School board members around the country are asking President Joe Biden, the FBI and Secret Service to protect them from threats stemming from COVID-19 and Critical Race Theory debates. National School Boards Association president Viola Garcia and interim executive director and CEO Chip Slaven wrote a letter outlining…Read more...

Dearly Beloved,

Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing and acclaimed filmmaker Haile Gerima have partnered up to bring the latter’s groundbreaking 1993 film Sankofa back to the masses. Per a press release sent to The Root, the film is being re-released in stunning 4k and was “developed from 20 years of research into the trans-Atlantic trade…Read more...

There’s something so American about racial slurs being thrown around at a high school football game.Read more...

In the coming weeks, The Root will unveil the 2021 class of The Root 100, our highly anticipated annual list of the most influential African Americans. As our regular readers know, it’s not our only list celebrating Black excellence; we also recognize our favorite tastemakers via The Glow Up 50 and up-and-comers…Read more...

If you’ve watched Lovecraft Country, then you might remember when Leti moved into a white Chicago neighborhood with her sister and friends. The neighbors put up warning signs, tied bricks to the steering wheels of cars and burned a cross on the lawn during her housewarming party.Read more...

It doesn’t even matter if cannabis is legal or not.

As the National Basketball Players Association and the NBA continue to negotiate how the league’s health and safety protocols will be implemented this upcoming season, the NBA is making one thing abundantly clear: If you’re an unvaccinated player and miss games due to local COVID-19 guidelines, your paycheck is gonna…Read more...

In recent months, we’ve seen more and more businesses enact strict guidelines in order to protect their profitability and curb the spread of the coronavirus. Specifically, many of them have made COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory, and in turn, going as far as to terminate employees who refuse to comply. While…Read more...

No one hoodie should have all this power, but when it’s designed by Kanye West, it inevitably will. The latest drop in Ye’s Yeezy x Gap collaboration dropped Wednesday, and suffice to say we were a little...underwhelmed. Since news of the entertainer-designer’s 10-year deal with the brand broke last year, we’ve been…Read more...

Mirror Bitch, Mirror Bitch, on the wall—this final season of Insecure is about to make me bawl!!Read more...

For the first time ever, an all-Black team will attempt to scale all 29,032 feet of Mount Everest.Read more...

Connecticut Sun forward Jonquell Jones is a lot of things.

Two episodes into the FOX straight-to-series show Our Kind of People and I’m about ready to crown it as one of the most ridiculous shows of all time. Which is saying something considering that it’s brought to us by Lee Daniels, the same man who brought us The Butler where a solid 80 percent of the movie was entirely…Read more...

On this week’s edition of Celebs Say the Darndest Things, Bill Cosby and hip-hop icon Chuck D are the latest to give their unsolicited two cents about R. Kelly following the entertainer’s guilty verdict in Brooklyn federal court on Monday.

The video of former security guard Gregory Livingston fatally shooting Alvin Motley Jr. at a Kroger gas station was shown in court for the first time on Tuesday at a probable cause hearing.Read more...

Former President Donald J. Trump, aka “Touch me and I will sue you!,” has lost another court case after former White House “apprentice” Omarosa Manigault Newman challenged the orange overlord’s nondisclosure agreement after writing her tell-all book about working in Satan’s administration.

“My first words were ‘Are you serious?’” recalled The Root 100 and Time 100 honoree Ibram X. Kendi upon learning that he’d also been chosen as a 2021 MacArthur fellow—and the recipient of one of the foundation’s “Genius” grants.Read more...

On Monday, disgraced R&B entertainer Robert Sylvester Kelly, known to most as R. Kelly, was found guilty on all nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking in violation of the Mann Act.

Dylann Roof’s ass gon’ die. Eventually.Read more...

There is an open secret that most of your favorite activists know, even if they never mention it during their television appearances:

If you make it to Montgomery, Ala., you’ll want to pay a visit to the state’s newest monument dedicated to three Black women whose bodies were experimented on by a 19th century doctor best known for advancing women’s health.

Alberto Friedmann, a professor at the National University of Health Sciences, has resigned after being charged with multiple felonies for allegedly yelling racial slurs and spitting on a Black woman with her child outside of a grocery store.Read more...

When we last checked in with the powerhouse known as Issa Rae (born Jo-Issa Rae Diop), she was celebrating her marriage to longtime love Louis Diame in the south of France. But if you thought planning her dream wedding would slow the super-producer down, as she tells Self magazine, it was also a missed opportunity to…Read more...

