On Aug. 25, 2017, The Root debuted the first column in what would become a weekly series called the Clapback Mailbag. Since then, we have responded to more than 600 emails, tweets, DMs and comments from readers, admirers and people whose shopping list doesn’t include lotion.Read more...

Camaraderie is kind of a big deal in professional sports and is often cited as one of the most important ingredients to establishing a championship culture. There have been countless stories about how bonding off the court has produced results on it, but that entire dynamic could take a major hit due to new COVID-19…Read more...

There was much hanging in the balance when we last left the much-beloved HBO series Insecure. Issa and Molly’s friendship hung in the balance as the two tried to resolve growing in different directions; Molly and Andrew had hit yet another wall—likely their final one; Issa and Nathan were navigating a new (and…Read more...

Kim Porter, the former Minnesota police officer who is facing second-degree manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April, just received some more bad news.Read more...

‘Bitchin’: the Sound and Fury of Rick James is a new documentary produced by Mass Appeal and directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Sacha Jenkins. It is described “an intimate yet propulsive look at Rick James, one of rock, funk and R&B’s most legendary and often under-appreciated figures.”Read more...

When a premiere sport loses its biggest name, things can get a bit...awkward.Read more...

A man who confronted a news reporter while he was just trying to do his damn job was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals in Ohio on Thursday.

Venus and Serena Williams are world-renowned tennis champions, but the first to recognize their potential was their father and early coach, Richard Williams. Similarly, critics are already recognizing the Oscar-winning potential of the film based on the patriarch’s push to make his daughter the best in the game, the…Read more...

Before recusing herself from the case involving three men who have been charged in confronting and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a former prosecutor in Georgia failed to reveal that she sought the assistance from another prosecutor before recommending him to take over the case. Oh, and she told police officers not to arrest…Read more...

On Sept. 1, 2021, Markus Batchelor—who, according to his Twitter bio, is an advocate, activist and deputy director of Leadership for People For the American Way, a progressive nonprofit fighting for equal rights and constitutional liberties—chose inspiration.Read more...

Apparently the guilt of American history is just too much for white people to handle so the push to erase America’s greatest sin from school books continues as a reworked version of an earlier bill heads to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for signature.

After boldly declaring “Yesterday’s price is not today’s price!” in the immediate aftermath of the instant classic showdown slaughter between the LOX and the Diplomats, Fat Joe will be stepping into the Verzuz arena himself against long-time friend Ja Rule.Read more...

Editor’s note: The following article includes descriptions of sexual coercion and abuse.Read more...

My name is Shanelle Genai, writing stuff about Black entertainment is my thang.Read more...

If you live in a place where you can’t see the stars but still want to go stargazing, have no fear, this week’s literary releases are here.

We can’t walk our dogs while Black, go for a run, look at new homes, play loud music, wear a hoodie or wait for a bus. And No. 1 on this list: driving while Black.

When Governor Ralph Northam announced last June that the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., was going to be removed, we knew racists wouldn’t let it go down without a fight.Read more...

Sometimes two things you hate can hate each other.

As the NFL continues on its quest to pretend like it never blackballed Colin Kaepernick for holding a mirror up to America, now comes the news that its tremendously performative Inspire Change initiative will return for an encore performance that nobody asked for.Read more...

Extra, extra, read all about it! People Magazine has released an exclusive interview about Lil Nas X’s pregnancy!

Billy Porter, also known as Billy Thee Porter and Pose’s Pray Tell, is set to be recognized at this year’s Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End Aids.Read more...

It’s been a rough couple of days for Bishop Sycamore High School.Read more...

We all know Candace Owens or someone like her. She’s the Black woman who refuses to wear a bonnet despite the back of her hair being fluffier than a rabbit’s underbelly. She’s the Black woman at the cookout who stands near the food table talking about all of the items she hasn’t eaten since she stopped consuming…Read more...

Homes that have been in families for generations are pretty commonplace in Black culture. Known as heirs’ property, many Black people live in houses or on land that they inherited informally and without the paperwork. But when they’re in need of aid after disaster strikes, it is hard to prove ownership.Read more...

When Kanye made the decision to include the now ubiquitous lines from the movie Blades of Glory in the hit song “N*ggas in Paris” with Jay-Z— “Nobody knows what it means, but its provocative...it gets the people going”—who knew that it would literally sum up the entirety of his life and music career from that…Read more...

With COVID-19 still very much a thing—that new “mu” variant sounds sublime!—just about every city not named Texas or Florida has ramped up measures to protect American citizens from the pandemic. New York City and San Francisco, in particular, are very much about that “prove you’re vaccinated or stay your ass home”…Read more...

On Wednesday, Nathan Edmond, the man who officiated the secret wedding between R. Kelly and Aaliyah back in 1994, took the stand on Wednesday, marking the first time he’s ever spoken publicly about the highly controversial marriage.Read more...

This article begins with an almost humblebrag.Read more...

Is there room to change the fashion industry if nothing else in the world is changing? During Lindsay Peoples Wagner’s time as fashion editor of The Cut, she wrote an article titled, “Everywhere and Nowhere What It’s Really Like to be Black and Work in Fashion.” The viral survey of “100 Black individuals, from…Read more...

A Memphis judge has blocked the release of a video that captured the final moments of Alvin Motley Jr.’s life. Motley was killed by former cop-turned-security guard, Gregory Livingston, at a Kroger gas station last month.Read more...

Fifty-eight years is a long time to wait for anything, but the family of Wendell Scott—the first Black man to win a race at NASCAR’s highest level—waited exactly that long to finally receive the trophy for his historic win back in 1963.Read more...

The Trevor Project, the largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention org for LGBTQ young people, has announced the recipient for its inaugural Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award and it’s none other than one of America’s favorite “Industry Baby”—Lil Nas X.Read more...

One the longtime fan favorite husbands of Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise has died. Gregg Leakes, husband of The Real Housewives of Atlanta original cast member Nene Leakes, has succumbed to colon cancer. He was 66.Read more...

If you’re keeping count of what’s going wrong with America, then this news isn’t going to surprise you.Read more...

The artist soon-to-be formally known as Kanye West is well known for courting controversy, long ago cementing his status as many folks’ problematic fave. However, his latest alleged shenanigans don’t involve who was—and wasn’t—included on his latest release, Donda, but who should’ve been credited with the logo…Read more...

The heated (and ridiculous) debate over Critical Race Theory is turning Black educators into collateral damage. Somehow we just can’t get through to a particular demographic that the academic framework has literally nothing to do with demonizing white people in the classroom.

Elaine Welteroth is saying hello to new opportunities and goodbye to her role as co-host on the daytime talk series The Talk.Read more...

I’m not sure why powerful Democrats keep trying to make disgraced and complicit former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel happen, yet here we are.

On Aug. 24, 2019, 23-year-old Colorado resident Elijah McClain walked to the store to buy an iced tea for his brother. Someone called 911 to report a suspicious person. McClain, unaware that his existence made him suspicious, began walking home when he was stopped by police. When McClain continued walking, police…Read more...

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...