The Root

Trigger Warning: This article contains graphic details of domestic violence.Read more...

The coronavirus pandemic continues to expose and exacerbate some of the worst inequities in America, especially those that disproportionately impact Black people.

These many (many) months of quarantine may not have been the most socially stimulating of our lives, but they have provided ample opportunity to step our virtual community up—and to make the best of a socially distanced situation. Then, there have been the pleasant virtual pop-ups—like this time last week, when…Read more...

House impeachment managers will release never-seen-before footage of rioters storming the Capital that will show elected officials were in far greater danger for their lives than previously known or realized, according to the Washington Post.Read more...

I know the Electric Slide is supposed to come at the end in Black movies, but I have to start off this blog with a celebratory Slide! Y’all, there is going to be a TV series based on The Best Man!Read more...

When it comes to nailing the intersection of sports, race and culture, ESPN’s The Undefeated has been holding us down since 2016. With its masterfully executed articles, personality profiles and captivating conversations with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, it’s a must for every sports head…Read more...

If you’ve paid attention to Robin Roberts’ rich career and life, you’ll probably describe her as tenacious and celebrate her strength.Read more...

To be Black (especially in America) is to know the Brothers Johnson. They had several No. 1 singles on the R&B charts in the ’70s and ’80s. Even though they didn’t write “Strawberry Letter 23"—that distinction goes to Shuggie Otis—their rendition is probably the one most of us are familiar with. They also gave us the…Read more...

I live in the Blackest part of Stone Mountain, Ga.—which is predominantly Black anyway, but here it’s two churches and two chicken spots every two-mile radius Black.

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New York City mayoral candidate Shaun Donovan is calling for police officers to be removed from public schools, Rikers Island to be closed by the end of 2027, plans to track interactions between police and civilians among other mandates detailed in his 14-page criminal justice platform provided exclusively to The Root.

The pilot period for a program in Denver that sends healthcare workers to respond to calls for mental health and substance abuse issues has so far been a success, according to local officials.

The first day of the historic second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump provided his lawyers an opportunity to prove that the trial was unconstitutional and therefore should not proceed, an argument the Senate rejected in a mostly party line vote of 56 to 44.Read more...

An effort is underway by activists and attorneys in Florida to have charges dropped against a Black woman who fired at an officer during a narcotics raid.Read more...

You ever hear that saying about people who pull up the ladder behind them right after they’ve gotten where they want to be? I’d say it perfectly describes Austin Chenge, a Nigerian-American and Black Republican who is running for governor of Michigan against incumbent Gretchen Whitmer, who is up for re-election next…Read more...

“What is Soulcare?” a promotional video for Alicia Keys’ then-upcoming Keys Soulcare platform and skincare line asked last September—and rightly so, because I, for one, wanted answers. After all, “self-care” is a much talked-about but ultimately elusive and highly subjective concept—and also an overused one as we’ve…Read more...

The more information that comes out about the Capitol riot, the clearer it becomes that it was attended by a lot of folks who really had no business being there. I mean no one had any business rioting at the Capitol, but a former FBI employee who held top secret security clearance really should’ve known better than to…Read more...

If you’re active on Instagram, you’ve probably viewed an Instagram Reel at this point—whether it was sent to you by a friend or you saw it organically on the “Explore” page. There’s a lot of opportunity for creators to show off their skills and this is just one more outlet in the booming world of short-form content.Read more...

Two years ago this month, I gave myself a challenge: realizing that I wasn’t walking the talk I preached daily on TGU, I launched a Black-Owned Beauty Month challenge in February of 2019, restricting myself to only Black-owned cosmetics and personal care products for Black History Month. The results were, at turns,…Read more...

Stiff where? St—well, you get it.Read more...

In the year since the tragic deaths of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, speculation has been plentiful, but actual answers have been in short supply.Read more...

As jurisdictions across the country work to implement policing reforms in response to last year’s nationwide protests against police killings of African Americans, lawmakers in Maryland are fighting an uphill battle in pushing for transparency into law enforcement misconduct.

I’ve always had a fascination with Run Lola Run.Read more...

The office of the secretary of state of Georgia is opening an inquiry into whether or not former president Donald Trump broke state laws when he tried to overturn the election results there, The New York Times reports.Read more...

Any makeup lover is all-too-familiar with the ubiquitous black lacquered displays and striped shopping bags of Sephora—but until recently, finding Black brands on its shelves proved a bit more challenging. The world’s premiere beauty marketplace has been working to change that image, inside and out: after becoming the…Read more...

It would appear that Colin Kaepernick Appreciation Day was a resounding success.Read more...

Michael B. Jordan, star of the Creed franchise and Just Mercy is continuing to build upon his relationship with Amazon Studios.Read more...

Y’all hungry? Well, Michelle Obama is whipping up something extra special and delicious on Netflix.Read more...

