The Root

Even though veteran actress and Bruised star and director Halle Berry made history in 2002 after she became the first Black woman to win for Best Actress, that win wasn’t just about her.Read more...

New Orleans is recognized around the world as the birthplace of jazz. You can barely walk down the street in the French Quarter without hearing trumpets blaring and seeing bands march through the streets. It’s the place where great jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong, Trombone Shorty and Wynton Marsalis were born. But…Read more...

An autopsy by the North Carolina’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found Jason Walker, 37, was shot four times by an off-duty deputy in Fayetteville, per the Associated Press. The shooting brought about protest in the community as Walker’s family argued he was killed unjustly.Read more...

Taraji P. Henson is leveling up her entertainment empire with a partnership at BET Studios. Per a press release provided to The Root, the Oscar nominee’s TPH Entertainment will work with the studio to create content for BET and other Viacom networks like Paramount+, Showtime, CBS and Nickelodeon.Read more...

William Peace University is a school founded in 1857 in Raleigh, North Carolina, but students and school officials never had an idea that the namesake of the university had ties to slavery up, that is until recently, according to CBS 17.

Read more...

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber declared a state of emergency after Black spring breakers began visiting the area, reported Miami Herald. Usually these announcements are for strenuous situations like natural disasters or the previous increase in Covid-19 cases. However, this decision looks more like an overreaction to…Read more...

Bob Marley, Prince and Aretha Franklin are just a few examples of celebrities who famously died without a will, leaving close family members and some family members they didn’t know they had to fight it out for the assets they left behind. And although millions of dollars may not be involved, there are plenty of cases…Read more...

One day the South Dakota Governor is signing a law that prohibits universities from using training material that could cause racial “discomfort.” Next, the Governor of Mississippi is signing a law that limits the discussion of race in schools. New laws are being signed by republicans left and right that ban critical…Read more...

Advocates of defunding police should be thank New York’s finest today, for the gift of the perfect reason why blindly funding cops is a terrible idea.

On the first day of Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the accomplished public servant took a moment to explain—among many things, ultimately—the meaning behind her name. Given to her by her parents John and Ellery Brown, and picked from a list sent by her aunt who was volunteering at the…Read more...

For so many entrepreneurs, Shark Tank is the place where their dreams go to die. The notoriously tough panel of high-rollers don’t just throw their money at any business. You’ve got to come into the tank with your numbers right and your ideas tight. So when three friends from D.C. were able to convince Mark Cuban to…Read more...

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Minnesota, and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California have filed a lawsuit on behalf of three Muslim Americans who allege they have been subject to “unconstitutional questioning” from border officials, regarding their religion, The Hill reports.Read more...

The forthcoming podcast series by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, finally has a name and very promising premise.Read more...

Updated on March 24, 2022 at 1 p.m. ET.Read more...

Almost exactly a month ago, I asked in this space whether the criminal case in New York against ex-president Donald Trump was on the verge of falling apart.

Updated on March 24, 2022 at 12 noon ET.Read more...

On Wednesday, veteran actor and ageless wonder Morris Chestnut received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Read more...

We’ve heard people discuss the honor of being the first, but rarely do those same people tell the stories of how hard it was to get there–especially when you are Black. When we are the first to achieve a certain status or reach a certain position, there’s an added expectation of appearing calm, collected and God…Read more...

From her marriage troubles to her health issues, Wendy Williams has had her fair share of drama recently. But the 57-year-old doesn’t appear to be going down without a fight. The veteran gossip girl posted a passionate yet slightly incoherent video on Instagram on March 23 pleading for Wells Fargo to give her access…Read more...

Updated on March 24, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. ET.Read more...

Read more...

As an Olympic gold medalist and four-time All-NBA player, people in Miami know Jimmy Butler for the plays he makes on the basketball court. But soon, the Miami Heat forward may be just as famous for making his own coffee. The business venture started as a joke, but now the NBA player is providing his BigFace coffee…Read more...

A new book set to come out about the Biden Administration has some unflattering anecdotes about Vice President Kamala Harris, portrayals that paint a messy behind-the-scenes portrait of a veep that in recent months has occupied a more elevated position in public.

In her quest to further expand upon her burgeoning multimedia empire, Tabitha Brown has decided to use her influence to help kids find their best selves. Her YouTube children’s series, Tab Time, uses fun crafts, imagination and celebrity guests to teach kids about friendship, family, “How Things Grow” and the…Read more...

On Tuesday, Kid Cudi announced his latest endeavor and no, unfortunately, it’s not about his forthcoming album.Read more...

Though the on-again, off-again operations of the forthcoming Black Panther sequel has been mired with its fair share of controversy, one of the film’s stars has finally given us a clue (of sorts) as to what we can expect when it finally arrives in theaters.Read more...

