The Root

Two new studies released on Tuesday showed a breakdown of health care spending per person, and both—published in the Journal of the American Medical Association—found that White people spent the most per-person.Read more...

For many of us who grew up reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou for our 9th grade English class, we remember Angelou trying to learn Tut, a complicated language used by enslaved Africans, with her friend Louise while the other kids were learning Pig Latin.Read more...

I told y’all once before that y’all had better keep it cute (read: supportive & encouraging) when it comes to Naomi Osaka, and now, after viewing what went down during Monday’s press conference ahead of the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio—it seems that sentiment bears some repeating.Read more...

A white woman who attracted close to 2 million followers on Instagram after naming her handle, almost identically, to the book title of a best-selling Black female author has apologized for capitalizing off of her work.Read more...

Most Americans will be advised to get a booster shot to protect themselves against the evolving COVID-19 virus, and those shots could be available as early as mid-September.Read more...

BabyFace. Teddy Riley. Patti Labelle. Gladys Knight. DMX. Snoop Dogg. Brandy. Monica.Read more...

In 2007, with no experience in digital marketing, Derrick and Ramunda Young turned their commitment to Black culture and love of reading into Mahogany Books, an online destination for Black literature. Fourteen years later, their business now includes a thriving online store, a retail shop located in the Anacostia…Read more...

A 41-year-old man from Queens, N.Y., pleaded guilty to threatening to kill U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) before and during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Eduard Florea, who supported the far-right group the Proud Boys, also pleaded guilty to a weapons offense after a search of his home by federal agents found more than…Read more...

On Monday, prosecutors from the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Washington announced that officers will not be charged in the police shooting death of Kevin Peterson Jr.Read more...

Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its first trove of demographic data from the 2020 census, leading many to divest in cryptocurrency and put all of their money in the rapidly emerging washcloth market.Read more...

Following the devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti over the weekend, many are doing all they can to lend a helping hand to the country and its citizens.

Trigger Warning: This story contains instances of suicidal ideation.Read more...

In Baltimore, a woman paid a funeral home to cremate her deceased husband and conduct a memorial service, but she alleges that the employees buried her husband at the request of a second woman claiming to be his wife. In her lawsuit against Wylie Funeral Homes, Demetra Street claims that after the January service,…Read more...

Haiti is frantically searching for survivors of a deadly earthquake that leveled towns and cities on Saturday. The 7.2-magnitude earthquake came during a time when Haiti was already battling two other crises: containing the COVID-19 pandemic and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.Read more...

The praise for New York Attorney General Letitia James is short lived as people question if her office put as much effort in handling the case of Daniel Prude, an unarmed Black man killed by police, as it did in the investigation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Read more...

An 18-year-old Black man was fatally shot by a cop at a funeral in North Carolina last November, and the man’s surviving family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming he was only trying to protect a mother and her son during a drive by shooting.Read more...

Many of us were very disappointed to see Sha’Carri Richardson robbed of her opportunity to compete for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics this summer over some damn weed. She was seen as a favorite to medal for the U.S. and is still seen as a rising star in the 100 meter event.Read more...

Isn’t it crazy how every time Lizzo releases a song (or does anything, tbh) and feels good as hell about it, the haters and trolls are always Johnny-on-the-spot ready to bash her about it? If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the Instagram Live Lizzo held over the weekend following the release of her latest…Read more...

We all know the Biden administration prides itself on its many firsts since the 2020 election, and Tori Cooper is the latest addition to the most diverse government in history.Read more...

A 28-year-old Black police officer in Syracuse has filed a federal lawsuit against his department for what he claims is “blatant and extreme racism.” Officer Brandon Hanks and his lawyer further describe the department’s attitude towards Black officers as “Jim Crow culture.”Read more...

Lawmakers in Florida have secured $30 million in funding for African American history museums in need of financial help throughout the state.

Two residence halls at Purdue University have been renamed in honor of sisters Frieda and Winifred Parker, students who attended the university in the 1940s and were the first Black women to live on campus.Read more...

Viola “Mother” Fletcher and Hughes “Uncle Red” Van Ellis, sibling survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and their grandchildren were welcomed into Ghana on Saturday to kick off their week-long visit to the African country.

An investigation is underway in Chicago after a man who appeared to be a city employee pulled a North Side family’s Black Lives Matter yard sign out of the ground and turned it face down.

