The Root

Your favorite Bible-toting product placer is back in the news this week. Founder of Christian mobile app “Sprinkle of Jesus” and owner of hair and skincare brand The Curl Bible has now been sued by the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro for allegedly scamming the same community she claims to empower,…Read more...

A snowflake has fled the country.

While the rest of us spent our Sunday devouring lemon pepper chicken wings and wishing we could run a marathon, 28-year-old Peres Jepchirchir was preoccupied with actually winning the New York City Marathon, per CNN.Read more...

What the world needs now is more Dionne Warwick; especially during a weekend marred by the deaths of eight people and dozens more hospitalized in a “crowd surge” incident at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival late Friday night. The senseless tragedy cast an understandable pall over the subsequent weekend; one in which…Read more...

Every Monday, Very Smart Brothas Senior Editor Panama Jackson and Contributing Freelance Writer Shanelle Genai break down the latest episode of season 5 of HBO’s cultural flashpoint show, Insecure. Okay?! Spoilers ahead.

A history quiz is causing tons of outrage after one of the questions was shared to social media.

Y’all already know what time it is, so let’s get to it.Read more...

This past Friday brought us the highly anticipated follow up to Summer Walker’s 2019 album, ‘Over It,’ and Black Twitter is drowning out the final embers of Hot Girl Summer with their tears.Read more...

Police in Houston have launched a criminal investigation as they try to solve the mystery of how eight people ended up dead and others injured at a sold-out concert on Saturday.Read more...

They may not be your common cast of characters on the Shark Tank, but these venture capitalists are faces we’d love to see on screen. Our favorite leading man, Michael B. Jordan, and tennis superstar, also known as the sister in our head, have recently teamed up to offer an unheard of opportunity to HBCU…Read more...

During the height of AMC’s Mad Men season, The Root debuted a Mad Men Black People Counter which tracked the number of Black faces on the show from week to week. Though the show was fictional, what isn’t fictitious is the

This week while promoting her new BET+ series, Sacrifice, actress Paula Patton sat down to chat with SiriusXM’s Urban View The Clay Cane Show about the reprisal of her role as entertainment lawyer Daniella Hernandez.

Here’s the latest reminder that if you’re ever tempted to quote Martin Luther King Jr. to defend your own behavior, don’t.

Jay-Z was born on the streets of Brooklyn in the late 60s. He sold drugs, rose to the heights of the entertainment business, and even got the hottest chick in the game to wear his chain. Decades removed from his tenement building in Marcy Projects, Jay still finds a way to give back to his community, however he can.

She ended it with “I said what I said.”Read more...

I knew shit had hit the fan before I ever pressed play on the latest episode of Drink Champs, the popular podcast/YouTube series hosted by rapper Nore and DJ EFN that features celebs and artists for multi-hour sitdowns to talk about everything and nothing and features lots of clapping (unless the guests request…Read more...

Jean Michel-Basquiat’s impact on art and popular culture is the stuff of legend. Although he was only 27 when he died of a heroin overdose, this former graffiti artist was known for his colorful abstract paintings, unorthodox hairstyle, and friendships with pop artists Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. He developed a…Read more...

The TPCU (Tyler Perry Cinematic Universe) has, to date, been distinguished by a few constants: bad wigs, a bevy of Black talent, a message! (or many), and plenty of melodrama, penned by Perry himself. In fact, Perry has long taken pride in the fact that he is the primary writer on all of the shows produced by Tyler…Read more...

OK, OK. Enough is enough.Read more...

Virginia’s gubernatorial race was the most watched election of the 2021 cycle, but the woman who won the number-two spot in Richmond is getting her share of the attention — as a proxy in arguments over which political party is more racist.

For some reason, and I’m not sure we will ever understand why, a juror in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial decided he had jokes. And here’s the sad thing, his comedic moment was about the shooting of Jacob Blake.Read more...

Halloween may now be in our rearview, but witches are about to have a moment. On Friday, Variety reported that Cynthia Erivo has joined the cast of Universal’s upcoming adaptation of the long-running, Tony-winning Broadway hit Wicked, under the helm of In the Heights and Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu. Erivo…Read more...

Can a person be canceled if they never really went away? In the immediate aftermath of DaBaby’s homophobic, sexist and aggressively ignorant outburst at Rolling Loud Miami in July of this year, the rapper lost a series of major bookings—among them New York’s Governors Ball, Chicago’s Lollapalooza, and Austin City…Read more...

Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed wanted his old job back but things didn’t quite go as planned. Reed, who ran Atlanta for two terms between 2010 and 2018, missed the cut for inclusion in a runoff election, coming in third in the Nov. 2 general election behind current City Council President Felicia Moore and councilman…Read more...

Well, that escalated quickly.

Good morning, everyone!

Should the British royal family be involved in American politics? Presumably, no—in fact, they’re not supposed to be overtly political at all. But when an American woman marries into the monarchy, subsequently steps down as working royal, decamps with her family to her home state, and stops living off the royal dime?…Read more...

