The Root

On the Strength of their catalogue, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five will be named Life Achievement Award recipients at the 63rd Grammy Awards!Read more...

Hey nieces and nephews!Read more...

So, during my conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates earlier this week, he mentioned that he wants his work to “haunt” those who read it, where (paraphrasing) it sticks in their heads and they can’t extract it. I’ve had similar conversations with other writers—and others across the creative spectrum—and this feeling is…Read more...

You may have first become familiar with Zerina Akers through her long and very successful working relationship with an up-and-coming artist named Beyoncé (or something like that). But the stylist, designer and influencer is a force of fashion in her own right, both forecasting trends and consistently sharing her…Read more...

Singer FKA Twigs has filed a lawsuit against actor Shia LaBeouf, accusing him of sexual battery, physical assault, and emotional distress over the course of their one year long relationship. The New York Times reports that the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, also accuses LaBeouf of purposefully giving…Read more...

Walter Mosley may be best known for writing mysteries—though his bestselling Easy Rawlins series are among the dozens of works across genres that he’s produced in the past 30 years. But the prolific author doesn’t believe there’s any mystery to writing—nor any core requirements to become a writer.Read more...

As the Grammys have proven time and time again, the winner isn’t always the most deserving. But when it comes to Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year, this year at least, they hit the nail on the head.

The wonderful world of Disney was full of wealthy investors on Thursday night, but it was also an exciting time for potential consumers and fans of Disney franchises. Hosted by Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company and Bob Iger, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board, The Walt Disney…Read more...

Apple AirPods (2nd Generation) | $110 | AmazonRead more...

Brandon Bernard died by lethal injection last night at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., becoming the ninth person on federal death row to be killed by the U.S. government since the Trump administration resumed federal executions last year.Read more...

If you’ve ever wondered why President Trump is fighting so hard to steal the election and remain in office, it’s because he knows that once he becomes a regular citizen again he’s going to prison. OK, maybe not directly to prison, but he’s going to have to answer for all the crooked shit he did before becoming…Read more...

2020 has been a rough year for all of us, but it’s been a particularly ugly year for the Los Angeles Temecula Clippers. After spending their 2019-20 offseason assembling the closest thing to Thanos and the Black Order that the NBA has seen in recent memory, the team left their Infinity Gauntlet at home and embarrassed…Read more...

Time has selected its Person of the Year for 2020: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Tommy “Tiny” Lister, best-known for portraying “Deebo” in F. Gary Gray’s directorial debut Friday, has died at the age of 62, per TMZ. An official cause of death has not been determined.Read more...

Testimony from an official at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention alleges that multiple instances of political interference may have occurred in the department.Read more...

The St. Louis County Council is letting it be known that it is dead serious about police reform. So serious, in fact, that the Council voted Tuesday in favor of a resolution that gives the police department and police union an ultimatum: Either they provide greater public oversight or it’s a wrap on collective…Read more...

With skepticism about the safety and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine running high among African Americans, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, wants Black people to know that a Black woman, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, was heavily involved in developing one of the vaccines that will soon be…Read more...

Religious freedom is certainly an essential concept in America and much of the world, but it’s also a value that has paved the way for bigotry under the guise of holiness. In 2020—the year that can basically be summarized in three letters: WTF?—a small Minnesota town recently voted to allow a white supremacist church…Read more...

While the number of people who have received flu shots this year has seen an overall increase, new data has shown that when it comes to Black children that number has actually gone down.

If you are unfamiliar with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, she’s the no-nonsense politician who told her constituents during a pandemic that their jumpshot was always going to be weak and, therefore, they should stay their asses in the house and off the basketball courts.

The death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers has transformed the city into one of the epicenters of the current movement surrounding racial justice and police reform. In a notable step forward, the Minneapolis City Council has voted to shift millions of dollars away from the police…Read more...

Taraji P. Henson’s middle name may be Penda, but for the purposes of this news story, the ‘P’ stands for “Principal Photography!”Read more...

Over the last forty years, state and local police budgets have increased at astounding rates, with billions of dollars going toward military-grade equipment for law enforcement. The premise is simple: a better-equipped police force ought to be able to do their job—protecting the public—better, as well as offer more…Read more...

I’m unofficially on Dionne Warwick’s shit list. She hasn’t called me out personally—yet—but she might as well have following a Monday afternoon video she uploaded to her Twitter account.Read more...

