The Root

The 1998 NBA Finals are memorable for a multitude of reasons.Read more...

When Aaliyah’s groundbreaking album, One In A Million, was released in 1996, the album spent 68 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 18. Re-released on its 25th anniversary last week by Blackground Entertainment—a week that coincided with the 20-year commemoration of Aaliyah’s tragic death—One In A Million is…Read more...

After shitting the bed in the playoffs and playing a crucial role in the Philadelphia 76ers’ brutal self-destruction during the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals, you would think Ben Simmons would have aspirations to help clean up the mess he made by refusing to shoot in the fourth quarter running it back with the…Read more...

On Tuesday, day nine of the criminal trial against R. Kelly in Brooklyn federal court, a fifth accuser took the stand where she revealed she had been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease by the disgraced R&B singer—even though she claims not to have been a fan of him or his music.Read more...

Pitmaster Rasheed Philips believes he doesn’t serve food, he serves memories.Read more...

Oh, Wallace.

There are very few places whiter than Cullman County, Ala.Read more...

Have we screamed defund the police loud enough yet?Read more...

If there’s one thing we know about America, it’s that they love honoring their Confederate “heroes.” (Which is crazy when you think about it. What country honors an army set out on destroying it?) Tearing down Confederate statues took on a new urgency during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, but a new report…Read more...

Well, what do you know? Turns out that a political fundraising group attached to former President Donald Trump paid some $4.3 million during the 2020 election cycle to folks and firms that helped organize the rally prior to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to the government watchdog OpenSecrets.Read more...

After a turbulent month, DaBaby seems to have done something right—and no, we’re not talking about making the final cut of Donda. On Tuesday, Black leaders from nine U.S. HIV organizations revealed that they “held a virtual, private meeting” with the embattled artist “to discuss HIV facts and share personal stories of…Read more...

I’ve become rightfully suspicious about album drop announcements. Now, Lil Nas X is among a group of musicians who is dropping albums this month—only his announcement comes with a confirmed date and a large number of fans who will quite literally send him pole-dancing back to hell if he pulls a Kanye…

What’s it called when karma decides to pay you back for all the shitty things you’ve done?

On Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted seven Black men, who were executed for the rape of a white woman in 1951, posthumous pardons after pleas for mercy from their families and as the case gained international attention as an example of how the death penalty was used almost exclusively for Black offenders.

In professional sports, it’s often said that the best ability is availability. And in the case of Cam Newton, he’s learned that despite his contributions on the field, the New England Patriots considered him (that’s past tense) a liability.Read more...

With the NFL regular season still weeks away, my Sundays have been spent watching everything but football. But perhaps I should’ve caught the high school showdown between Florida’s IMG Academy and Ohio’s Bishop Sycamore this weekend because holy fucking shit.Read more...

Dub and reggae music icon Lee “Scratch” Perry died on Sunday at a hospital in Lucea, Jamaica, at the age of 85.Read more...

When God was 13, he got a job cleaning the monkey houses at the zoo. Everyone kept warning him that the toughest part of the job was the smell, but God had created Texas at this point so he was used to stink. God arrived early on his first day because he wanted to make a good impression. After orientation, God walked…Read more...

When people think of “philanthropists,” they often think of celebrities or the ultrawealthy—people with private planes who make million-dollar donations and attend galas. But the truth is that anyone can be a philanthropist. Philanthropists are people who leverage their time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties to…Read more...

On Monday, the FBI released its annual hate crime statistics report, which found that the number of reported hate crimes has reached the highest it’s been in 12 years.Read more...

Editorial note: This article includes detailed descriptions of sexual assault, abuse and grooming.Read more...

Being forced to endure people we aren’t particularly fond of is something we’re all familiar with. Be it family, in-laws, co-workers, or whoever else, we’ve all been put in a position where we had to put on our game face for the greater good—or a paycheck.

You’re telling me September is under 48 hours away? What the hell happened to Hot Girl Summer Pt. Deux? I’m serious. We somehow went from it being June and #HotVaxxedSummer to it being September and panic-buying a whole new wardrobe...Read more...

It’s quite obvious that everyone’s a critic these days, especially in Hollywood. The Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) announced its first-ever TV Awards on Sunday night and the verdict in—Black television swept in six awards.Read more...

