The Root

This year’s E3 conferences have been thoroughly mid. Given that the pandemic has greatly affected the production pipeline, my expectations were very tempered going into this E3. So, you can imagine my surprise when Nintendo woke up this morning, looked at its wrist, and said “I got time today.”

Whether you’re an old head who was there during the original run of Milestone Comics or you’re one of the millions of people who grew up with the Static Shock cartoon, it’s undeniable that the character of Virgil Hawkins, a.k.a Static, has come to represent young Black cool to multiple generations of Black nerds. When…Read more...

Unless you are a conservative, you probably haven’t even heard that the son of President Biden casually threw around the N-word like he’s Chet Hanks.

Chrissy Teigen may have to find a new word for “troll.”Read more...

This year for Father’s Day, VerySmartBrothas is doing a series titled “A Song For My Father” where we asked a few writers we know to write pieces about songs they’d dedicate to their dads.Read more...

On Dec. 17, 49-year-old Johnny Lorenzo Bolton was shot dead in an apartment in Smyrna, Ga., by a member of a the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team while the team was executing a no-knock drug warrant. Bolton’s name was not listed on that warrant or any other warrant related to the case. According to an attorney…Read more...

With great power comes great responsibility. As arguably one of the most powerful creatives in contemporary musical theater, fans and followers of the genre have been waiting for Lin-Manuel Miranda to weigh in after The Root’s Producer Felice Léon called out the colorism in his latest stage-to-screen adaptation in a…Read more...

Normally, I’m not one to praise Black people for remaining calm and peaceful in the face of aggressive white racism—because I don’t believe we should have to. Why the hell do I have to take the proverbial high road when there’s a belligerent melanin-not in my face calling me a nigger, and God gave me hands, feet and…Read more...

I hate Mondays as much as everybody else, but today, in particular, isn’t quite so bad since it means that we’re less than 24 hours away from the debut of Facebook Watch’s Simone vs. Herself.

In recent years, Juneteenth has become another date to celebrate all facets of Blackness—and that, of course, includes the food. Because it’s June, everyone loves an excuse to set up their grill or pit or whatever method of fire bearing, meat-smoking device they so choose and light the F up.Read more...

On Friday, we told you about the upcoming biopic about the life and successful career of on of the OG Kings of Comedy, Bernie Mac.Read more...

The annual gaming extravaganza known as the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) went down this weekend, and one cursory glance at Twitter would show you that folks were generally underwhelmed by what they saw. I, on the other hand, was simply whelmed by this year’s conferences. Considering that we’re in year one of a…Read more...

The world has a lot to say about “cancel culture”—whether or not it works, or if it even exists in the first place.Read more...

One of my greatest fears isn’t success. It’s what happens to your career, your psyche, your very livelihood, after your fame transitions from being a blessing to becoming a fucking burden.

Police officers in Ocean City, Md., are apparently being investigated after video footage showed them beating and tasing Black teens Saturday for committing the egregious crime of *checks notes* vaping on the boardwalk.Read more...

A Minneapolis woman is dead after a man drove his car into a group of people who were peacefully protesting against police violence.Read more...

Over the weekend, Drake gave an update on when fans and followers can expect the release of his upcoming sixth-studio album, Certified Lover Boy.Read more...

In today’s episode of The Fragile Whites Say the Darndest Things, Greg Kelly, a host on Newsmax—which is basically Fox News’ illegitimate love child that it only claims during tax season—posted then later deleted a pair of racist tweets about how the existence of white people in the military and government made him…Read more...

Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McFiberton, of the New Hampshire McFibertons, couldn’t tell the truth if her life depended on it.

My allegiance to the Orlando Magic runs deep.

I don’t know how campaign financing works, but I know that I have a Ted Cruz rule in my house which states, “Where did Ted Cruz fall on this issue?” and then I do the exact opposite of whatever it is. It has never failed me. Not once. Mostly because Ted Cruz looks like a fat Eddie Munster and also because his politics…Read more...

The word long doesn’t adequately express what we’ve experienced over the last 15 months. As we face another summer that looks far different from summers past, one thing is certain, and that is our need as melanated beings to be in spaces and places that celebrate our existence.Read more...

Teachers in more than 20 cities gathered to let G.O.P. lawmakers know that they ain’t down with attempts to dictate what they can and can’t teach in class.

Robert Meacham, who became a Florida state senator after being freed from slavery, is one of more than 1,200 people buried at a site that is now believed to be a parking lot for the Italian Club Cemetery in Tampa, Fla.

Everyone remembers the Titans, but soon, we’ll have one less reason to remember T.C. Williams–the namesake of the Alexandria, Va. school where the football team immortalized by the Denzel Washington-led film calls home.Read more...

About $4 billion in federal stimulus money designated to forgive loans for Black and minority farmers remains in limbo because white farmers claim that this loan forgiveness program is unconstitutional and discriminatory against them.

Just when you thought we may have finally gotten a break from hearing the word “recount” ad nauseum after the most recent election cycle, two white families broke the respite after two Black students beat out their kids for graduation honors at a West Point, Miss., high school.

The Historic Latta Plantation in Huntersville, N.C., recently advertised a Juneteenth event that aimed to tell the stories of “white refugees,” Confederate soldiers who were sad about losing the Civil War and freed slaves living “high on the hog”—all from the perspective of an unemployed slave master.

Attorney Eric Nelson is still out here pulling out all the stops in an effort to free his murdering-ass client, ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted in the death George Floyd.Read more...

I believe the phrase is “music soothes the savage beast,” but music also plays an integral role in amplifying our life experiences and shifting our moods. In related news, it also helped keep millions of Black people sane during Donald Trump’s four-year kleptocratic reign.Read more...

Another day, another group of Republicans are in their feelings that America was and is racist as fuck. A school board in Georgia’s Cobb County voted on Thursday to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools.

One of my favorite things to happen on Beyoncé’s internet is when I come across some meme or viral something that has taken off and I know immediately why within seconds of seeing it, usually because fuckery is or was afoot.Read more...