The Root

If you live with a child, no doubt you’re well aware of what they want this holiday season (they’ve likely been begging you for it since well before Halloween). However, if you are child-adjacent—meaning, you have much-beloved youngsters in your life you regularly spend money on—you might be feeling a little torn on…Read more...

It must be terribly inconvenient for Republicans trying to convince America that their party isn’t racist, that racists keep gravitating towards the Republican Party. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) posed for a photo with a former KKK leader during a campaign rally in Dawsonville, Ga., Friday, and now her campaign is…Read more...

Another week of NFL football is in the books. Let’s get to it.Read more...

The moment I wake up before I put on my (Zoom) makeup...I check Dionne Warwick’s Twitter feed.Read more...

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is a thief.

Aquaman and Emmy-winning Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is a lot of things onscreen. Dazzling as a superhero villain, doting as a superhero’s husband, and now— he’ll be deviously daring in his upcoming project, Ambulance.

Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance during the CNN Heroes special on Sunday night, giving thanks to those who have helped those in need during the coronavirus crisis. The appearance was the Duchess of Sussex’s first since penning a Thanksgiving week op-ed in which she revealed the loss of a recent pregnancy while…Read more...

You hear that? That’s the collective coalition of California yelling, “Wessssiiiiiiiiiiide!”Read more...

Jeremiah “Jerry” Harris, the breakout star from Netflix’s reality TV series Cheer, is now facing additional charges related to child pornography and sexual misconduct with a minor following his initial arrest for similar alleged crimes in September.

Ummm...we are now within two weeks of Christmas (and Kwanzaa—and nearly halfway through Hanukkah)—have you locked down your holiday gifts yet? With shipping slower than usual this year, most retailers aren’t guaranteeing holiday delivery on orders placed past the middle of this week, so your options are dwindling—and…Read more...

Roaming bands of white supremacists trawled the streets of Washington D.C. on Saturday, setting fires to Black Lives Matter banners and getting into stabbing fights in what appeared to be a free-for all outpouring of racist rage.

Another Black veteran of the entertainment industry has died due to COVID-19. Charley Pride, the country singer behind classic songs such as “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” and “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” is dead at 86.

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Lil Wayne could be headed to the slammer based on federal charges for illegal possession of a firearm.

New Orleans-based actress Carol Sutton, whose long career spanned film, stage, and television performances, has died at 76 from complications of the coronavirus.

The U.S. is getting closer to widespread distribution of vaccines for COVID-19, following the FDA’s emergency use authorization on Friday of the one developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech.

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Apparently, the White House chief of staff told the head of the Food and Drug Administration to grant authorization to a coronavirus vaccine by Friday or submit his resignation.

Dr. Cleavon Gilman, an emergency-medicine physician who has been outspoken about the dire conditions in American hospitals due to the coronavirus pandemic, says he was barred from returning to work at Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona after tweeting about shortages in hospital beds last month.Read more...

What colors would you say reflect an era filled with uncertainty, angst and sheer frustration—one in which there, at last, appears to be a light at the end of a very long time-loop tunnel, but no one really knows exactly when—or how, things will begin to feel even remotely right-side-up again (if ever).Read more...

Tennessee state Rep. David Byrd once claimed that the “mainstream media has sensationalized the reporting on COVID-19 in the service of political agendas.” Byrd has been seen on the House floor without a mask, which goes against everything that scientists have suggested during the pandemic.

Recruitment startup OneTen has joined forces with 37 major companies to employ 1 million Black people over the course of the next 10 years.Read more...

Those of you old enough to remember Teyana Taylor’s national television debut on a 2007 episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 will no doubt also remember the outspoken and already immensely talented birthday girl entering her fête posed in a Barbie-like box wearing a multicolored tulle frock by Heatherette. Thirteen…Read more...

Happy Friday, folks! I’m so proud of you for surviving another week of 2020. This shit ain’t easy, I know it. As a reward for your tenacity I shall provide a list of good-ass games at some solid-ass prices.

In many respects, tennis player Naomi Osaka has grown up right before our eyes. Known for being understated and shy when she first emerged as a top contender in 2018 with her surprise upset over her idol, Serena Williams, since then, Osaka has come into her own as one of her sport’s brightest stars. Between June 2019…Read more...

If you are a Black person, you already know what I’m talking about. If you are white reader, then let me explain something that doesn’t work with Black people around the world: tone. Tone is the raising of your voice. It can also be associated with “talking to me like I’m a damn child.” It is usually met with a…Read more...

Whether the NBA likes it or not, Kyrie Irving is undergoing a metamorphosis.

This year, people from all walks of life used their voices to protest against the injustice they saw around the world. Among those participating in protests in 2020 were athletes in the NBA, WNBA, U.S. women’s soccer, NFL, and other fields, who received comparatively less outrage than professional players have in the…Read more...

Though it may be easy and somewhat comforting to hold onto the idea that President-elect Biden’s win and soon-coming inauguration will fix the problems in America’s democracy exposed by Donald Trump, the reality of today’s Republican Party upends that notion.

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...

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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...

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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.