Hey y’all! It’s me again, Dr. Kinitra, your resident horror scholar. Now that Nia DaCosta’s glorious Candyman (2021) has completed its now-history-making opening weekend, I’m here to break it down for you through a scholarly lens, as we did last fall with Lovecraft Country. Please consider reading the Candyman primer,…Read more...

Jacob Blake is able to stand and hopes to be able to walk soon, but he told CNN that he is still traumatized from being shot by Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey seven times in his side on August 23, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisc., during a domestic dispute call.Read more...

It’s the growth for me.

It would take a horse’s ass to want to study a horse drug as treatment for COVID-19...

Washington, D.C. police released body camera footage from the officers who killed 27-year-old Antwan Gilmore after finding him asleep in his car last Wednesday.Read more...

On Friday, Wade Oscar Twiner, 49, and his son Lane Irvine Twiner, 23, were sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted in a hate-crime case in which the pair chased and shot at two Black teenagers riding all-terrain vehicles last September.Read more...

“Oh Happy Day! Oh Happy Day! When Drake confiiiiiirrrrmmmmed, CLB was on the way!” (Or whatever Sister Mary Clarence said.)

One of reality television’s most enduring marriages has entered a sad chapter; The Real Housewives of Atlanta veteran NeNe Leakes recently revealed that the colon cancer diagnosis her husband Gregg received in 2018 may now be terminal.Read more...

First let me issue a warning so that people who want to jump into camera shots and act a fool: Journalists are a gang. We roll together. Have you not seen how hard Fox News rides for each other? Our colors are church formal wear. Our gang call is, “Back to you” if you are an on-air journalist and “They got me fucked…Read more...

Stop making that face. Seriously, stop it.

The Citizen’s Office of Police Accountability has opened an investigation as a Black woman walking her dog along the lakefront in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago got into an altercation with a police officer at North Avenue Beach that was captured on cell phone video.

Since Cam Newton joined the New England Patriots last June, there’s been plenty to criticize. His play on the field has left much to be desired, his aversion to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine has already cost him game time and is a source of frustration within the organization, and with rookie quarterback Mac Jones…Read more...

The cuisine served at Jackson Soul Food in the historic Overton, Miami location or at Jackson Soul Food II in Opa-Locka, FL has been a community mainstay for decades. But family matriarch Shirlene Jackson Ingraham’s business has been sorely tested by the pandemic. With one of her restaurant locations shut down…Read more...

All the rumors are true: Janet Jackson is the Queen of Pop, boo! Well, that is, according to Lizzo. (And arguably much of the rest of the world.)Read more...

In what likely comes as a surprise to absolutely no one—as evidenced by the countless people who predicted this outcome—I regret to inform you that former UFC champion Tyron Woodley lost his pay-per-view match on Sunday to serial idiot Jake Paul, per CBS Sports.

The first death has been reported as Hurricane Ida moves through Louisiana on Sunday. Millions are without power, water, and fallen trees and debris already block the main roads, according to CNN.Read more...

After many, many, MANY moons—Donda, Kanye West’s 10th studio album is finally available to stream on various music platforms.Read more...

Neither the Delta variant, significant delays nor mixed reviews could keep the Candyman from dominating the box office in the opening weekend of his horrifying return. Almost 30 years after the original film traumatized a generation in 1992, its reboot, directed by Little Woods’ Nia DaCosta, grossed $22,370,00 in its…Read more...

Miami police apprehended a man after he violently attacked and hurled the n-word at Miami International Airport employees. The incident was captured on video, and according to Newsweek, it’s gone viral with over 2 million views.

It’s finally here.

Sixteen years ago on this date, Aug. 29, the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana and tore through New Orleans along with other cities and states that reside in the Gulf Coast.

Members of the Waukesha, Wis. Board of Education are in hot water after opting out of a federal program that would provide free meals for all of the district’s students regardless of their family’s financial situations.

A Black man who worked as a shift manager for a Kansas McDonald’s says his multiple requests to avoid working the same shift as a white co-worker known for using racial slurs were repeatedly denied by the restaurant.Read more...

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced Friday that the civil rights icon has been transferred to a rehabilitation facility and his wife, Jacqueline, was moved to the intensive care unit as they continue treatment for COVID-19.

Race is a funny thing.

This weekend, HBCUs will be representing during NASCAR’s regular-season finale. (I know, I can’t believe I typed that myself.)Read more...