Deadline announced today that Moonlight and All Day and a Night star Ashton Sanders has secured both TV and film rights to Peter Nelson’s nonfiction novel, A More Unbending Battle: The Harlem Hellfighter’s Struggle for Freedom in WWI and Equality at Home. If you’re unfamiliar, the official book description reads as…Read more...

As the Trump administration’s Department of Justice prepares to execute Brandon Bernard on Thursday for participating in the 1999 gang killing of a couple when he was 18 years old, calls are intensifying from various corners for the commutation of his death sentence.

Not only did Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.’s exhibition match provide us with an endless supply of memes, but it proved that even after a 15-year layoff, boxing fans will still clamor to watch Iron Mike throw hands in the ring.Read more...

1868.Read more...

Black farming and civil rights groups are giving President-elect Joe Biden an earful about his decision to bring former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack back to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a job he held for eight years under former President Barack Obama. According to Politico, leaders of farming and civil…Read more...

The key to a perfect steak? A cast-iron skillet. I bought my first years ago, mostly because I heard of the unbelievable flavor it gave steaks, fish, and pretty much anything else you cooked in it.

Rapper and “On Chill ‘’ singer Jeremih is reportedly now recovering after his battle with coronavirus left him in serious condition and on a ventilator in the intensive care unit last month.

President-elect Joe Biden is getting the band back together.

The family of Casey Goodson Jr., a 23-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy in Columbus, Ohio, last week, is now calling for the cop who fatally shot him to be removed from the force.

Cha-ching!

Yet another person in the entertainment industry has decided to hop on Twitter and showcase their ignorance about vaccinations—IN A PANNY.Read more...

This year may have not been one of our most winning, but there are still achievements to celebrate; particularly the handful of designers who harnessed the energy and activism of the moment to compel substantive structural changes in the fashion industry and beyond.Read more...

Black Lives Matter has become such a mainstream rallying cry and concept that it’s easy to forget it’s also an organization—and one that has grown from a grassroots movement to a global network aimed at the betterment of the Black collective. Since the BLM explosion over the summer, the organization has been making…Read more...

Breakups can be difficult, especially when one side didn’t see it coming.

Actress, author and Grammy-nominated comedian Tiffany Haddish may do a lot of things on the regular, but one thing she won’t be doing is hosting the 2021 Grammys Pre-Telecast Premiere Ceremony—and now we know why.

iRobot Roomba i3+ Robot Vacuum | $499 | AmazonRead more...

While Congress continues to dither over distributing another stimulus check to members of the American public during a pandemic that has stuttered the economy and left many unemployed and unable to meet the cost of their basic needs, it’s become increasingly clear that the Paycheck Protection Program—ostensibly meant…Read more...

In case you missed the memo, Ben & Jerry’s has been about that action.Read more...

Marguerite Ray, most known for being the first Black actress to portray the character of Mamie Johnson on the popular soap opera The Young and the Restless, has died at the age of 89.Read more...

7.5 ft Lighted Christmas Pine Tree | $86 | Amazon | Clip Coupon

Just days before the unexpected death of actress Natalie Desselle Reid, Halle Berry shared a video of her and her B.A.P.S. co-star strolling shoulder-to-shoulder Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. The pair were filming a bit for the 1997 cult classic, gold teeth gleaming and giggling into the camera.Read more...

The FBI and the Department of Justice will join the Columbus police investigation into the police killing of Casey Goodson Jr., a 23-year-old Black man who was fatally shot last week in Columbus, Ohio by a sheriff’s deputy.

One would think that after several years of the rallying cry’s existence, racist white people would at least be desensitized enough that the mere words, “Black lives matter” wouldn’t send them into a violent rage on anyone who dares display signs showing support for the movement. Unfortunately, this is not the case,…Read more...

Just last week, we revisited the culture-shifting moment in 1999 when LL Cool J subverted retail juggernaut Gap by sporting a FUBU cap while appearing in a commercial for the brand. The moment was a gamechanger, both for the independent Black brand founded by Daymond John and for the culture, at large; a subconscious…Read more...

Hey y’all, it’s your boy. Today, I come with a public service announcement from your friends at The Root. So take a seat, champ. Today we’re going to discuss why you should probably end the hunt to get the new next-gen consoles.Read more...