The Root

Wow. It seems like just yesterday I was raising my fists, picking out my fro’, and blasting CB4’s “And I’m Black Y’all” through my sound system. And now, we’re already nearing the close of Black History Month. They really did give us the shortest month of the year. But it ain’t over yet, and if you still feel like you…Read more...

Imagine a white man who is so committed to old-fashioned American racism that even the smallest perceived offense coming from a Black person becomes the perfect excuse to start displaying Ku Klux Klan memorabilia in an attempt at clapping back. A Black woman in Michigan doesn’t have to imagine it, because she…Read more...

If you’ve ever had a conversation with Marley Dias, you know she’s wise beyond her years. We had the pleasure of doing so last fall for The Root Presents: It’s Lit! podcast, and we were in awe of Dias’ poise and self-awareness—though maybe we shouldn’t have been, given that the 2019 Young Futurist has also hosted a…Read more...

Here’s the latest bad news coming out of the horrid COVID-19 pandemic: Black Americans have lost nearly three years of life expectancy due to the disproportionate impact the virus has had on our communities, along with other factors.

Donald Glover has yet to invite us back to Atlanta but it looks like he’s going to be navigating the Amazon soon—the major studio, that is. According to sources via The Hollywood Reporter, the artist-creator has signed a major overall deal with Amazon with upcoming content set to debut on the company’s Prime Video…Read more...

Meek Mill has famously rapped about his “Dreams & Nightmares.” Well, this new song of his may just be a plain nightmare for him.Read more...

Damn.

As film festivals and other big-budget spectacles adapt to this pandemic and go virtual, it appears that New York Fashion Week will be following suit. And while it’s easy to succumb to the doom and gloom of not being able to walk the runway or partake in some of our favorite fashions in person, a pair of superheroines…Read more...

Has there ever been a man, real or fictional, as pathetic as Ted Cruz? That was not a rhetorical question. I’m genuinely curious. Of course, there have been worse people. Hitler. King Leopold II of Belgium. Rush Limbaugh. Grayson Allen. But pathetic exists in a different stratosphere; a singular entity at the…Read more...

Black organizers are leveraging the powerful showing of Black voters in the last election to call on President Biden and Democrat lawmakers to move forward on “bold, innovative” solutions to address the many crises facing a community of people who helped secure pivotal wins for the party in 2020.Read more...

I’m not sure if people have completely wrapped their minds around this, but we have an entire political party that has converted into an authoritarian—albeit Americanized version—style of politics that cares nothing about U.S. democracy or anyone who is not white.Read more...

It’s been nearly a year since Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot after being chased around a Glynn County, Ga., neighborhood. Arbery’s accused attackers are charged with multiple felonies, including murder, and are sitting in jail cells after being denied bond multiple times. Meanwhile, Gov. Brian Kemp announced a new…Read more...

We have some euphoric news! Zendaya, who is most certainly taking over the ‘20 and ‘21, will be honored with the SeeHer Award at the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards!Read more...

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is worthless.

It’s possible that you’ve never heard of the London-group Shut Up and Dance. They were (are) a British production/rap duo who got started at the very tail end of the 80s and made music through the 2000s. If you listen to their early music, it sounds a lot like the hip hop coming out of New York City, except sped up to…Read more...

It’s been 29 days since Joseph Robinette Biden became the 46th president of the United States, sending QAnon Adventists into severe withdrawals from America being made great again. While some outlets have shamed the idiots patriots who were victimized by the cult of Q, The Root would never.

Even though we’ve already let you know who won our 2021 Skippies, that does not mean that the party has stopped. The Skippies are a lifestyle; it’s just different. With that in mind, and because we are a celebrationist outfit, we like to make sure that we provide as much backing information and as many receipts as…Read more...

On Thursday, Netflix announced a brand new project from Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o based on her popular debut children’s book, Sulwe.Read more...

Will Serena Williams ever lay claim to that ever-elusive 24th Grand Slam title? That remains to be seen. But on Thursday, the Compton, Calif., native fell short in her historic quest after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open semifinals.

Can’t stop, won’t stop...making food!Read more...

