determined that Wooten shouldn’t even stand trial. They essentially ruled that Wooten was immune from the consequences of his actions because “the only right [Day] can assert would be the right of an out-of-breath arrestee to not have his hands cuffed behind his back after he complains of difficulty breathing.” However, the judges woefully admitted that they could “find no Seventh Circuit precedent clearly establishing such a right.”
They wrote that down on paper.
One of Shanika Day’s attorneys called it a “radical departure” from prior cases while co-counsel Faith Alvarez said the ruling put the burden of proof “on the person who’s dying. It’s no longer on the police to be trained.”
The Unknown Amy Barrett
This is not even the tip of the Amy Coney Barrett iceberg.
She has also written that being called a “stupid-ass nigger” by one’s work supervisor doesn’t necessarily constitute a hostile work environment. She also voted to deny employees of Autozone a rehearing after her colleagues ruled that the auto parts giant didn’t violate the civil rights of its Black employees by forcing them to work exclusively in Black neighborhoods. She wrote that gun rights are as important as voting rights.
In a campus sexual assault appeals case, she literally argued against believing women. In a separate decision, a woman won a lawsuit after she sued for being “repeatedly raped by a prison guard.” A circuit court ruled that the prison shared responsibility for the sexual assaults.
Amy Comey Barrett voted to overturn it.
In a unanimous decision, Amy and the Conservative Court Jesters decided that the prison and the county could not be held liable because the numerous rapes “fell outside of the guard’s official duties” and “were in no way actuated by a purpose to serve [ the] county.”
There’s probably some other stuff too.
The problem is, we don’t know how much stuff.
“There is so much we still don’t know about Amy Coney Barrett because she has been less than one hundred percent forthcoming with the Senate about her past and refused to release her records from Notre Dame. That said, what we are learning about her public record as a judge is deeply disturbing,” said Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog Accountable US in a statement to The Root. “The family of Terrell Day deserved justice for his death, instead Coney Barrett decided Mr. Day had no legal right to have his continued complaints about not being able to breathe addressed by the officers holding him in custody. This sort of judgment is dangerous and it does not belong in the high court.”
Anyway... Your next Supreme Court justice will probably be a right-wing zealot who believes that Jesus has a panty preference, and would rather have women die than have certain medical procedures—if they can afford them.
But don’t worry, just take a deep breath...
It might be illegal soon if Amy Coney Barrett gets her say.


theroot--2020-10-21--'They Are Really Giving the Racist Drag Race Fans a Run for Their Money': Tre'vell Anderson Celebrat

'They Are Really Giving the Racist Drag Race Fans a Run for Their Money': Tre'vell Anderson Celebrates the Black Queens Dominating the Show

If you don ’ t know who Heidi N Closet , Jaida Essence Hall , and Shea Couleé are , @ @ @ @ @ on “ Black queer excellence , ” in the words of entertainment journalist Tre ’ @ @ @ @ @ asked Anderson—an honoree on this year ’ s The Root 100 list—to share the Blackest @ @ @ @ @ and they said , “ I have to give it to our Black queens who @ @ @ @ @ s Drag Race empire right now.
” Check out more in the video above .

We may earn a commission from links on this page.
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude


theroot--2020-10-21--Op-Ed: With Healthcare at Stake, Stacey Abrams Explains 'What the South Must Do'

When we vote , it may seem like we are voting for a candidate , but that is not entirely accurate .
We are voting for the positions that the candidate supports and the types of policies they will enact based on those positions .
This is true no matter where we live , and looking at this year ’ s election through this lens will help us all get clear on our voting priorities .
In the South , one needs to look no further than healthcare to see the importance of advancing policies that support people—and what happens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 12 states yet to extend Medicaid to include more people with low incomes , eight are in the South .
If these states expanded Medicaid right now , roughly seven-and-a-half million people would gain access to critical , life-saving healthcare .
Many of these uninsured Southerners are Black and Latinx people who are more likely to be workers on the pandemic ’ s frontlines and are also , tragically , overrepresented in COVID-19 infections and deaths .
Think about that number for a minute .
Seven-and-a-half million is a lot of people—almost the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Expanding Medicaid would be the single quickest way to address the South ’ s devastating , longstanding racial health disparities exacerbated by COVID-19 .
And so , we organize .
Recently , I moderated an online vigil organized by Southerners for Medicaid Expansion that honored the lives of people who have suffered , mostly because Medicaid has not been expanded in the region .
If the term “ Medicaid expansion ” seems abstract , imagine this scenario : you are a single mom working full-time at a minimum wage job in North Carolina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health insurance .
To be covered , you ’ d have to pay about a quarter of your $ 15,000 a year income for the least expensive , high deductible plan .
Several of your coworkers who also earn low wages and have no kids are in the same boat because there ’ s no healthcare assistance for them either .
Though everyone ’ s circumstances are unique , millions of Southerners find themselves in a similar , impossible situation : they make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Healthcare Marketplace .
To be covered , they would have to pay full price for private health insurance .
There are four other states outside the South yet to pass expansion : Wisconsin , Kansas , Wyoming , and South Dakota .
For people in these states with low incomes , the situation is also familiar .
How did we get here ?
Medicaid , the essential program for people with low incomes to access healthcare , was started in 1965 alongside Medicare as part of the Social Security Act .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to federal requirements , and is funded jointly by states and our federal government .
When the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010 , it originally stipulated that states would expand their Medicaid programs to cover people who earn up to the threshold of what would qualify for financial help through the online Healthcare Marketplace .
While the 2012 Supreme Court ruling upheld the Affordable Care Act as constitutional , the ruling essentially made Medicaid expansion optional for states .
Although the federal government almost entirely funds the program , some state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaving millions of people in a coverage gap .
So far , 38 states and the District of Columbia have passed some form of Medicaid expansion .
For states with a legislative path to expansion , which is most Southern states , current lawmakers have made it clear they never intend to pass Medicaid expansion legislation , regardless of their constituents ’ wants or needs .
Almost all states yet to expand could see it happen during the 2021 legislative session with decision-makers in place who will prioritize healthcare .
And while the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new round of arguments on the Affordable Care Act just a week after Election Day , support for the law remains high , and healthcare is most definitely on peoples ’ minds .
And so , we vote .
When we understand that poverty in America is an outcome based on overlapping , harmful policy choices , we also see that better policy decisions can lead to better results .
If we look at policy positions as we cast our ballot , it becomes clear what we must do .
As difficult as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the chance to enact policies that will help us build the multiracial democracy a majority of us desire , yet so many of us have died while waiting to see realized .
Expanding Medicaid is one tangible way to show we are serious about supporting policies that would address the history of racial health disparities in the South .
It is one small but powerful choice , with real and material consequences .
Please join me in the fight for healthcare access by signing this petition to expand Medicaid in the South .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Southern Economic Advancement Project .
She served for eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives , seven as Democratic Leader .
In 2018 , she became the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States .

