The Root

Manhattan’s first Black district attorney Alvin Bragg released a memo announcing changes to the borough’s historically tough criminal justice system, just days after being sworn in. Bragg’s policy reforms include not seeking jail time for certain misdemeanor offenses and investing in alternatives to incarceration and…Read more...

It was a moment I waited a lifetime for. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair stood across the ring from each other in the main event of WrestleMania 37 Night 1. Two amazing, athletic, talented, beautiful Black women were in the main event of wrestling’s biggest show.

Anytime I remember or see images of the Jan. 6th Capitol riot, I recognize that I have felt these feelings before. Because being Black in America is a constant loop of traumatic deja vu. The violence, the chants, the outright entitlement. Words spoken at the end of the rally by former President Trump were things that…Read more...

Two Black men, Moses Iverson and Darren Kendall have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Columbus claiming they were not offered a spot in the police training academy because of the color of their skin, according to The Columbus Dispatch.Read more...

New year, same ole Karens.

While dress codes at the workplace are fairly common, during Urban Meyer’s tenure as head coach of the Ohio State football program, the team took the rather unusual—and extremely offensive—step of using pictures of Travyon Martin to enforce the school’s “no hoodies” policy.Read more...

For low-income residents struggling to make ends meet in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, some help is on the way. On Tuesday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that 300 residents will be receiving $500 per month for a year in a pilot for basic income.Read more...

Willie Stokes, a Black man from Philadelphia who has spent the last 37 years in prison for murder, is now free, according to NPR.Read more...

Due to COVID-19, there has been an unprecedented shortage of teachers, including in 18 of the 20 largest U.S. districts. Between 1988 and 2018, the number of teachers of color hired by the country’s schools increased faster than the number of white teachers when it comes to diversity. However, on average, diverse…Read more...

With Omarion Omicron opening up the door for Kyrie Irving’s inevitable return to the hardwood, the mercurial point guard did what he does best in his season debut on Wednesday night: Score a bunch of fucking points.Read more...

Famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is getting another biopic made about his life. Per Variety, Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Cyrano, The Trial of the Chicago 7) is set to star, with Julius Onah producing/directing, and co-writing alongside Peter Glanz (The Longest Week).

Lawrence Brooks, the oldest World War II veteran, died Wednesday at 112 years old in his native Louisiana.Read more...

If being outspoken for a living has taught me anything over the course of the past few years, it’s to wait until all the facts come out before jumping out the window with an opinion. So despite the fact that my phone and email have been blowing up all week with people asking for my thoughts on mercurial wide receiver…Read more...

The ongoing Covid-19 surge caused by the Omicron variant has Hollywood feeling deja vu, as several popular shows have either delayed returning from holiday breaks or have been forced to pause production as the set deals with positive tests.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers Union voted to not show up for in-person teaching and instead decided to switch to remote learning. As a result, the city canceled classes for all 330,000 Chicago Public School students Wednesday, according to USA Today.Read more...

Thursday marks a year since thousands of losers stormed the U.S. Capitol, trying to keep an even bigger loser in office. They failed, despite doing about 150 million times more damage than it would have taken for every cop in DC to open fire had the crowd been mostly Black. Some of the insurrectionists are sitting in…Read more...

The first ever-posthumous album from R&B’s “baby girl” Aaliyah is finally expected to hit streaming services this month.

Wisconsin Republicans introduced a package of legislation Tuesday that includes cash incentives to help with local police recruiting efforts. The bills are meant to help what was already a downward trend in the number of officer applicants that has only gotten worse thanks to protests against police brutality,…Read more...

The 2022 Grammy Awards celebrating Music’s Biggest Night, has officially been postponed.

Well you can mark the Grammys on your cancellation bingo card.

Here’s a suggestion: If you’re a white Trump fundraiser whose last name is “White” and you’re hawking the idea of seceding the richest, whitest neighborhood from America’s Blackest city, retweeting white supremacists ain’t the best way to help your cause.

If you are an Airbnb host in Oregon, this is for you because you will soon be blocked from initially seeing the full names of the guests that will be staying on your property, according to NBC News.Read more...

Prime Video is celebrating one of the most influential institutions in Black comedy. The streamer is set to premiere documentary Phat Tuesdays Friday, Feb. 4.

