The Root

I had a ball during my 20s and 30s. I did all the shit you are “supposed” to do as a young adult during the 90s and early 2000s. I went to Freaknik, Myrtle Beach Bike Week, Vegas, Palm Springs, the Bahamas, Mexico and various other destinations; I got drunk and high with my friends as much as possible; I went to…Read more...

There’s a reason I write so damn much about the Republican war on Critical Race Theory—it’s just such a shining example of how whiteness works.Read more...

Fans of the sweet science—that’s boxing to you mere mortals—know that between 1980 and 1989, there were four fighters that ushered in a boxing renaissance that not only blessed us all with bitter rivalries, but a smorgasbord of legendary bouts.Read more...

In the minefield of microaggressions, marginalization and outright racism that can plague the modern office environment, it’s often a relief to see another Black face amid a predominantly white world of cubicles. But as editor-turned-author Zakiya Dalila Harris deftly reminds us in her much-buzzed-about debut, The…Read more...

To celebrate the start of wedding season, The Root has launched “How We Do,” a two-week series centering Black love stories, commitment and nuptial style.Read more...

There are just some “educators” out there whose whole careers revolve around the reading of books, yet they haven’t bothered learning how to read a room. Clearly, they have missed the numerous news stories involving teachers giving their students ill-advised slavery-based assignments that made Black students…Read more...

After spending over a year of my life trapped inside of my apartment alone—no kids, no dogs, no Wilson—I’m off that good Pfizer and fighting through the psychological toll of such a miserable, traumatic experience by slowly pushing myself to reintegrate back into society.

Blue Ivy, Grammy-winner, athleisure model and ceiling-avoider, is the daughter of arguably the biggest couple in modern music (Beyoncé and Jay-Z)—and she’s still the bigger star.Read more...

Y’all. I missed variety.

It looks like Girls Trip and Like a Boss star Tiffany Haddish will be going from “she ready” to “she runnin’” soon, thanks to a new project from game1.

I’m no social scientist, yet I can’t help but theorize that white men are possibly the most sensitive group in this country—by far. If dealing with a thin-skinned president for four years didn’t clue you in on that, then you’ve had to have noticed how white men across the country continue to lose their shit at even…Read more...

Growing up, it always felt like the things I was deeply interested in and the things that had that good-good representation were always on two separate planes. Now, I wasn’t up here being one of those Black people who love to say they weren’t like other Black people. I’m pretty sure I happily consumed like 85 percent…Read more...

The Beverly Hills are alive with the sound of a white woman’s weaponized tears.Read more...

Boooooy, when I tell you white fragility is a hell of a drug. The addictive substance that is white fragility is so strong, it will have a hue-less person doing things they never thought they’d do—like cutting a decorated veteran’s mic in the middle of his Memorial Day speech because he delved into the history of how…Read more...

Not all heroes wear capes, but they may develop apps.Read more...

Like most of white conservative America, Derek Chauvin doesn’t think he’s a criminal. How could he? He’s a cop, a middle-aged white man, and a person with no regard or respect for the dignity and well-being of Black bodies. Derek Chauvin is traditional white America.Read more...

For as long I can remember, gumbo has been the meal of choice every year, every Christmas.Read more...

In an attempt to stop the Titanic-sized leaks coming from inside the White House, the Trump administration, enabled by evil Fred Flintstone’s Department of Justice, secretly seized the phone records of four New York Times reporters.

“Girl Power” with an asterisk is weak.Read more...

June is Black Music Month, and what better way to celebrate than to be joined by the iconic 1970's group Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF)?Read more...

Since the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, Vanessa Bryant has been fiercely protective of his legacy. In doing so, she’s gone to war with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and bumped heads with Nike. So when sneakers she designed to honor her late husband and daughter Gianna leaked online on Wednesday, Vanessa…Read more...

To celebrate the start of wedding season, The Root has launched “How We Do,” a two-week series centering Black love stories, commitment and nuptial style. You can read prior installments here.Read more...

For possibly the first time in American history, bigotry got white people thrown out of the swimming pool.

If there’s one couple who’s been absolutely booked and busy since their departure from the White House, it’s the Obamas.