Kid Cudi is pretty fucking brave.Read more...

A Real Housewives of Atlanta return may be just the flavor the Bravo franchise needs to stay fresh. Last week, The Root reported the cast for the 14th season of the show—including a return by alum Shereé Whitfield, the overdue promotion of perpetual guest star Marlo Hampton, and a spinoff for the ever-controversial…Read more...

In its 196 year history, Centenary College of Louisiana has never given tenure to a Black faculty member—until now. While this is exciting news for Andia Augustin-Billy, associate professor of French and Francophone studies, it’s definitely turned attention to the racist past of Louisiana’s first college.Read more...

Jada and Willow may be known for oversharing at the red table, but Will Smith’s upcoming memoir Will may do some table-shaking of its own. The book is full of revelations—including the admission that method acting led Smith, then married to first wife Sheree Zampino to fall in (unrequited) love with co-star Stockard…Read more...

At least eight people who attended the Jan. 6 Capitol riot—the deadly insurrection that attempted to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election—have won the ultimate prize in the aftermath of their heinous act: They have been elected to public office.Read more...

Reparations have always been a touchy subject for some people, but residents in one Maryland city are ready to open the door for conversation.Read more...

Our criminal justice system says that when you are charged with a crime, you are entitled to your day in court with a jury of your peers. For Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William Bryan, that statement could not prove more true. A jury has been selected to decide their fate, and that…Read more...

“We have a long fight and this fight is not mine alone, but you are not free whether you are white or Black, until I am free.” Fannie Lou Hamer, the sharecropper turned activist who became a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement, spoke these words before the credentials committee of the Democratic National…Read more...

Look, I’ve been there before.Read more...

Quentin Hart, Mayor of Waterloo, Iowa, celebrated his reelection on Tuesday by dancing with supporters to “This Is How We Do It’’ by Montell Jordan. Last summer, critics used a video of him lip syncing the song and called him a “wannabe rapper” to discredit his campaign; this year it’s his victory anthem.Read more...

Since his arrival in Cleveland, Odell Beckham Jr. and his quarterback, Baker Mayfield, haven’t exactly been on the same page. After establishing himself as a premier talent in New York, the three-time Pro Bowler has regressed into an afterthought in the Browns’ offense, collecting a grand total of 17 receptions, 232…Read more...

One of my favorite pastimes is revisiting songs from my youth (and particularly from the ’90s) and thinking about them critically. The world isn’t made better by this practice, nor does this bring me a step closer to lottery-sized millions, but you know what, if you’re bored on a Wednesday it really moves the clock.…Read more...

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski is facing backlash over a thread of text messages sent to mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot, where he criticized the parents of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams and 13-year-old Adam Toledo in the children’s deaths.Read more...

Tupac Shakur’s tragic death in September 1996 at the age of 25 left his family and fans in mourning. Through his music, he has been able to further establish his legacy as an artist, activist, and cultural icon. His story has been told on several occasions, and a new exhibit in California hopes to add to his story.Read more...

It is with a heavy heart that we at The Root report that Ronnie Wilson, founding member of The Gap Band, has transitioned. He was 73.Read more...

There’s always been stories about officers planting things on Black citizens to create reasons for arrests. Well, it seems that former Raleigh Detective Omar Abdullah has made those fears a bit more real for the Black people living in Raleigh, N.C.Read more...

Tuesday’s election night saw big wins for Black people in cities across the country. Popular mayoral candidates like New York City’s Eric Adams and Ken Welch in St. Petersburg, Fla., won their seats during a highly anticipated election day with various local government seats up for grabs. Here’s a rundown of some high-…Read more...

A new autopsy report for Ronald Greene, a Black motorist who died following his arrest for failing to stop for a traffic violation, contradicts the claim made by Louisiana State Police that Greene died from injuries he got in a car crash. Now, Greene’s cause of death may directly point at the officers seen on camera …Read more...

If “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” was a Major League Baseball team, it’d be the Atlanta Braves—who still have an offensive-ass name, logo, and signature “tomahawk chop but just became world series champs for the first time since 1995.

The Root 100 is our annual list of the most influential African Americans, ages 25 to 45. It’s our way of honoring the innovators, the leaders, the public figures and the game changers whose work from the past year is breaking down barriers and paving the way for the next generation. This year’s list of honorees is a…Read more...

Alvin Bragg made history Tuesday when he was elected the first Black district attorney of Manhattan, defeating Republican opponent Thomas Kenniff.Read more...

Voters in Minneapolis, Minn., the city where George Floyd was killed under the knee of former officer Derek Chauvin, decided against a proposal to replace the police department on Tuesday. Calls for defunding and abolishing the police were sparked by Floyd’s death in May of 2020, but it seems residents in Minneapolis…Read more...

The promising career of Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III has taken a tragic detour.Read more...