The Root

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.

The mass casualty event that took place on November 5 at Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston has claimed its tenth—and youngest—victim. As reported by The Root last week, nine-year-old Scott fan Ezra Blount was atop his father Treston’s shoulders when a crowd surge among the festival’s approximately…Read more...

What do the lonely do at Christmas? Well if you’re ‘Trap Soul’ singer Bryson Tiller, you might just record a could-be Christmas classic. Earlier this week, Tiller took to the socials to announce his next project, ‘A Different Christmas.’Read more...

After 3 years of marriage, one of hip hop’s most shocking couples is headed for divorce. On Monday, November 8th, TMZ reported that Stevie J, 50, has filed for divorce from wife Faith Evans, 48.Read more...

If you happen to be an adult Disney fan like myself, you’ll be jumping for joy at this next news bite. Behold, one of our favorite animated beauties is getting her own series. ‘Tiana,” a new spinoff of the ‘Princess and The Frog’ film will make its debut as a “new longform musical series,” joining an all new cohort of…Read more...

In this week’s edition of our not so official segment, “I’m Rooting for Everybody Black,” allow us to introduce you to Angelica Mckinley. Though you may be unfamiliar with her name, chances are high that you’ve come across her work. If you’ve ever conducted an online search, you have probably stumbled across a little…Read more...

While actor Terrence J. has taken part in action packed scenes aplenty, no Hollywood stunt could have prepared him for this cinema–worthy sequence of events. The real life drama played out at his suburban Sherman Oaks home, where he pulled up in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and quickly found himself blocked…Read more...

The political playbook for white politicians who fear a Black planet is being written in the suburbs of one of America’s Blackest cities.Read more...

Move over Barnes and Rubble, there’s a new bookstore in the heart of Lansing, Michigan. Meet Nyshell Lawrence, a Lansing local who prefers romantic strolls down the bookstore aisles to most other date night options. One night in particular while out browsing with her husband in 2017, Lawrence found her excitement…Read more...

It’s been more than 50 days since the Department of Homeland Security launched an internal investigation into the U.S. Border Patrol. In September, photos of agents riding horseback with literal whips (or “lariats” as they call them) showed them chasing back terrified migrants at the Texan border.Read more...

This story could have come straight from an episode of Queen Sugar: In Mississippi, Black fieldhands are suing their white, landowner employers for allegedly violating federal law by hiring and giving foreign workers higher pay for the same work. Adding insult to injury: many of the immigrant workers being brought in…Read more...

As an ardent supporter of all things Nas—only a fool wouldn’t include King’s Disease II among the best releases of the year—it’s brought me tremendous joy to watch the greatest rapper of all time (I said what I said) expand his influence beyond just music as his career continues to evolve. And now, with hip-hop’s 50th…Read more...

Two teens in a Philly suburb were just charged with the tragic shooting death of an eight-year-old Black girl who died back in August. The only problem is nearly everyone acknowledges it was cops—who have yet to be charged—who shot the girl and three other people at the scene.

Nicki Minaj is continuing to fight back against the woman who accused her husband, Kenneth Petty, of rape. In fact, as previously reported by The Root, Petty was sentenced to 18 to 54 months in New York state prison on a plea deal for the attempted first-degree rape of Jennifer Hough in 1994, though Hough has always…Read more...

As the days get shorter, and the weather gets colder, the time is perfect to catch up on all those Netflix movies and series piling up in your queue. Thankfully, the streaming service doesn’t disappoint: with an array of new titles—and a few old faves—you will be guaranteed a Netflix-and-Chill weekend filled with…Read more...

Fourscore and three years ago, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter—a self-titled “musicianer” who was heralded as a “Bad Nigger” who “makes good minstrel” by Life magazine—explained how he came to create one of the first racism* carols. Named after nine young Black men who had been falsely accused of raping two white women,…Read more...

“I’m sorry, what?!”Read more...

In recognition of Veterans Day 2021 on November 11—and in honor of and thanks for the service of so many Black veterans, former service-members shared their thoughts and perspectives on their time in the military and the aftermath. This is the final installment in The Root’s three-part series.Read more...

He should’ve worn a mask.

While some of Christopher Reeves’ Superman sequels left much to be desired—Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in particular was absolute dreck—the Carolina Panthers (4-5) are hoping a reunion with their own Superman, former franchise quarterback Cam Newton, can return the team to prominence—or at least, steady the ship…Read more...

Imagine you are defending someone who chased and shot down a Black man, your line of defense is that he was following an old slave catcher’s law, and you try to bar the Rev. Al Sharpton out of the courtroom.Read more...

FW de Klerk, South Africa’s last president of apartheid and the polarizing figure who shares a Nobel Peace Prize with the country’s beloved late president Nelson Mandela, has died at 85 years old.Read more...

“What makes a boss?” It’s a question we’ve asked many times at The Glow Up, where “we gloss, we floss and we boss,” but what does it look like in practice? Now in its 12th year, for the first time the BOSS Network’s Ladies That Lead Conference will take place virtually on Saturday, November 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.…Read more...

