The Root

When you have 3.3 million TikTok followers like Nara Aziza Smith, expect more than a few haters sprinkled within.Read more...

Updated as of 3/9/2024 at 3 p.m. ET

It's not everyday as an actor that you get tapped to portray one of the biggest civil rights icons in history, but that's exactly what happened to Kelvin Harrison Jr. when he got the call to play Martin Luther King Jr. in National Geographic's recently released series, Genius: MLK/X."Read more...

A Kentucky bill with bi-partisan support could radically change how child support works in the state. On Tuesday, the Kentucky Senate passed a bill granting the right to collect child support for a child before they're born - allowing parents to re-coup expenses from during their pregnancy.Read more...

Shannon Sharpe loves all of the hate and jokes headed his way. Less than a week ago, the NFL Hall of Famer made a post on TikTok in which he simply visited a wine store to promote his luxury cognac, Shay by Le Portier.Read more...

Fantasia appeared on stage at Jazz In The Gardens' 17th annual Women's Impact Luncheon in Florida to a standing ovation and a room packed with Black and brown women eager to hear her testimony.Read more...

President Joe Biden delivered the final State of the Union of his first term in office on Thursday night - making a bold appeal to the American people to give him another term in office, and highlighting the existential threat to our democracy. - Jessica Washington Read MoreRead more...

Besides her record-breaking Super Bowl halftime performance in 2023, it's been over five years since fans have seen pop princess Rihanna perform live on stage. And we're not even going to talk about the last time she dropped new music - although I guess she has been raising children and running a fashion and beauty...Read more...

For one reason or another, Shannon Sharpe is always in the news. Whether it has to do with his revealing interviews with celebrities, or his outlandish comments on ESPN, someone always has something to say about the three-time Super Bowl champion. - Noah A. McGee Read MoreRead more...

For one reason or another, Shannon Sharpe is always in the news. Whether it has to do with his revealing interviews with celebrities, or his outlandish comments on ESPN, someone always has something to say about the three-time Super Bowl champion. - Noah A. McGee Read MoreRead more...

Seemingly overnight, the internet was flooded with photos of former President Donald Trump seemingly surrounded by adoring groups of Black voters. In one idyllically posed portrait, Trump has his arms around two smiling Black women as a larger group scrambles to get in frame. - Jessica Washington Read MoreRead more...

Besides her record-breaking Super Bowl halftime performance in 2023, it's been over five years since fans have seen pop princess Rihanna perform live on stage. And we're not even going to talk about the last time she dropped new music - although I guess she has been raising children and running a fashion and beauty...Read more...

Over the weekend, Philadelphia's head of LGBTQ affairs and her husband were detained by police in a disturbing arrest that was caught on camera. Now, the city's District Attorney Office is investigating the incident. - Candace McDuffie Read MoreRead more...

If you're looking for new and interesting shows to binge, you can't go wrong with something in the sci-fi/fantasy category. If you jump in on a series that's a few years old, you can avoid the frustrating wait fans experienced during the original airing and just binge the entire show in one sitting. To help you narrow...Read more...

The Oscars are the biggest night in Hollywood. The best and most popular actors, actresses, directors, and producers come out to celebrate the best in cinema over the past year.

Over the years we've seen some unforgettable portrayals of the President of the United States. From Morgan Freeman, to Dennis Haysbert, to Jamie Foxx, to Samuel L. Jackson, Hollywood's biggest name have spent time in the Oval Office. The difficult choices of election season often make us long for the more idealistic...Read more...

Black women have been the bedrock of our political system for generations. But how often does anyone bother to ask what Black women, specifically, want from the system they've worked so hard to uphold.Read more...

Willow Smith told us we weren't ready, and man, was she right. We just recovered from the stunning looks she served up at Paris Fashion Week, and now she's killing us softly all over again, teasing new music with gorgeously artistic visuals.Read more...

A wellness check from the New York Police Department led to the discovery of dismembered remains in a Bronx home. Police say their prime suspect was a well-known criminal justice activist. - Kalyn WomackRead more...

Read more...

Read more...

This week, Charles Barkley made headlines with a pretty stern warning to Black people - if he meets anyone wearing a picture of Donald Trump's mugshot, they should be prepared to meet his fist.Read more...

As the Presidential race continues to heat up, a growing grassroots political movement has increasingly taken center stage. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have hit the streets to call for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip - with Black political leaders including Representatives Cori Bush (D-MO), Ayanna...Read more...

The Oscars are meant to honor and celebrate the best in the movie-making business like actors and directors. However, singers, music producers, and artists from the music industry have often stolen the show.

SZA has become a role model and inspiration for countless fans. The personal nature of her music offers a glimpse into her emotional struggles and life experience. Of course, not every important story can fit into a song: The Grammy winner recently appeared on the S.H.E. MD" podcast to discuss how she's dealing with...Read more...

Halle Bailey is speaking her truth about why she chose not to publicize her pregnancy with son Halo and keep things private.