As we’ve seen time and time again in recent years, it’s apparently almost impossible to put up a monument or memorial to a Black person in this country without it being vandalized by racists.

A lawsuit filed against Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, alleges that the couple attempted to convince the woman who accused Petty of sexual assault in the 1990s to recant her account by harassing and intimidating her.

The city of Phoenix hired a team of lawyers to look into their police department after protestors at a Black Lives Matter Rally were charged for being in a gang called “ACAB” or “All Cops Are Bastards.”Read more...

As right-wing politicians across the country are waging an ideological war against Critical Race Theory, most Americans think discussing racism and discrimination is actually a good thing, according to a recent survey.

I believe it was Martin Luther King Jr. who said that if a governor issues an executive order and that governor is the governor of Florida, then fuck that governor because he’s an idiot whose ban on mask mandates is going to let people die.

Hot damn ho, here we go again with another Role Call…well, actually the last time for one Tonja Renée Stidhum, whose last day at The Root is today. Yes, she is writing this lede as an assist to Bella Morais and Shanelle Genai and referring to herself in third person.

This is the song that doesn’t...begin.Read more...

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has received yet another death threat.Read more...

An Asian-American homeowner said that a Black contractor she hired to renovate her home reported that a noose was hanging from a tree in her yard.Read more...

No one should mandate what a pregnant person does with their body, but when it comes to vaccinations against the coronavirus, the advice is clear: Vaccinations provide the best protection against infections that can endanger the lives of both parent and child.Read more...

When you have been in the “business” as long as Kandi Burruss has, you learn a thing or two along the way.Read more...

As a parent, one of the greatest fears imaginable is having your own flesh and blood harmed. So when newly-signed Philadelphia 76ers center Andre Drummond saw that his two-year-old son, Deon, was about to drown after accidentally falling in the pool, he did what any dad would do: He came to the rescue.

This job is hard.Read more...

The police got caught abusing their power again and the American Civil Liberties Union said, “Not on my watch!”Read more...

I’ve been canceled. Thanks, cancel culture!!!Read more...

While Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd might have championship pedigree as a player, his lengthy history of disturbing off-court behavior and questionable coaching acumen are the elephants in the room that everyone seems to conveniently ignore. However, in sports writer Mirin Fader’s newly released biography, …Read more...

Dasha Kelly was looking for help. She owed two grand in rent for her North Las Vegas home, and she and her three children were facing eviction. She was out of ideas and luck when she launched a GoFundMe donation page, which she titled “Help My Girls & I avoid eviction.”

With the Tokyo Olympics officially over, four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has spent her time crashing the Houston Texans’ practices—her boyfriend, Jonathan Owens, plays for the team—and hopping on Twitter to explain just how scary her case of “the twisties” was in Tokyo.Read more...

American Idol finalist and broadway performer Syesha Mercado is fighting Florida authorities for her two children.Read more...

“Black don’t crack.” The phrase is gospel, at this point, and even scientifically proven, to an extent (hey, we’ve got good bones). So, most of us Black folks of a certain age take subversive joy in watching the surprise register on someone’s face as we reveal our true age, confirming that while the hands of time…Read more...

Who puts the “trend” in “trending topic”?! Lizzo and Cardi B!! These two are typically trending topics on social media individually, so imagine the sheer power of a whole-ass collaboration?!Read more...

The stories of the wrongfully convicted are not new in the land of the free.Read more...

Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (produced by Jordan Peele) is finally coming to theaters after a few delays (of course, the pandemic has done this to several much-anticipated films) so it is now time to...say his name...but, not five times in a mirror! Hell, I barely want to type his name five times in this blog post,…Read more...

“The Rooster’s outta the bag!” crowed Tituss Burgess via Twitter on Wednesday, as the Hollywood Reporter exclusively announced he would be joining the cast of NBC’s Annie Live! The six-time Emmy nominee will portray “Rooster,” the calculating, ne’er-do-well brother of harried orphanage manager Miss Hannigan, to be…Read more...

On Wednesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a new policy: The agency will no longer detain and deport victims of crimes.Read more...

While all T-Pain does is “win, win, win, no matter what,” on the other end of the spectrum we have former UFC champion Tyron Woodley; who’s collecting Ls at such a fervent pace that Pat Sajak keeps imploring him to buy a vowel.Read more...