The Root

DMX, beloved rapper, songwriter, and actor has died at the age of 50. The entertainer was admitted to the hospital on April 2, and had been in a coma on life support following a heart attack caused by a reported drug overdose. After a series of brain function tests were conducted and showed no improvement in brain…Read more...

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of the United Kingdom’s long-serving monarch Queen Elizabeth, has died. He was 99.

Do I even need to say it?Read more...

On Thursday, we reported that ex-NFL player Phillip Adams took his own life after allegedly gunning down five others, including respected South Carolina doctor Robert Lesslie. As the surviving families struggle for answers, details are slowly trickling out that might explain why Adams resorted to such a shocking…Read more...

The battle over Lil Nas X’s “Satan Shoes” has reportedly been settled. Following a temporary restraining order granted against MSCHF for its much talked about collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X, on Thursday evening, USA Today received a statement from Nike stating that the streetwear brand has agreed to a recall of…Read more...

In 1976, Ronnie Long was accused of raping a white woman and sentenced to life in prison. Long would spend 44 years in prison despite evidence collected at the scene that would have proved his innocence never being shared. In August 2020 Long was freed, but the damage had been done. Long lost his freedom for 44 years.…Read more...

A Republican official in Harris County, Texas, was heard on a video presentation saying that 10,000 volunteers were needed to form an “election integrity brigade” in Houston to fight against election fraud, the Washington Post reports.Read more...

The 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards showed up and showed out on Thursday night. The host of the evening was none other than Niecy Nash, who not only looked fabulous in her glittery scarlet gown, but certainly brought the effervescent energy we all needed.Read more...

This week, United Airlines’ flight school, United Aviate Academy, announced that it is now accepting applications and that it plans to train 5,000 new pilots over the next decade and that 50 percent of those pilots will be women and people of color. For reasonable people, it looks like United is looking to diversify…Read more...

So far, the testimony heard this week has largely been from police officials and use-of-force experts, with a focus on whether former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin followed police training during the arrest of George Floyd. Day nine saw the trial transition to testimonies from medical experts who offered…Read more...

Welcome to another installment of “Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes!” I’m your host as always, and today’s contestant is the leader of a neo-Nazi group who pleaded guilty to harassing journalists and advocates of color. What’s his prize, you ask? Potential jail time!

When it comes to Black history, the American education system has remained woefully underwhelming. Lessons about Black history are typically relegated exclusively to the month of February and only focus on Rosa Parks, MLK and maybe they’ll throw in the Ruby Bridges movie. The reckoning that arose from George Floyd’s…Read more...

Another day, another incident of taxpayers holding the bag for police officers who treat members of the public brutally and with impunity.

While Republican-led state legislatures across the country are ramming through measures to make it harder for people to vote, at least one southern state has passed legislation that will do the opposite.

I don’t pride myself on a lot of things, but aside from my mutant ability to consume an extraordinarily high volume of crab legs, I genuinely try to be kind.Read more...

There are certain things you just never expect that you need to explain to people. You shouldn’t need to tell adults not to drink shampoo, steer their cars with their feet or that, despite Kendrick Lamar’s advice, it’s not a good idea to fill your swimming pool up with liquor and then diiiiiiiiiive in it.Read more...

Diddy is dabbling in an interesting (and dangerous) game of “This you??” on Black Twitter.Read more...

There isn’t a dance floor, wedding, cookout, or Black person alive who isn’t familiar with The Gap Band’s signature hit, “You Dropped the Bomb on Me,” and its contagious bassline. And on the latest episode of ABC Audio’s Soul of a Nation: Tulsa’s Buried Truth balladeer Charlie Wilson reveals whether or not the 1982…Read more...

Congressman Matt Gaetz is being investigated by federal investigators to determine whether he was given trips to the Bahamas and women in exchange for political favors, according to CNN.Read more...

Alright, alright, alriiiiight. April is here and what better way to commemorate yet another month in this pandemic (booo) than by attending some fun (online) events! Though the seemingly unending nature of this panoramic continues to relegate our good times indoors, if there’s anything we’ve learned over this past…Read more...

Republicans are either desperate to hold on to any semblance of Trump, or they have nothing else to spend their stimulus money on, but somehow Marjorie Taylor Greene—the GOP Georgia representative that Republicans secretly hate, too—raise $3.2 million in three months.

Twenty-one years, twenty-one years…

Virginia is the first state in the South to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, the Associated Press reports.Read more...

President Joe Biden announced six actions Thursday that will aim to address the rising ride of mass shootings, according to ABC.Read more...

These are the exact type of stories I hate to hear about, let alone report on, but since The Root is in the business of news, here we go.Read more...

