Danielle Belton was born and raised at  St. Louis, Mo. on a healthy diet of news programming, pop culture, black history and “snark,” Danielle C. Belton examines the irreverent side of American life. She is currently editor-in-chief for The Root, the leading African American news site for news and commentary.

With two million readers in less than two years, Belton is best known as the editor/writer of her pop culture-meets-politics blog The Black Snob. The site has a readership spanning political junkies, journalists, fellow bloggers, political pundits, authors, academics, legislators and political strategists. Belton and her site has earned widespread critical acclaim, appearing in The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Observer (UK), The Daily Beast, NPR, and has also been a featured guest on CNN, ABC’s Nightline and Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and makes regular appearances on PBS’s To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbe and NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin.

As a freelance journalist, Belton has contributed to: MSNBC, Essence Magazine, Mediaite, PBS’ To The Contrary, NPR’s Tell Me More, The American Prospect, The Root, The Grio, Jezebel.com, Essence.com, UPTOWN Magazine online, Black Enterprise Magazine Online, The Huffington Post and many more.

In 2012, Belton was Head Writer for BET Network’s late-night offering “Don’t Sleep” hosted by former CNN anchor T. J. Holmes. Belton currently lives in New York City. She was also Editor-At-Large for Clutch Magazine Online.

We are proud of her achievement and we name her Most Influential 100 Class of 2018 Media and Culture category.