It appears the ongoing “prank wars” between Nick Cannon and Kevin Hart have reached new heights—literally.Read more...

In recent months, there has been a lot of chaos at ESPN.

Gather ‘round, cowpoke and cowpoke-ettes!Read more...

An outrageous amount of audacity, gall and gumption are apparently unwritten requirements for joining the boys in blue.Read more...

For the first time in two years, the NBA kicked off its preseason with media day Monday, which is kinda like picture day for grown-ups—since your “parents” still pick out your outfits—but way cooler. As the name suggests, aside from taking a few pics in your flyest new threads (or jerseys in this instance), it’s also…Read more...

It only took nine days for America to get rid of some 4,000 Haitian migrants, including hundreds of families and children, without any chance for asylum because America has a velvet rope around it and bouncers have instructions not to let anyone in, especially people from Haiti.

“Black Lives Matter” signs have been drawing unwanted attention to businesses and family homes, making many supporters of the movement very viable targets.Read more...

Even though people of color have made up 95 percent of the state of Texas’ growth over the last 10 years, the GOP’s proposed congressional map would reduce the number of districts in which they make up the majority of eligible voters, according to the Texas Tribune.Read more...

On Tuesday, Black America’s forever President Barack and forever first lady Michelle Obama will break ground on the 44th president’s unique library, and as with most amazing things attached to the Obama legacy, it is not without controversy.

On Monday, Andrea Martin, the talented singer-songwriter who wrote for a handful of our favorite R&B artists, died at the age of 49. The cause of death is still unknown.Read more...

University of Massachusetts Amherst has launched an investigation into the origins of a racist email sent to Black student organizations on campus. The email encouraged students to “consider doing the human race a favor and getting sterilized.”

In August, mixed-martial artist Tyron Woodley suffered a fate worst than death: He lost in a split decision against serial idiot Jake Paul—yes, that Jake Paul—in his first-ever boxing match.Read more...

Imagine you are a teenager applying for a job, and you end up getting arrested for trespassing before your resume is even considered.Read more...

Will Smith is opening up and sharing his truth in his most revealing interview to date.Read more...

A racist FedEx driver who could no longer hide his racism went on social media and declared that he would no longer be delivering packages to homes that show support for Black Lives Matter, President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.

After 11 seasons, two marriages and countless dustups and business ventures, Cynthia Bailey—now Cynthia Bailey-Hill since marrying Mike Hill last October—is laying her Real Housewives of Atlanta peach to rest. On Monday, the longtime cast member announced on social media that she’s departing the franchise, writing on…Read more...

I remember sitting in an elementary school classroom while my teacher showed the class photos taken during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

In an interview with the Cut, Olympic champion Simone Biles made a powerful admission: “If you looked at everything I’ve gone through for the past seven years, I should have never made another Olympic team.”

Here at The Root, I’ve written extensively about the inevitable showdown between the NBA and players who refuse to get vaccinated, local coronavirus guidelines in cities like San Francisco and New York City that will prohibit unvaccinated NBA players from playing in home games, and how COVID-19 has impacted members of…Read more...

Well, that was fast. Arguments in R. Kelly’s New York case were put to rest on Friday with outlandish closing arguments from his defense team, but on Monday afternoon, the jury delivered a verdict. The seven men and five women who comprised the jury found the disgraced entertainer guilty on all nine counts in Brooklyn…Read more...

So, I don’t look into white supremacy that often. I mean, I used to watch the NFL, and I accidentally saw this song back when MTV played videos, but I don’t often wade in the “not all white people” pond.

The View cohosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro were back at the table healthy and in good spirits on Monday.

A Black product manager at Google says he was riding his bike around the tech giant’s campus when he was approached by security. According to Angel Onuoha’s Sept. 20 tweet, someone there apparently didn’t believe he was an employee. In a Sept. 22 tweet following up on the incident, Onuoha said his badge was taken away…Read more...

Officials announced Thursday that a Rochester, N.Y., police officer faces departmental charges in the case of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died following his arrest last March.Read more...

Despite a well-publicized “racial reckoning” and ample nominations, Black talents are still struggling for recognition in the mainstream awards circuit. This disappointment has been well evidenced by the recent outcomes of this year’s Academy Awards and, more recently, the 2021 Emmys, which has a record number of…Read more...

A white woman has been fired from her job after being caught on video harassing a Black couple at a dog park in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on Saturday night, telling them to “Stay in your hood.”Read more...