The Root

It is with great sadness that we report that John Fletcher, one third of the ’80s Brooklyn-based hip-hop trio Whodini, has died at the age of 56.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed Tuesday that she would enlist the help of former federal judge Anne Claire Williams to investigate the handling of the Anjanette Young case.

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A RemoBell smart doorbell and an iPad Air lead Thursday’s best deals.Read more...

As we settle in to spend another holiday at home, it’s hard to imagine what in the world we’re supposed to cook. Are we expected to go big and bold because it’s Christmas, which should be cause for celebration? Or are we finding a place that delivers in hope that it lives up to any dwindling expectations that we have…Read more...

For a large chunk of us, this is going to be one of the weirdest holidays in a long time. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Cha-noo-ka as Smokey Robinson calls it, you’re probably spending it alone this year. You know what will still be there for you though? Video games.

A judge in Virginia’s Fairfax County has ruled that the portraits of white judges in the courtroom prevent Black defendants from receiving a fair trial.Read more...

Paul Pierce is a lot of things; a lover of revisionist history, a board-certified hater of all things LeBron James, a thespian who requires a wheelchair to use the bathroom, but for the bulk of his 19 seasons in the NBA, he was also one of the greatest players in the history of the league. And now, three years removed…Read more...

Billboard announced today that “Juicy” singer Doja Cat is one of the latest additions to the performances for this year’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve, hosted by Ryan Seacrest.Read more...

Robert “R.” Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago now has an official start date.Read more...

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Earlier this month, The Root reported that in Murdock, Minn.—a small city of around 280 residents—white nationalist group Asatru Folk Assembly was granted permission via city council vote to turn an abandoned Lutheran church into a whites-only church for worshipers to...oh, I don’t know...be white and racist together…Read more...

A group led by a teenage white supremacist plotted to attack multiple power plants across the country and write the words “teenage white supremacist” really drives home the feeling that we’re living in the darkest timeline.Read more...

The newly elected Black CEO in charge of the charity startup founded in a small Bethlehem manger before moving to its sprawling North Pole headquarters has issued a slate of groundbreaking policies that could result in a very unmerry Christmas for millions of children around the globe.

As someone who’s never had even a remote desire to pay somebody to get naked, I will never understand the allure of strip clubs. That being said, I’m clearly in the minority since they’re very much a thing and rather popular with professional athletes.Read more...

In a recent op-ed for the Miami New Times, 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell, aka Uncle Luke, revealed that he had previously tested positive for coronavirus.

I’m angered and exhausted to report that another unarmed Black man has been killed by police, this time in Columbus, Ohio.Read more...

Just as Democrats and Republicans in Congress have finally agreed on how much (or rather, how little) stimulus money to throw to the American people, President Trump has emerged in his favorite role as head troll to play with our feelings all over again.

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I don’t know how you spent your Tuesday night, but since the coronavirus won’t let any of us be great, I hope you stayed your ass home and watched NBA basketball like the rest of us. But in the unfortunate event that you were off running the streets and being a super spreader like a selfish heathen, here’s what you…Read more...

What do war criminals, Trump allies, embezzlers and other white-collar criminals have in common? Y’all’s almost-former president is spending his last days in office freeing them from prison.Read more...

This isn’t the last week of 2020, but it feels like it since most folks have taken off work until the new year (except me, obviously...and the person editing this piece). It’s technically the last full week of 2020, so there ya go! But, since we’re still in 2020, let’s get to some escapism in the form of trailers...Read more...

When it comes to holiday classics and their covers, any song sung by Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, or John Legend is going to be an improvement on the original. With these tried and true standards, black artists take holiday song traditions—remixing and redoing them—and create new classics out of…Read more...

New Jersey is set to implement the first overhaul to its police use-offorce policy in over 20 years.

Look. Because I don’t want Rih to cuss me out if she happens upon this article, let me first start by saying how overjoyed I am to learn that my favorite bad gal is coming out with a cookbook.Read more...

In news that is as heartbreaking as it is predictable, a study has found that over the last 16 years, Black kids were six times more likely to be fatally shot by police than white children.Read more...

Before becoming the first Black female vice president in U.S. history, Kamala Harris was the only Black woman in the U.S. Senate and only the second to serve in the Senate ever. So it should come as no surprise that Black people—including 28 civil rights leaders, Black Lives Matter officials and California’s …Read more...

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Late yesterday evening, Congress passed a wide-ranging relief bill that will send $600 to every taxpayer making less than $75,000. I haven’t done the math but, that probably only leaves out Bill Gates, Oprah and maybe Beyoncé. Thankfully, the kind folks in the federal legislature have graciously doled out enough money…Read more...

As we’ve been documenting here at The Root for a while now, Ebony Magazine has been going through it.Read more...

The NBA is back! On the same week that news broke of a more contagious strain of a virus that has killed millions of people! There’s no bubble this time either! Just planes and airports and buses and hotels like any other non-pandemic time! I am very excited for this season and I plan to watch as many games as I can.…Read more...

There are certain criminals in this world who are a potential danger to any and everyone who crosses their path—police in California just arrested what appears to be one of them.Read more...

I think it’s safe to say we live in a post-George Floyd world. Floyd’s tragic, violent death has spurred a nationwide reckoning on racial injustice in just about every field, including the armed forces. An investigation launched shortly after Floyd’s death has found that Black members of the United States Air Force…Read more...

Damn, the NBA is back already?!Read more...

Emmy-nominated actress and Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox will be debuting her very own podcast thanks to Shondaland Audio and iHeartMedia.

The Recording Academy has now made their official announcement for 2021’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients!Read more...

While we’re still on lockdown for the holidays, a streaming platform is pretty much the gift that keeps on giving because at least it provides some sort of entertainment.Read more...

For most of Malik Beasley’s NBA career, he’s been relegated to staying in the background, but in recent months, the Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.Read more...

Watch Dogs: Legion and an Ulta Beauty sale lead Tuesday’s best deals.

Apparently, the worst place to work right in America now is the White House.Read more...

Y’all want an escape from 2020 right quick? Well, how about a virtual trip to Zamunda?

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Another day, another task to add to the ever-growing list of things Black folks can’t do for fear of having a completely unwarranted and volatile run in with the police.

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If you’ve yet to watch the Netflix-produced adaptation of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, you are missing out on a moment in Black history—both long past and very recent. While the title evokes one of the great blues singers of nearly a century ago, what is already being considered one of the play’s seminal…Read more...

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It’s been about a full 24 hours since I finished the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I expected the finale to be a lot of things. Mainly cool as all hell. I didn’t expect it to be emotionally devastating and I damn sure didn’t expect it to do that either.

I want to say that 2020 really has white people wilding wilding, but really the actions of passionate racists typically aren’t terribly surprising in any given year.Read more...

Following a recommendation from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee, the next batch of COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed to senior citizens and certain essential workers.Read more...

If you cracked open the New York Times on Sunday, you might’ve been greeted by the following full-page ad:Read more...