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“You don’t need to be brave when you’re writing; you need to acknowledge that you’re terrified—and do it anyway.” So says author-educator-activist Roxane Gay, who has arguably produced some of the bravest writing of the past decade. Whether deconstructing (and humorously challenging) what it means to be a feminist in …Read more...

According to Herbert Washington, a former Oakland Athletics player and current owner of 14 McDonald’s franchises, the fast-food company known for its golden arches is limiting the ability of Black owners like himself to profitably operate their restaurants.

We have some casting news featuring two entertainers well-known in the Black-ass pop culture zeitgeist.Read more...

We are two months into the vaccine rollout, and it’s become increasingly apparent that multiple states have struggled with an equitable distribution of the vaccine. In an effort to address these shortcomings, the state of Washington has announced a new plan intended on getting vaccines into the communities that need…Read more...

Content warning: Descriptions of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)Read more...

Every basketball player wants to be a rapper, and every rapper aspires to be a professional basketball player. Don’t shoot the messenger; it’s in the bible somewhere.

The board of education for the Los Angeles Unified School District voted on Tuesday to redirect funds meant for school policing into a program meant to help Black students achieve academic success.

Every day I say to myself, “there’s no higher level of caucasity than that,” and every day wypipo prove me wrong.Read more...

So I’d never heard of the Bergdorf Goodman store until Pusha T made a reference to it in “Higher”—which, all things considered, is probably one of my 15 favorite rap songs. Not to be outdone by a middle-aged rapper with perpetual protective styles, I made a trek to Bergdorf Goodman while in New York City a couple of…Read more...

What’s better than a brown skin girl simply being the best thing in the world? A brown skin girl who won’t hesitate to let you know she’s the best thing in the world.Read more...

The racial inequities that have been brought into stark relief by the COVID-19 pandemic are again being made painfully apparent in the current phase of vaccine distribution.

The life of Shirley Chisholm, the United States’ first Black congresswoman, will be getting the biopic treatment (yet again)—only this time it’s coming from John Ridley and award-winning actress and One Night in Miami director Regina King.Read more...

Cops really seem to hate the idea of police disciplinary records being made public. If a civilian has a criminal record, courts, potential employers, renters and others would be able to access that information through the simplest of background checks, but for some reason, police officers appear to think that putting…Read more...

Black women are not often afforded a lot of grace.

Zamunda is all about opulence, so of course the cast of Coming 2 America has some Essence covers to show off!Read more...

Atlanta is the COVID capital of the world. Nobody can convince me otherwise.Read more...

To all the ladies in the place with style and grace—and everyone else without it: Netflix has announced a new upcoming documentary covering the life of legendary rapper and influential hip-hop icon Biggie Smalls, titled I Got a Story to Tell.Read more...

Black. Joy.

Rush Limbaugh did a lot in his short life.

Rihanna is a global superstar—but that doesn’t mean even her best intentions are globally well-received. The star of stage, screen, Sephora and Savage once again turned heads on Tuesday when she posted a picture of herself provocatively posed in a pair of satin trunks by her lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty—and little…Read more...

The mayor of a West Texas town is a heartless bitch.

“You’ve got the Lakers, you’ve got the Clippers and then you’ve got Sierra Canyon High School.”– AnonymousRead more...

When will white people stop being too fragile for Black history?Read more...

On Wednesday, Time announced their 2021 Time100 Next List, highlighting 100 of the most influential people who are up next and dedicated to shaping the future and defining leadership in their own unique way.Read more...

Friends, Romans, Countryfolks...this is one BlackAF album cover. The group, Mystique, signed to Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records, really came through with a cover that honestly sounds like the album. Mystique was an outfit that made funky-laden, lush records that were on the precipice of disco, you know, the kind of…Read more...

Ruth E. Carter made history in 2019 as the first Black person (and Black woman) to win an Academy Award for Costume Design—a feat made even more special for the fact that the film that earned her the award was 2018's Black Panther. This month, the legendary costume designer—whose extensive list of credits also…Read more...

Get ready to lower your expectations if you’d been hoping that President Biden would heed the call of some Democrats to cancel student debt up to $50,000 per borrower.Read more...