While the behavior of many of the police officers who faced the enormous mob of Trump supporters and QAnon adherents at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been lauded—cops like Eugene Goodman, the Black Capitol officer credited with leading the violent insurgents away from the Senate chambers—it’s hard to forget the…Read more...
Charles Blow hadn’t planned to write a manifesto on reverse migration. In fact, the New York Times columnist and author of the bestselling memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones was just writing...thoughts.Read more...
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by T on (#5EDDZ)
Unless you’re a U.S. Senator representing the very state you abandoned for a warmer climate and blamed that recklessly cruel decision on your children, chances are you’ve been wondering how you can help (if you’re able to) assist the victims of the recent winter storm that has ravaged Texas and left approximately 3…Read more...
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on House Resolution 40. The legislative proposal establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans, which examines “slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to…Read more...
Happy Friday, folks! It’s that time of the week where I try to put you on game and save you a little money in the process. This is one of those rare weeks where I got something for Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch!
by Maiysha Kai on The Glow Up, shared by Maiysha Kai on (#5ED80)
The Girls Trip must go on—primarily online. After a year of lockdowns, we could all use a getaway, and miss our yearly turn up sojourn to the world’s biggest, Blackest and most bodacious family reunion imaginable in New Orleans (more than half a million people over July 4th weekend, to be exact). However, an ongoing…Read more...
by Maiysha Kai on The Glow Up, shared by Maiysha Kai on (#5ED81)
It’s official: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have notified the Queen that they will not be returning to working royal status. That’s right; they’ve resigned from “The Firm.”Read more...
by Damon Young on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Damon on (#5ED4G)
When watching any television show or movie depicting police officers, it’s not hard to see why this sort of copaganda is so consistently effective. The presence of law enforcement on screen usually means there’s also an entity present that the law enforcement is attempting to stop, and this gives you a quick and clean…Read more...
by Panama Jackson on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Pa on (#5ED4H)
Mary J. Blige’s My Life is a personal choice for me. For my money, her 1994 album is one of the best albums ever made, seemingly for all of the wrong reasons. Mary was clearly going through it. Every single song on this album speaks to that in both sound and tone. Even one of my favorite records of hers, “Be Happy,”…Read more...
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by T on (#5ED1E)
Prince Markie Dee, one of the founding members of the hip-hop trio The Fat Boys has died at the age of 52. No cause of death has been officially confirmed at this time.Read more...
by Joe Jurado on The Glow Up, shared by Joe Jurado to on (#5ECBW)
Men will never stop their crusade to tell a woman what she should do with her body. One needs only to look at South Carolina’s governor, who, on Thursday, signed a bill that would effectively ban abortion in the state.
2020 wasn’t exactly a banner year for the Nintendo Switch. While they came out the gate strong with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, most of their first-party offerings last year were either remasters such as Super Mario All-Stars 3D, or niche products like Mario Kart: Live Circuit, which is more or less exclusive to…Read more...
by Stephen A. Crockett Jr. on The Glow Up, shared by on (#5EC87)
President Joe Biden, aka “the People’s Champ” aka “Where the Money Resides” aka “We See You Big Shawty” aka “What about that 50K off those Student Loans?” aka “Big Stimmy,” picked Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, a former Obama administration official, to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
by Shanelle Genai on The Grapevine, shared by Shanell on (#5EC6A)
Wow. It seems like just yesterday I was raising my fists, picking out my fro’, and blasting CB4’s “And I’m Black Y’all” through my sound system. And now, we’re already nearing the close of Black History Month. They really did give us the shortest month of the year. But it ain’t over yet, and if you still feel like you…Read more...
Imagine a white man who is so committed to old-fashioned American racism that even the smallest perceived offense coming from a Black person becomes the perfect excuse to start displaying Ku Klux Klan memorabilia in an attempt at clapping back. A Black woman in Michigan doesn’t have to imagine it, because she…Read more...
by Maiysha Kai on The Glow Up, shared by Maiysha Kai on (#5EC3S)
If you’ve ever had a conversation with Marley Dias, you know she’s wise beyond her years. We had the pleasure of doing so last fall for The Root Presents: It’s Lit! podcast, and we were in awe of Dias’ poise and self-awareness—though maybe we shouldn’t have been, given that the 2019 Young Futurist has also hosted a…Read more...