Just in time for Veterans Day, Democratic lawmakers revived the effort to help repay families of Black World War II veterans who were not allowed to reap the benefits of the GI Bill when they returned home.Read more...

Is late always better than never?

As this year is winding down, we have to give flowers to those who left us in 2021. From rap artists and filmmakers to civil rights pioneers, we’ve lost incredible creators and thought leaders who paved the way and made a way for so many of us. If there’s any doubt, just think about the forces of nature we called DMX…Read more...

As any entrepreneur will tell you, risks are a requisite part of doing business. But collaborations between celebrities and major brands are rife with potential liabilities, as, in order for a partnership to succeed, each party must maintain its appeal to the purchasing public. So, what happens to a collab when a…Read more...

LeBron James is a basketball player; but he’s also a Black man. Therefore, like the rest of us, he found whatever that was Kyle Rittenhouse exhibited on the stand Wednesday to be comical AF.

OZY Media is the Theranos of Fyre Festivals.

How’s “President Abrams” sound to you?

What is it like to be an other, within an other, within an other? We might casually call it “intersectionality,” but for Gina Yashere, the British-Nigerian comedian American audiences might know best from Bob Hearts Abishola—on which she’s also a writer—it’s simply her life. Yashere, an American immigrant who also…Read more...

Social worker Anjanette Young wasn’t allowed to put clothes on before she was handcuffed during a botched raid on Feb. 21, 2019. Chicago police officers descended on her home that night to carry out a faulty search warrant.Read more...

This Veterans Day 2021, in honor of and thanks for the service of so many Black Veterans, former service-members share their thoughts and perspectives on their time in the military and the aftermath.

What happens when there are more seats at the proverbial table? In the case of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), it has meant that “diversity and inclusion” can be more than just fashionable rhetoric. The past several years have seen the organization become increasingly diverse, from its membership,…Read more...

This Veterans Day 2021, in honor of and thanks for the service of so many Black Veterans, former service-members share their thoughts and perspectives on their time in the military and the aftermath.Read more...

Earlier this year, Philly passed so-called driver equity legislation, banning its police from pulling people over for petty offenses that disproportionately impact Black residents and can lead to violence.Read more...

The one moment in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial that is dominating the news cycle isn’t Monday’s testimony from survivor Gaige Grosskreutz himself.Read more...

It’s hard to imagine a more tragic story: A 10-year-old Black girl in Utah died by suicide after being bullied by classmates in a school district that had been investigated for ignoring racism in its classrooms.

Remember that time when ESPN pulled Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver’s pants down with a bombshell report that revealed he was a racist, sexist piece of shit? Well, now comes the news that despite his best efforts to deny that he would ever be capable of exhibiting such repulsive behavior, he’s exactly the sexist…Read more...

After Ahmaud Arbery was shot dead, an officer who responded to the scene testified that Gregory McMichael’s left hand was covered in blood.Read more...

Aaron Rodgers is a liar.

It would be an understatement to say the hip-hop classic “Push It,” best known as the breakthrough single that pushed Salt-N-Pepa to the top of the charts in 1987, was ahead of its time. But the pioneering and enduring impact of the all-female rap group fronted by Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Cheryl “Salt” James was made…Read more...

When Sen. Ted Cruz isn’t busy using a fake Texas accent or running from his latin heritage, he’s busy picking fights with...wait, let me make sure I’m reading this correctly, Big Bird.

The three Black soldiers during the Civil War were lined up, shot and left on the side of road. Last Saturday, the three men from the U.S. Colored Troops were finally honored for their service in Culpeper, County, Virginia. Although their names are unknown, the recognition of their contributions are now sewn into the…Read more...

Has your “economic anxiety” prevented you from furthering your education? Did the admissions office from your first choice reject your application because of affirmative action (and your grades and SAT scores...but mostly affirmative action)? Are you tired of educational institutions that handicap their students by…Read more...

There might be welcome home parties soon for as many as 60 people currently locked up in New York because of an investigation into police misconduct. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has asked the New York Supreme Court to vacate the questionable convictions, which involved lying and other misconduct by three…Read more...

Sometimes the juice just ain’t worth the squeeze, and that might be what NBA legend Scottie Pippen is finding out as his book, Unguarded, about his time with the Chicago Bulls’ ‘90s dynasty drops. Read more...

Seven weeks after the start of the Wendy show’s 13th season, how’s she doin’? Well, Wendy Williams says her journey to health—and back to the famed purple chair on her eponymous talk show—is “taking longer than we expected.”

Dr. Marcus Jones was chosen to be the 20th president of Northwestern State University of Louisiana, but something makes him stand out from the first 19 campus leaders.Read more...

When Pastor Ezekiel Ndikumana immigrated from Burundi in East Africa, surely the last thing on his agenda was stopping another church shooting as the pastor of the Nashville Light Mission Pentecostal Church in Tennessee.Read more...