Christian Keye's sent the world searching for a list of Black Billionaires when he claimed one of them sexually assaulted him. However, we had already put the list together, but only to inspire. Nowadays everyone has a side hustle. We're all striving for that moment when our dream will catapult us into the next level....Read more...

Mike Tyson will be in new territory when he fights Jake Paul come July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Not because it's his first live fight in nearly four years or because it's the first time Netflix will broadcast a boxing match. But because of the audience that will be watching him: old boxing fans who know...Read more...

Actor/comedian Mike Epps routinely says wild and crazy things. It's part of what some fans like about him. The problems come when he crosses the line, such as with comments about his kids' looks. During a recent appearance on the All the Smoke" podcast, he once again went too far when a discussion about the birth of...Read more...

It wouldn't be a day that ends in y' if we weren't talking about someone on social media coming at Beyonce for something. This time, folks online are accusing the Break My Soul" singer of stealing the packaging design for her Cecred haircare line from TWYG, a small skin care company based in New Zealand.

A wellness check from the New York Police Department led to the discovery of dismembered remains in a Bronx home. Police say their prime suspect was a well-known criminal justice activist.

President Joe Biden delivered the final State of the Union of his first term in office on Thursday night - making a bold appeal to the American people to give him another term in office, and highlighting the existential threat to our democracy.

We are only days into Women's History Month, and Black women are already showing up and showing out on the fashion front at the 2024 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood event.

Katt Williams had his moment to air out all his grievances on his now infamous Club Shay Shay" appearance. Now, some of the people he attacked are responding to his claims. Kevin Hart had a positive, generous reply, and it seems Cedric the Entertainer is also taking the high road. Katt accused the Barbershop" star...Read more...

None of us could look away from last month's two-part Lifetime documentary detailing talk show host Wendy Williams' stunning reversal of fortune. But as the world watched the former Queen of All Media come unglued, my eyes weren't on Wendy but on her 24-year-old son, Kevin Hunter, Jr.

This story is part of our Start. Build. Grow. series, a celebration of Black business.Read more...

Read more...

The upcoming solar eclipse on April 8 is expected to attract millions of people yearning for a glimpse of the rare astronomical phenomenon. However, eclipse-goers will have to migrate to a 115-mile-wide path of totality that sweeps from Texas to Maine. Cities along the path, such as Indianapolis, are bracing for...Read more...

Johns Hopkins Medicine's chief diversity officer is out a few months after a newsletter on privilege" landed her in the crosshairs of conservative media. Dr. Sherita Golden officially resigned from her position at the prestigious medical school on Monday.

In 1988, while revealing her shocking weight loss on her talk show, Oprah Winfrey famously wheeled out a wagon containing 67 pounds of fat. She explained how she'd been on a medically supervised" liquid protein fast. This was the beginning of a decades-long emotional roller coaster involving Oprah's weight. Her...Read more...

Just across the bay from San Diego, Coronado, California, is a community known for beautiful beaches. But in the 1930s, it was also known as a community that wasn't exactly welcoming to families of color. The Dongs, a Chinese American family, learned that the hard way in 1939 when they had trouble finding a place of...Read more...

The mayor of Dolton, Illinois, a predominantly Black suburb of Chicago, is enmeshed in a scandal of big-city proportions. Mayor Tiffany Henyard is accused of misusing money from the Village of Dolton to fund her lavish spending and blocking efforts to hold her accountable.

Massachusetts police are on the hunt for a suspect connected to the brutal killing of a mother and her pre-teen daughter earlier this week.

Yet another lawsuit in connection to an alleged police brutality case has been filed on behalf of a Black man fatally shot by a Prince George's County officer last month.

Last week, we told you how financial pressure from the SAG-AFTRA strike forced multi-hyphenate entertainer Billy Porter to put his home up for sale. The Pose" star told The Standard that he's still living check-to-check, which means months without work forced him to make the difficult decision.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Masked Singer" Season 11 premiere!

Imagine experiencing a racial micro-aggression and you're fired after reporting it to you boss, and the other person involved faces zero consequences. That is what Caleb Ferguson, a Black man, is claiming happened to him during his time at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.Read more...

For fans of HBO's drama Euphoria" it's been an exceptionally long wait for Season 3 to hit screens. Part of that is due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that shut down Hollywood for much of 2023, but it's also become the nature of the show. There's typically been a year-long break between seasons. Unfortunately, this...Read more...

Believing in yourself can be difficult, even when you're a GRAMMY-winning, EMMY-winning, Oscar-nominated artist like Mary J. Blige. Fans can listen to her hits like Real Love" and Family Affair" on repeat. But on the March 6 episode of TODAY With Hoda and Jenna, the singer, actress and entrepreneur admitted that...Read more...

About 1, 125 people die by gun violence in Louisiana every year, according to Everytown, an organization tracking gun violence in the U.S. One of the latest shootings claimed the life of an 18-year-old boy as he was getting off the school bus.