The Black Future Co-op Fund, the first philanthropy led by Black women in Washington state, announced they will disperse $1.05 million in grants to 21 Black woman-led organizations, reported The Seattle Medium. These “We See You” grants are the Fund’s way of honoring and investing in the Black women who have dedicated…Read more...

Last week, the White House warned that if there was no additional money passed by Congress to replenish COVID measures, things like surveillance for new variants and purchases of preventive treatments would have to be immediately scaled back. The Biden administration is asking for at least $22.5 million in new funding…Read more...

In a lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society, it accuses the New York Police Department of secretly collecting genetic material from over 32,000 New York citizens and storing it in a “rogue” DNA database, according to CBS News.Read more...

With Coachella less than a month away, the California festival has been in the headlines a lot for the last couple of months. In December, Travis Scott was dropped from the festival’s lineup after previously being a headliner for the show. Last month, the festival also dropped all COVID-19 restrictions so everyone…Read more...

The countdown is on for “music’s biggest night,” a.k.a. the 64th annual Grammys.

Three months into my pregnancy with my oldest child, I was laid off. As soon as I had begun sharing the good news that my family was growing, I found myself a casualty of a corporate merger. Without health insurance and a regular paycheck, I rushed out to find another job before my belly revealed to any potential…Read more...

Brittney Griner is OK, for now, according to U.S. officials who finally got access to the WNBA star who’s been detained in Russia for the last month.

American’s minimum wage set by the Fair Labor Standards Act is $7.25–which hasn’t been changed since 2009. Twenty-six states have increased rates through state legislation, but action on a national level is still needed.Read more...

Black people and women were found to be more likely to be dismissed from the Maryland Army National Guard’s Officer Candidate School according to data from Congress obtained by Military.com. A few Democratic legislators have requested an investigation into potential bias in the Maryland National Guard.

The Biden Administration announced a plan that seeks to reduce the impact of racial bias in the home appraisal industry, a problem that robs Black homeowners of millions of dollars in equity every year, furthering the problematic legacy of redlining and other institutional biases in the housing market decades after…Read more...

In case you’re wondering what the kids are listening to nowadays, the iHeart Radio Music Awards were held on Tuesday night to remind you just how old you really are. According to Billboard, Lil Nas X, Silk Sonic and Jazmine Sullivan were among the big winners at this year’s event.Read more...

Nearly 50 years after Emmett Till’s death, the composer of a new opera based on his murder wants her show to inspire conversations around racism. Emmett Till, A New American Opera, is inspired by the story of 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was brutally beaten and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at…Read more...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed legislation that would ban public universities in the state from using training material that could possibly cause racially based “discomfort,” according to The Hill.Read more...

The CW has given early renewals to seven of its series, including its longest tenured show The Flash for Season 9, and hit drama All American for Season 5. According to TVLine, these renewals are a little later than usual for the network as it tries to figure out the upcoming schedule amid sales rumors.

Rev. David Kennedy, native of Laurens, South Carolina, founded the Echo Project to transform what was historically a meeting place for Klu Klux Klan members into a diversity center, according to an NBC News report. The headquarters was known as the “World’s Only Klan Museum,” selling pieces of neo-Nazi paraphernalia…Read more...

U.S. District Judge Judith Levy ruled that former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and four other officials must testify in the Flint water crisis civil trial against several engineering firms, Detroit Free Press reports.Read more...

Read more...

To the surprise of absolutely no one, BET has renewed two of its highly rated Tyler Perry series, Sistas and The Oval. Per a press release provided to The Root, Sistas Season 4 “averaged 1.6 million total viewers Live+3 (original airing plus three days of non-traditional broadcast) on BET and BET Her.” Meanwhile, The…Read more...

The embattled system that keeps college football and basketball athletes uncompensated as “amateurs” while schools and coaches rake in millions of dollars is facing yet another legal challenge, this time that it violates the civil rights of Black players who make up much of college athletics’ labor force.

The real-life warrior women who inspired the fictional Dora Milaje in the 2018 hit film Black Panther will soon be the center of a new documentary.

Sierra Jenkins, a 25-year-old reporter who wrote for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper and had previously worked for CNN, was one of two people killed in a mass shooting outside a restaurant over the weekend in Norfolk, Va.

The past two years have been stressful for everyone. And even if you were able to travel, the fear of COVID-19 and the threat of people fighting on your flight may have sucked some of the joy out of the experience. But now, as things begin to open up and get back to normal, you may be thinking about taking a relaxing…Read more...

Awards voters have always had a problem with comic book movies. No matter how great the film is, if it’s classified as a superhero action movie, it’s considered not worthy of serious awards contention. When Black Panther was nominated for Best Picture in 2019, it was due to an aggressive campaign from Disney and…Read more...