The Root

Nearly a year to the date that Louisville Metro Police Department officers entered 26-year-old Breonna Taylor’s home in a raid that ended with them shooting and killing the young woman, charges have finally been permanently dropped against her boyfriend Kenneth Walker.

It’s a miracle that Black farmers have made it this long when you consider that for over 100 years, they’ve faced discrimination from the US Department of Agriculture and were largely excluded from federal loans and farm improvement initiatives.

Black History Month provided us all with the perfect opportunity to reflect on the achievements of Black fathers throughout the course of history. Jeff Johnson also wants to ensure that the everyday dads who hold it down for their families—and who might never be immortalized by history books—have an advocate, too.Read more...

While everyone is applauding the scientists who figured out how to trick our immune systems into murdering coronaviruses, one of the biggest medical breakthroughs in history has gone undetected by many.

TaoTronics Massage Gun | $70 | Amazon | Clip coupon + use code KINJAMAGI

The arrogance of white people never ceases to amaze me.

Have you ever wanted to see Brandy star in a musical drama with Eve and Naturi Naughton? Well if you answered yes, then boy have I got news for you!

In news that is absolutely shocking to no one who’s been paying attention, an internal report distributed by the FBI to various law enforcement agencies finds that white supremacists seek to infiltrate law enforcement and the armed forces in an effort to further their racist-ass agenda.Read more...

Once I reached middle school, my mom’s policy on R-rated movies got a little...racial? For instance, I wasn’t allowed to watch Shaun of the Dead when it came out for its rating, but she bought a ticket for me to go see Blade: Trinity when it opened that same year. At home, she’d begun showing movies like Do The Right…Read more...

Top Product: Waterpik Water Flosser for Kids| $58 | Amazon

Octavia E. Butler is forever—and we’re here for her work to be highlighted in every single medium.

Thinking about the promising signs of spring? Feeling the annual need to re-up your space and wardrobe? Looking for ways to support Black women today? As it is International Women’s Day, we look across the globe, and particularly across the African diaspora, for ways to build up women and the brands they’ve created.Read more...

In celebrating women’s history this month, we should be putting special emphasis on the women who pioneered the literary world, both nationally and internationally. There is no greater way to understand history than exploring stories detailing the experiences of women around the world. March 8 is International Women’s…Read more...

There are still separate justice systems in America, as has been evidenced by the continuing dearth of criminal consequences for police officers who’ve caused the death of numerous Americans—even in light of last year’s uprisings against high-profile cases of police violence.

There’s some good news today for anyone who has received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidelines on what activities those who have been fully vaccinated can safely engage in.Read more...

“Black women are rarely recognized for the hard work they put in. It’s not just magic, they are the real thing.”Read more...

Jury selection in the murder trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin did not go through as planned on Monday, as prosecutors and the defense continue to battle over whether an additional charge of third-degree murder should be added to the case against Chauvin.

On Sunday night, the 26th Annual Critic’s Choice Awards ceremony aired live on the CW. Hosted by All American’s Taye Diggs, the evening kicked off with some expected wins but y’all know how we roll over here— so let’s get to a few of the Blackity-black highlights.Read more...

Because there has been so much fuckshit involving the latest stimulus relief bill, let me get you up to speed as quickly as possible.Read more...

Throughout the course of her illustrious boxing career, Claressa Shields has made it a point to call herself “The G.W.O.A.T.”—an abbreviation for The Greatest Woman of All Time. And after beating the breaks off of Marie-Eve Dicaire on Saturday night, who the hell is brave enough to tell her otherwise?

First of all…Read more...

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

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo apparently has trouble reading the room.

Where shall we begin?Read more...

Nordic Ware Sheet Pans (2-pack) | $28 | Amazon

Years ago, I wrote a lengthy essay for the Washington Post in which I explained that I see no value in expending even a drop of energy or emotional/ intellectual labor on arguing with wilfully obtuse white people about systemic racism, Black Lives Matter or literally anything else related to social justice. Nearly…Read more...

The above photo is a live shot of Fox News host Tucker Carlson taking a dump. No, seriously, because that’s exactly what’s going on whenever he opens up the septic tank that is his mouth about literally anything.Read more...

National Youth Poet Laureate, inauguration show-stealer and 2019 honoree for The Root’s Young Futurists (yes, that was a humble brag) Amanda Gorman knows that her new-found fame won’t protect her from the ramifications of being Black in America. What’s the old saying? “Perform for the new president on Monday, earn a…Read more...