Republican SpankBang, aka Fox News, is known for its plethora of white men spouting lies to an audience of dunces.

In today’s episode of Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Hate Crime Charges, a Paradise, Calif., woman is facing hate crime charges after she allegedly plowed through a work zone in her SUV while drinking and shouting racial slurs at a Black worker who was holding up signs to control the pace of traffic. The worker said he…Read more...

On Tuesday, we told you about the eye-opening revelation that #BridgertonBae Regé-Jean Page was allegedly passed on for a role on Syfy’s Krypton due to the lackluster, unimaginative nature of former DC Entertainment exec Geoff Johns (whose problematic nature we’ve also been keeping you in the loop about in regard to…Read more...

The legacy of racism in America’s “justice” system has frequently resulted in the release of Black men from prison, after they’ve spent decades locked up for crimes they were convicted for under sketchy circumstances.

Kevin Durant, who was last seen getting fined $50,000 for calling some attention-starved white boy a “pale pasty cum guzzling bitch,” made his triumphant return to the court last night. Did you hear?

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Turns out, Tyler Perry isn’t done with Madea. Well, not completely. You see the headline—it looks like Perry is attempting to take Marvel’s crown and make his own MCU...the Madea Cinematic Universe, that is.Read more...

After over a week of testimonies, it’s become increasingly clear that the defense is leaning on the idea that George Floyd’s drug use was what caused his death and not former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck.

First things first: I’d like to thank Miranda Priestly—aka Meryl Streep—for flawlessly delivering that iconic line in The Devil Wears Prada.

Cops seem to be offended at the idea that they harass Black people with no rhyme or reason. Perhaps that notion would be dispelled if they weren’t doing things like arresting a Black man even though the suspect they were looking for was white.Read more...

Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon will not be facing eight years in prison after all, in the newest development in the absurd criminal case brought against her.Read more...

From the death of Daniel Prude to the pepper-spraying of a 9-year-old Black girl, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: The Rochester Police Department is trash.Read more...

America is racist.

I love the internet. Along with allowing me to order shit off of Amazon and it be at my doorstep before I hit “Place Your Order,” there are also a tremendous number of tests, quizzes and other things to pass the day. Which brings us to the point of today’s sermon. In a work Slack, a “Black Movie Test” was shared…Read more...

Mercedes Varnado a.k.a, WWE Superstar “The Legit Boss” Sasha Banks has seemingly done it all. Over the last decade she’s become one of the first women to main event an NXT Takeover; she was one half of the first women’s tag team champions; she’s a five-time Raw Women’s Champion, the current SmackDown Women’s champion,…Read more...

Let’s just start off by saying that Virginia’s Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax ain’t shit.

In another episode of the mainstream American hit, “Marginalized Creators: Here, Damn!”, late night show host Jimmy Fallon recently came under fire after he featured TikTok influencer Addison Rae performing an instructional series of popular TikTok dances...that she didn’t create. Following the social media backlash,…Read more...

There aren’t many people in hip-hop with an enduring legacy like Cliff “Method Man” Smith.Read more...

On April 1, in what may or may not have been an April Fools’ Day joke, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that detectives had determined the cause of Tiger Woods’ single-car accident from February 23, in which the 45-year-old suffered an assortment of significant injuries.Read more...

It seems the rift between Sheryl Underwood and former The Talk co-host Sharon Osbourne has deepened, according to this latest development.Read more...

As this Deshaun Watson situation—in which the embattled NFL superstar has been accused of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior in over 20 lawsuits—continues to unfold, on Wednesday, the three-time Pro Bowler learned that a few of his most lucrative partnerships have officially been put on pause.Read more...

Magic. What is it exactly? Some will debate wholeheartedly that the confines of magic exist in fantasy novels and movies and television shows—you know, fictionally. I’m not going to lie; I agree with this, but I think it’s deeper. I think magic can exist within a very real world and still have all the impact, if not…Read more...

More than six years after the Ferguson Uprisings brought a racial reckoning to the St. Louis metropolitan area—and the nation—St. Louis elected its first Black female mayor Tuesday. Tishaura Jones, the city’s treasurer, ran on a commitment to racial justice and promised to bring “fresh air” to the city, according to…Read more...

While 2020 marked an inflection point in the nation’s awareness of issues of racial injustice, it also quickly ushered in heaps of backlash against anything to do with acknowledging the pervasiveness of racism in America.

White Lies Matter is a group that claimed responsibility for the disappearance of a Confederate monument in Selma, Ala., that was dedicated to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The group published a ransom letter in which it demanded that the headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Richmond,…Read more...