Looks like the former president isn’t cut out for that blogging life.

Madison Square Garden has a lengthy history of transforming mortal men into full-fledged villains, and in standing on the shoulders of notorious tormentors like Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan, Atlanta Hawks superstar Trae Young is the latest to embrace such infamy.

America’s first-ever president is getting a series…helmed by a Black man.Read more...

If “this you?” was a person, it would be Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.Read more...

The one thing I haven’t been able to square over the last five years is how the most pressed people in the game have the audacity to call anyone a snowflake. I just don’t understand how you can call anyone triggered, when a simple mention of the fact that America has historically been shitty for anyone who isn’t…Read more...

Remember that time that “palace aides” went on the offensive against Meghan Markle, alleging that the Duchess of Sussex had bullied them just ahead of her and Prince Harry’s televised sit-down with Oprah?Read more...

While graduation season is always a particularly heartwarming time, I have to say it feels a little more special this year. This year’s graduating class had to endure a school year that was unlike any other, with the pandemic and virtual learning creating what I can only imagine was one arduous senior year. Ahmed…Read more...

When it comes to the recent efforts to make reparations for descendants of American slavery happen, I am of two minds. On one hand—meh. It just seems like everything being proposed falls short of an actual promise that reparations for Black people will ever happen as the proposals aren’t for actual reparations; they…Read more...

Dear every single Black author who dropped a book today,Read more...

Picture it, Philly. You run to the top of the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and punch the air in triumph. What are you celebrating? The potential thirst traps to come in the third installment of a very popular boxing franchise spin-off!Read more...

When you donate $25 million to a university to get your name on a building, then you have a right to say what you want done and who gets hired.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin isn’t only a convicted murderer; apparently, he’s also a broke bitch. A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Chauvin is “financially unable” to hire an attorney to defend him in his civil rights case.

Much has been said about Naomi Osaka’s decision to pull out of the French Open over concerns about her own mental health. In recent days, Serena Williams and other athletes have voiced their support for the four-time Grand Slam champ and in turn, discussions about the strain of professional work environments and the…Read more...

In high school, there are two words that anyone who actually gives a shit about their GPA fears more than death itself: group project.

To celebrate the start of wedding season, The Root has launched “How We Do,” a two-week series centering Black love stories, commitment and nuptial style.Read more...

Rooock skate, rolll bounce!Read more...

The state of Illinois is on its way to becoming the first in the nation to bar police officers from lying to minors during interrogations. In an effort to prohibit the manipulative tactics cops often use to coerce confessions that often turn out to be false confessions—to which people under the age of 18 are…Read more...

President Weekend at Bernie’s is willing to sign his name to the group project knowing that he didn’t do any of the work.

*Bravo Housewife Franchise Intro Music* “They call me The Root’s Staff Entertainment Writer because I always hear it through the Grapevine.” *poses with folded arms for emphasis as my name is displayed across the screen*Read more...

Wilberforce University, an Ohio-based HBCU, announced on Saturday that it would cancel the student loan debt of the 2021 graduating classes. Damn, all my university gave me when I graduated was a flash drive. I mean yeah, I got a lot of mileage out of that flash drive, but still.

The subject of reparations is a prickly one because acknowledging America’s horrific past is something white America just doesn’t seem to have the fortitude to do. A seminary in Virginia has taken the steps to acknowledge the role slavery and Jim Crow laws played in its founding and has begun cash payments to the…Read more...

This week marks 100 years since a white mob inflicted an unthinkable level of racial violence in Tulsa, Okla. From May 31 through June 1, 1921, the Tulsa Race Massacre took the lives of at least 300 of Black people. In addition to the lives lost, hundreds of Black-owned businesses were destroyed. In an effort to…Read more...

To Blame it on Baby or not to Blame it on Baby?Read more...

Y’all ready to bust out your linen suits for Essence Fest 2021?Read more...

On the first day of Pride Month, Rihanna gave to me...a Pride-themed drop from Savage x Fenty! This month, Savage x Fenty has launched its first-ever Pride collection—Savage x Pride—which includes a wide range of very savage items that are bright, brilliant and bound to have you opening your wallet. One of the…Read more...