Today, the U.S. Senate will begin the impeachment trial to determine whether former President Donald Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection. This is the second time he has been impeached, the first time ever for a U.S. president. In 2019, he was impeached on two counts of abuse of power and obstruction of…Read more...

Despite Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s halfway attempt at walking back her love of conspiracies theories last week—ahead of having her committee assignments in Congress taken away—the Republican fire-starter continues to show she’s still someone who doesn’t belong in government, period.

It’s time for the critics to have their say during awards season! The film nominations for the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards were announced on Monday following the series nomination announcement back in January, which means we now have our complete list of nominees ready to celebrate.Read more...

The Spook Who Sat by the Door, the 1969 spy novel from Sam Greenlee, will be headed to a small screen near us soon, thanks to Lee Daniels.Read more...

She was a Motown legend, bestselling author, music activist, former U.S. cultural ambassador and co-founding member of The Supremes—of which she was dubbed “the sexy one.” Entertainer Mary Wilson, best known as the longest-running member of the group she made famous alongside Diana Ross and Florence Ballard (and…Read more...

You may know Amii Stewart because she had a monster disco song in 1979, “Knock On Wood.” The song made it all the way to the top of the pop charts and is a disco staple. And it still bay-yangs. You know what else bay-yangs? This album cover. For one, Amii is giving all a whole lewk in this joint. If this ain’t Black…Read more...

It started with a postcard. It arrived during my first semester at Sarah Lawrence, the private liberal arts college 40 minutes north of New York City (and as close to the city as my Midwestern parents would allow me to live) that I’d fallen in love with at first sight, bolstered by the fact that Alice Walker was an…Read more...

Republicans love to talk about freedom, liberty, constitutional rights and all that, but a simple look at their actions shows that all that talk is just talk. GOP-led states have filed over 100 pieces of legislation to restrict voting access, leading voting activists to implore Congress to enact voting reforms at the…Read more...

It’s weird that so many struggle to believe that America was built on racism when so many of our buildings and monuments are dedicated to people who fought to preserve institutional racism. A building at the University of Alabama at Birmingham named after George C. Wallace has been renamed because of Wallace’s…Read more...

White people love to ask “Why is everything so political these days?” while proceeding to make everything political. Take, for instance, a group of parents in Utah who wanted to pull their kids from Black History Month lessons. After briefly offering parents an option to opt-out, the Utah school has now walked back…Read more...

There is no better way of validating or expressing joy than turning on some music and shaking your ass. And since we can’t go out and dance at clubs, bars or even other people’s houses, we’ve had to make do with indoor dance parties.

Political unrest in Haiti resulted in the arrest of more than 20 people in the nation’s Port-Au-Prince capital over the weekend, as President Jovenel Moise continues to deny requests from opposition leaders and members of the public to step down from office.

Stiff where? Still stiff here. Much like the relationship between Black women and our hair, the situation involving our good sis Tessica Brown (aka Gorilla Glue Girl, as she’s been unofficially dubbed on social media) and her horrendous hair catastrophe that went viral last week has also increased in complexity.

I started calling myself a “wypipologist” as a joke...kinda.Read more...

You know how you have to wait for a while to see the post-credits scene during a Marvel movie because the cast and crew of a major action film is understandably dense? Well, we’ve been waiting even longer for the moment to finally be able to say Marvel Films has a Black woman writer!Read more...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tom Brady won his 7th Super Bowl. Who cares?Read more...

Tonight’s the night—the filmed reading event for George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue will make its way to your virtual screens. Directed by award-winning director-producer Nathan Hale Williams, the special filmed reading of Johnson’s work stars Dyllón Burnside (Pose), Bernard David Jones (Uncorked) and Thomas…Read more...

Media institutions continue to grapple with the question of how exactly to take responsibility for their roles in maintaining systemic racism against a stubborn culture that continues to dither about whether incidents of alleged racism are really that problematic or just evidence of “wokeness” gone too far.Read more...

When they go low, we get to streaming. Or at least, that’s my game plan following the latest announcement between Netflix and Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground.

Before I began writing this, I finished eating a makeshift breakfast of two-and-a-half scrambled eggs mixed with shreds of pork pulled from the leftover ribs of last night’s dinner order. It was a slightly disappointing meal—not because of the taste of the food, but the temperature of it. I sat down to eat it at the…Read more...

I wouldn’t consider myself an expert at surviving global pandemics, but in my 10 months (and counting) of practice, there are two recommendations that I always make to people who constantly complain about how bored or miserable they are thanks to COVID-19.Read more...

On a brisk day in Montreal, Quebec in November 2019, I entered the sound stage for the production of The United States vs. Billie Holiday. In turn, I also entered the eccentric world of director Lee Daniels, who noted that he chose Montreal because it was the closest resemblance to a past Harlem that doesn’t even…Read more...