When we vote, it may seem like we are voting for a candidate, but that is not entirely accurate.
We are voting for the positions that the candidate supports and the types of policies they will enact based on those positions. This is true no matter where we live, and looking at this year’s election through this lens will help us all get clear on our voting priorities.
Advertisement
In the South, one needs to look no further than healthcare to see the importance of advancing policies that support people—and what happens when we do not.
Of the 12 states yet to extend Medicaid to include more people with low incomes, eight are in the South. If these states expanded Medicaid right now, roughly seven-and-a-half million people would gain access to critical, life-saving healthcare. Many of these uninsured Southerners are Black and Latinx people who are more likely to be workers on the pandemic’s frontlines and are also, tragically, overrepresented in COVID-19 infections and deaths.
Advertisement Advertisement
Think about that number for a minute. Seven-and-a-half million is a lot of people—almost the entire population of New York City. Expanding Medicaid would be the single quickest way to address the South’s devastating, longstanding racial health disparities exacerbated by COVID-19.
And so, we organize.
Recently, I moderated an online vigil organized by Southerners for Medicaid Expansion that honored the lives of people who have suffered, mostly because Medicaid has not been expanded in the region. If the term “Medicaid expansion” seems abstract, imagine this scenario: you are a single mom working full-time at a minimum wage job in North Carolina for an employer that does not provide health insurance. To be covered, you’d have to pay about a quarter of your $15,000 a year income for the least expensive, high deductible plan. Several of your coworkers who also earn low wages and have no kids are in the same boat because there’s no healthcare assistance for them either.
Advertisement
Though everyone’s circumstances are unique, millions of Southerners find themselves in a similar, impossible situation: they make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to be eligible for financial assistance through the Healthcare Marketplace. To be covered, they would have to pay full price for private health insurance. There are four other states outside the South yet to pass expansion: Wisconsin, Kansas, Wyoming, and South Dakota. For people in these states with low incomes, the situation is also familiar. How did we get here?
Medicaid, the essential program for people with low incomes to access healthcare, was started in 1965 alongside Medicare as part of the Social Security Act. It is administered at the state level, according to federal requirements, and is funded jointly by states and our federal government. When the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, it originally stipulated that states would expand their Medicaid programs to cover people who earn up to the threshold of what would qualify for financial help through the online Healthcare Marketplace. While the 2012 Supreme Court ruling upheld the Affordable Care Act as constitutional, the ruling essentially made Medicaid expansion optional for states. Although the federal government almost entirely funds the program, some state lawmakers have refused to do anything, leaving millions of people in a coverage gap.
Advertisement
So far, 38 states and the District of Columbia have passed some form of Medicaid expansion. For states with a legislative path to expansion, which is most Southern states, current lawmakers have made it clear they never intend to pass Medicaid expansion legislation, regardless of their constituents’ wants or needs. Almost all states yet to expand could see it happen during the 2021 legislative session with decision-makers in place who will prioritize healthcare. And while the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a new round of arguments on the Affordable Care Act just a week after Election Day, support for the law remains high, and healthcare is most definitely on peoples’ minds.
And so, we vote.
When we understand that poverty in America is an outcome based on overlapping, harmful policy choices, we also see that better policy decisions can lead to better results. If we look at policy positions as we cast our ballot, it becomes clear what we must do.
Advertisement
As difficult as this year has been, we have the chance to enact policies that will help us build the multiracial democracy a majority of us desire, yet so many of us have died while waiting to see realized.
Expanding Medicaid is one tangible way to show we are serious about supporting policies that would address the history of racial health disparities in the South. It is one small but powerful choice, with real and material consequences.
Advertisement
Please join me in the fight for healthcare access by signing this petition to expand Medicaid in the South.
Stacey Abrams is the founder of the Southern Economic Advancement Project. She served for eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as Democratic Leader. In 2018, she became the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States.