It hasn’t been a whole week into his tenure, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams loves himself a soundbite. Whether it be declaring that swagger is back in the city and fights over solitary confinement, four days may feel like a lifetime. Right now, he has directed his focus on remote working and “my low-skilled…Read more...

In a revealing interview with the New York Times, Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson touched on a myriad of topics, including the need for improved health benefits for former NFL players.Read more...

After 125 years, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards pardoned on Wednesday Homer Plessy of the 1897 U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v Ferguson for sitting in an “whites only” train car. The case paved the way for “separate but equal” segregation laws for nearly half a century. The posthumous pardon ceremony took place on…Read more...

Remember when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association didn’t have any Black members, rarely nominated Black artists and didn’t provide access for Black journalists?

On Tuesday, seven historically Black colleges and universities were temporarily evacuated and placed on lockdown due to bomb threats. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Florida Memorial University, Howard University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University, Prairie View A&M University in…Read more...

Fans may know Marsai Martin from her role as Diane on black-ish, but the actress is also passionate about interior design. It’s something she showcases in her new discovery+ series Remix My Space with Marsai Martin.

Thanks in part to this global pandemic—which feels earlier similar to Thanos bidding au revoir to half the universe with a snap of his finger—2016 feels likes a lifetime ago.Read more...

A shooting that occurred on New Year’s Day in Houston, Texas injured a 4-year-old girl, Arianna Delane, while she was sleeping. The girl turned out to be the niece of George Floyd, who was killed last year after a Minnesota Police Officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck, according to ABC13.

US Department of Homeland Security agents have arrested a suspect in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse at his private residence last July. Former member of the Columbia military Mario Antonio Palacios was taken into custody by authorities in Miami, Florida on Tuesday.Read more...

Maxine McNair, mother of Denise McNair, one of the four little girls killed at the 16th Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, passed away on Sunday, announced by a press release from her family. She was 93.Read more...

It’s often said that in regard to the rampant racism and discriminatory behavior that permeates this God-forsaken planet, that silence is complicity. But what’s it called when you’re loud and proud about being inconvenienced by treating marginalized groups—of which you don’t belong to—with dignity and respect?Read more...

Black Panther star Lupita Nyong’o is now unfortunately the latest celebrity to test positive for COVID-19.

It took way too long for players in the Negro Leagues to be recognized as part of baseball history. Now it seems it’s time for basketball to explore the untold stories of its past.

I think it’s time for us to put some “respeck” on Omarion’s name—and by us, I mean “y’all” because I’m going to continue naming this new COVID variant after him until the cows come home and that’s just how this cookie’s going to crumble.Read more...

A candidate who represents steel towns on the outskirts of Pittsburgh has the inside track on becoming the first Black nominee for lieutenant governor from either party.Read more...

It looks like the dawn has finally arrived for fans of The Weeknd who have been patiently waiting for the followup to his wildly successful 2021 album After Hours.Read more...

In Hazlehurst, Mississippi, Officer Laquandia Cooley responded to a shooting in the city, according to WLBT.Read more...

Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush announced that he is retiring from Congress and will not seek a 16th term in an office he’s held for 30 years. Rush held a news conference Tuesday to announce his retirement at a place fitting for a civil rights legacy he’s trailblazed: Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, where Emmett…Read more...

Another day, another Broadway delay.

When it comes to the 2022-24 election season, the Democrats face an uphill battle. The incumbent President almost always has a bad outcome historically regarding midterms. There’s an avalanche of anti-voting rights bills and redistricting, which will adversely impact communities of color. Looking at the midterms and…Read more...

Mr. West had a busy year in 2021, but it looks like he’s in for another one in 2022.Read more...

Despite their amazing chemistry throughout black-ish’s eight seasons, Anthony Anderson admits Tracee Ellis Ross wasn’t always his biggest fan.

New year, new updates on the forthcoming Janet Jackson documentary—or however the saying goes!

Some of the critiques (and I use that word loosely) go as follows:Read more...

Tariq is getting a new professor in Season 3 of Power Book II: Ghost. Deadline reports, Keesha Sharp will join the Starz hit as a series regular.

A city that already gets an unfair rep for being known more as violent than anything else just reached a disturbing milestone. In 2021, Chicago went through one of its deadliest years in the last quarter-century. The medical examiner’s office handled more than 1,00 homicides last year: 836 were in Chicago alone, the…Read more...