Here’s the latest bad news coming out of the horrid COVID-19 pandemic: Black Americans have lost nearly three years of life expectancy due to the disproportionate impact the virus has had on our communities, along with other factors.
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by T on (#5EC3V)
Donald Glover has yet to invite us back to Atlanta but it looks like he’s going to be navigating the Amazon soon—the major studio, that is. According to sources via The Hollywood Reporter, the artist-creator has signed a major overall deal with Amazon with upcoming content set to debut on the company’s Prime Video…Read more...
by Jay Connor on The Glow Up, shared by Jay Connor to on (#5EC1F)
As film festivals and other big-budget spectacles adapt to this pandemic and go virtual, it appears that New York Fashion Week will be following suit. And while it’s easy to succumb to the doom and gloom of not being able to walk the runway or partake in some of our favorite fashions in person, a pair of superheroines…Read more...
by Damon Young on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Damon on (#5EC1G)
Has there ever been a man, real or fictional, as pathetic as Ted Cruz? That was not a rhetorical question. I’m genuinely curious. Of course, there have been worse people. Hitler. King Leopold II of Belgium. Rush Limbaugh. Grayson Allen. But pathetic exists in a different stratosphere; a singular entity at the…Read more...
Black organizers are leveraging the powerful showing of Black voters in the last election to call on President Biden and Democrat lawmakers to move forward on “bold, innovative” solutions to address the many crises facing a community of people who helped secure pivotal wins for the party in 2020.Read more...
I’m not sure if people have completely wrapped their minds around this, but we have an entire political party that has converted into an authoritarian—albeit Americanized version—style of politics that cares nothing about U.S. democracy or anyone who is not white.Read more...
It’s been nearly a year since Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot after being chased around a Glynn County, Ga., neighborhood. Arbery’s accused attackers are charged with multiple felonies, including murder, and are sitting in jail cells after being denied bond multiple times. Meanwhile, Gov. Brian Kemp announced a new…Read more...
by Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Glow Up, shared by Ton on (#5EBVR)
We have some euphoric news! Zendaya, who is most certainly taking over the ‘20 and ‘21, will be honored with the SeeHer Award at the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards!Read more...
by Panama Jackson on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Pa on (#5EBQW)
It’s possible that you’ve never heard of the London-group Shut Up and Dance. They were (are) a British production/rap duo who got started at the very tail end of the 80s and made music through the 2000s. If you listen to their early music, it sounds a lot like the hip hop coming out of New York City, except sped up to…Read more...
It’s been 29 days since Joseph Robinette Biden became the 46th president of the United States, sending QAnon Adventists into severe withdrawals from America being made great again. While some outlets have shamed the idiots patriots who were victimized by the cult of Q, The Root would never.
by Panama Jackson on Very Smart Brothas, shared by Pa on (#5EBMF)
Even though we’ve already let you know who won our 2021 Skippies, that does not mean that the party has stopped. The Skippies are a lifestyle; it’s just different. With that in mind, and because we are a celebrationist outfit, we like to make sure that we provide as much backing information and as many receipts as…Read more...
Will Serena Williams ever lay claim to that ever-elusive 24th Grand Slam title? That remains to be seen. But on Thursday, the Compton, Calif., native fell short in her historic quest after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open semifinals.
“You don’t need to be brave when you’re writing; you need to acknowledge that you’re terrified—and do it anyway.” So says author-educator-activist Roxane Gay, who has arguably produced some of the bravest writing of the past decade. Whether deconstructing (and humorously challenging) what it means to be a feminist in …Read more...
According to Herbert Washington, a former Oakland Athletics player and current owner of 14 McDonald’s franchises, the fast-food company known for its golden arches is limiting the ability of Black owners like himself to profitably operate their restaurants.
We are two months into the vaccine rollout, and it’s become increasingly apparent that multiple states have struggled with an equitable distribution of the vaccine. In an effort to address these shortcomings, the state of Washington has announced a new plan intended on getting vaccines into the communities that need…Read more...