A sale on weighted blankets and Dermalogy by Neogen products lead Sunday’s best deals.Read more...

Police officials and the Plano Independent School District of Plano, Texas, are investigating allegations made by a Black middle school student and his family involving bullying, racism and unbelievable cruelty. The family alleges that a group of students at Haggard Middle School invited 13-year-old SeMarion Humphrey…Read more...

It seems like not more than a few weeks ever passes before The Root covers another story about wrongly convicted Black men being released from prison after spending years and even decades behind bars for crimes they did not commit due to the wilful negligence and indifference of law enforcement and courts.Read more...

Being young and Black in America is a full-time job. It feels like every minute of your life, you’re on the clock, and your job is to be aware. You have to be aware at all times of your surroundings, your demeanor and how you’re being perceived, lest you be blindsided with instant criminalization while in the midst of…Read more...

Sony 55" LED 4K UHD Smart Android TV | $520 | Best BuyRead more...

One thing about cops, they want to be treated like they’re someone special in society, but a lot of them don’t want to be held to a higher standard than the civilians they protect, serve and sometimes have to arrest.

Though Congress failed to hold Trump legally accountable for his role in fomenting the Jan. 6 Capitol debacle, connections to the former president keep showing up as federal investigations continue.

So, conservatives across the country got their Cat in the Hat themed Underoos all in a bunch over imaginary cancel culture that only had imaginary things to do with Dr. Seuss Enterprises making its own damn decision to discontinue six books—most of which, like, nine people total have read—from publication over what it…Read more...

Much like the song that became Candy’s (portrayed by The Root 100 honoree Angelica Ross) theme song, “Never Knew Love Like This Before” by Stephanie Mills, we never knew joy quite like Pose gave us. The breakout FX series is special.Read more...

Oh boy, y’all. Today I learned that human Scrabble is apparently a thing people do, and leave it to a group of white teachers in Missouri to find a way to make it racist.

Not only is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo knee deep in a sexual harassment scandal that includes three women claiming that the embattled old man was mad inappropriate, but now a scathing report by the New York Times claims that Cuomo’s aides altered a state Health Department report to obscure the actual number of state…Read more...

Seven years ago, Maia Chaka was handpicked to participate in the NFL’s Officiating Development Program. And because Black women are resilient, magical beings, she’s now making history as the first Black woman to join the league’s officiating roster.Read more...

It’s called the “Caucasian Corollary.”Read more...

A new bill advanced out of a Kentucky state Senate committee Thursday, and if it passes into law, it would serve as the state’s (and possibly the nation’s) first blue fragility bill. What’s “blue fragility,” you ask? Well, it’s like white fragility, only you add a gun, badge and a massive ego that can’t take an insult…Read more...

The Clapback Mailbag was never supposed to be about me.Read more...

It’s often said that pain and laughter have a symbiotic relationship. And if anybody knows about using humor to anesthetize the bullshit we endure on a daily basis, it’s Black folks.

The more I learn about how horrific the nooks and crannies of this country are, the less I understand how anyone can proudly declare we’re the best in the world. If this country is best at anything, it’s managing to embed racism in just about every facet of American life, including the goddamn environment. A report…Read more...

Many residents in Jackson, Miss., are closing out their third week without clean water after record-breaking freezing temperatures froze plant equipment and burst much of the city’s water pipe systems in the state’s largest city.

In what can only be called the pettiest of petty bullshit, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) forced Senate staffers to read the entire 628-page COVID bill aloud on the Senate floor, Thursday, delaying the debate and vote on the bill.

They say never meet your heroes...but given the chance to meet Alice Walker, the 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple, we’d wager most of the writers we’ve featured on The Root Presents: It’s Lit! would choose to meet her. Since we launched last September, Walker has been the most influential writer…Read more...

As Black folks, we are constantly given sobering reminders that we can’t actually depend on a national organization designed (in theory) to serve and protect us when that very organization is founded on white supremacy and is consistently terrorizing us to this very day. Nah, we just have to protect our damn selves.Read more...

Without question, this past year has been unlike anything any of us have faced before. But each day, we try our best to put those feelings of fear and uncertainty aside in order to trudge forward and provide for our families.Read more...