theroot--2020-10-22--Kobe Bryant’s 2008 Finals Jersey Put on Display in the Smithsonian

In honor of the late Kobe Bryant , the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture has displayed the jersey he wore during the 2008 NBA Finals .
According to CBS News , the jersey was displayed as part of its “ Sports : Leveling the Playing Field , ” gallery .
Bryant was a founding donor of the museum , with The Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation donating at least $ 1 million to its creation , according to the museum .
Bryant wore the jersey during game 5 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost that series , Bryant won a league MVP award that year .
Bryant tragically died earlier this year in a helicopter crash that also took the life of his daughter Gianna and seven others .
Spencer Crew , interim director of the NMAAHC , released a statement praising the work Kobe did on and off the court .
“ As a founding donor , he understood the significance of this museum to the nation and the world , ” Crew said .
“ After postponing the March installation due to COVID-19 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in history to honor his memory by placing his jersey on view.
” The museum recently uploaded a video showing the jersey being put on display .
Bryant was enthusiastic about what the museum represented , tweeting in 2016 that “ there is no greater testament to this country than the stories in this building.
” He donated his jersey to the museum in 2017 .
There have been multiple tributes to the legendary basketball player over the year , with murals popping up worldwide , a Los Angeles street being named for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ format of this year ’ s All-Star Game to honor him .
The largest , and probably most fitting tribute , came two weeks ago when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat during the 2020 NBA Finals .
Multiple members of the Lakers organization dedicated the championship win to Kobe , including LeBron James and Anthony Davis .
If you ’ re unable to see the display in person , the NMAAHC provides a virtual guide through the exhibition .

In honor of the late Kobe Bryant, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture has displayed the jersey he wore during the 2008 NBA Finals.
According to CBS News, the jersey was displayed as part of its “Sports: Leveling the Playing Field,” gallery. Bryant was a founding donor of the museum, with The Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation donating at least $1 million to its creation, according to the museum. Bryant wore the jersey during game 5 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. While the Lakers ultimately lost that series, Bryant won a league MVP award that year.
Advertisement
Bryant tragically died earlier this year in a helicopter crash that also took the life of his daughter Gianna and seven others.
Spencer Crew, interim director of the NMAAHC, released a statement praising the work Kobe did on and off the court. “As a founding donor, he understood the significance of this museum to the nation and the world,” Crew said. “After postponing the March installation due to COVID-19, we believe now is the perfect moment in history to honor his memory by placing his jersey on view.” The museum recently uploaded a video showing the jersey being put on display.
Advertisement Advertisement
Bryant was enthusiastic about what the museum represented, tweeting in 2016 that “there is no greater testament to this country than the stories in this building.” He donated his jersey to the museum in 2017.
There have been multiple tributes to the legendary basketball player over the year, with murals popping up worldwide, a Los Angeles street being named for Bryant, and the NBA changing the format of this year’s All-Star Game to honor him.
Advertisement
The largest, and probably most fitting tribute, came two weeks ago when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat during the 2020 NBA Finals. Multiple members of the Lakers organization dedicated the championship win to Kobe, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
If you’re unable to see the display in person, the NMAAHC provides a virtual guide through the exhibition.


theroot--2020-10-21--Three Vibrant Variations of Beats Solo Pro Headphones Are Only $200 Right Now at Best Buy

If you ’ ve had your eye on the Beats Solo Pro headphones , today is your lucky day .
@ @ @ @ @ babies is $ 300 , but you can get three vibrant color options at Best @ @ @ @ @ .
Of course , the dark blue , light blue , and red options have @ @ @ @ @ lower than full retail at around the $ 230 price mark for the past 30 @ @ @ @ @ this is a bigger discount than normal .
Now is your chance to listen to @ @ @ @ @ style for a better price— don ’ t miss it !
This deal was originally @ @ @ @ @ September 2020 and updated by Gabe Carey with new information on 10/21/2020 .

Elizabeth Lanier and Gabe Carey on Kinja Deals, shared by Gabe Carey to The Root

Beats Solo Pro On-Ear Headphones | $149 | Walmart
If you’ve had your eye on the Beats Solo Pro headphones, today is your lucky day. The full retail on these babies is $300, but Walmart is currently offering them for just $149 in a few colors, including Gray, Ivory, Black, and Light Blue.
Of course, these have all hovered a good chunk lower than full retail for a while now, but this is still well below the average recent price at most retailers. Now is your chance to listen to your music and podcasts in style and with active noise canceling for a better price—don’t miss it!
This deal was originally published by Liz Lanier in September 2020 and updated by Andrew Hayward with new information on 06/14/2021.