If there was one entity Black America dreamed could take the baton of equality and sprint toward the finish line, it was not the billion-dollar social injustice advocacy collective known as the National Football League. Asking the NFL to help fight racial injustice is like asking Kentucky Fried Chicken to promote…Read more...

If American history has taught us anything, it’s that Black people are bald-faced liars.Read more...

The tragic death of Chadwick Boseman has inspired increased conversation about the importance of colonoscopies to catch colon cancer and other colorectal disorders. The CDC recommends that you wait until you’re 50 to start screening. But, since Black people are 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer…Read more...

A seven-year investigation of voter suppression in Georgia has found that the state likely removed 200,000 voters from its rolls who were, in fact, eligible to vote. The voters whose registrations were removed were also overwhelmingly concentrated in the counties comprising the Atlanta Metro area, according to initial…Read more...

Royal watchers, you’re about to see a lot more of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex—well, kind of. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Prince Harry and wife Meghan have indeed signed a “megawatt” deal with Netflix after it was rumored last month that the couple had been in talks with several studios on a “top…Read more...

We all know that y’all’s president is a photo-op whore. We also know that whenever there’s a riot over racial injustice, Trump’s pandering-protocol requires him to take a fake stand against fake police persecution as well as make a big public display out of denouncing lawlessness and property damage.Read more...

All I could say after “it” concluded—and after I picked my face and bowels up off the floor of the car—was, “it is amazing what is possible when racism isn’t central to interactions with the authorities.” I may have fainted after that; I’ll ask my wife.

In case you missed the memo, Serena Williams is really fucking good at tennis; so much so that it’s easy to lose sight of how exceptional she actually is.Read more...

Like his Star Wars character Finn, John Boyega is a trooper in the midst of the storm in that he’ll get his work done—but best believe, he’ll fight for what is right, even if it means ruffling a few establishment feathers (also like Finn).Read more...

Tributes continue to pour in for Chadwick Boseman, who died at the age of 43 on Friday after a four-year battle with colon cancer.Read more...

Earlier this week, California lawmakers passed a bill that would ban residents and visitors to the state from making racist, false 911 calls. It now awaits Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature before it becomes law.Read more...

An 11-year-old Black girl from Kansas City, Kan., is recovering after being brutally beaten Friday in what her family said was a racially motivated attack. Now, a 12-year-old boy charged in her attack is on house arrest and could face hate crime charges.Read more...

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I’m still attempting to process what I witnessed last night.Read more...

Tyler Perry is the family that pays.Read more...

As have many, the film industry has been hit hard by COVID-19, with small budget films being canceled, cinemas only recently opening and release dates for major films pushed back by studios. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has increasingly been touted as the film that will change all of that—the film that will have people…Read more...

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A white man from Florida (you already know what kind of story this is about to be) has earned himself nearly three and a half years in prison for cyberstalking and threatening a Black Lives Matter activist who planned on running for public office.Read more...

For years, residents of Greenwood, the neighborhood in Tulsa, Okla., that was once home to Black Wall Street, have attempted to bring the area back to its former glory. Once a thriving hub of Black prosperity, the neighborhood is now most famous for being the site of one of the deadliest racial massacres in American…Read more...

With so many new products coming to market in recent years, you’d think textured hair was a new phenomenon—but what it really indicates is a new perspective: many of us are well past tired of taming our hair into “submission,” and with the growing awareness of hair discrimination and initiatives like the CROWN Act, we…Read more...

Many people knew and loved Chadwick Boseman—one of those people is Logan Coles.

The police chief in Hammond, La., has become the subject of community outrage after leaked surveillance footage from 2017 revealed what many consider an act of blatant police brutality perpetrated by him against a Black man who was in handcuffs. On Monday, activists and members of the community held a meeting to…Read more...

This article contains two opinions:Read more...

Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor who was with her the night she was shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police, has filed a lawsuit against the department, arguing that he is a victim of police misconduct and seeking immunity from future prosecution related to the case.Read more...

Leave it to Cardi B to give new meaning to the idiom “French kiss.” The “WAP” rapper may still be riding high from making Hot 100 history, despite having been knocked from Billboard’s top spot this week by BTS’s latest release. But she has a new win to celebrate, as she was just revealed to be the new face of…Read more...

The soulfully crooning ladies on “Missing You” sang “I’ll find a way to get tha-rouuuuugh!” and I feel like that’s a big mood for 2020.Read more...

Just so we’re clear, Naomi Osaka has no intention of losing in the U.S. Open anytime soon.Read more...

1. A garageRead more...

The rainbow over Hollywood shone a little brighter on Monday, as perennial fave Niecy Nash made a major announcement: She’s newly married! Adding her name to the list of celebs who’ve been making major life changes during these months of quarantine (we’re looking at you, Elaine Welteroth and Jodie Turner-Smith), Nash…Read more...

In the immediate aftermath of the Milwaukee Bucks refusing to take the floor during Game 5 of their NBA playoffs series in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, the Baltimore Ravens canceled practice on Friday and issued a statement demanding police reform and addressing systemic oppression in America.Read more...

Storm is my favorite character from the X-Men lore. So, I never tolerate any disrespect of the baddest bitch in comics land.Read more...

If you are Black in America, there’s a better than 50 percent chance (this is non-scientific, by the way) that you watched Monday night’s Verzuz featuring Brandy and Monica, two singers of significant renown with a sordid history that was very much on display (to me) during the Verzuz. At its peak, it topped out at…Read more...

Heading into the 2019-20 NBA season, there were plenty of questions about New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram. Could he stay healthy? Could all that tantalizing potential finally translate into consistent play? Was he worth a max contract?Read more...

Editor Daniel Thompson wasn’t covering the Saturday rally for Jacob Blake but attended it anyway. The 30-year-old digital editor of the Kenosha News watched as speaker after speaker took the stage: among them were Jacob Blake’s uncle, Justine Blake, Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, Rep. Gwen Moore, local…Read more...

The year 2020 has flipped and turned our lives upside down—specifically, our sense of time. How do I know this? Well, the general shock of “OMG we’re getting old!” that accompanies a story about a nostalgic piece of art, event, or famous person has been exacerbated.Read more...

Like many corporations as of late, McDonald’s doesn’t have a problem saying the words “Black Lives Matter,” but voicing support for a movement that’s currently more popular than it ever has been is easy. The real question is whether or not the fast-food giant is practicing what it preaches when it comes to the fight…Read more...

If your End Times Apocalypse Bingo Card had the revolution starting in Wisconsin, congratulations, you might be in the running for the grand prize of an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine. (Spoiler alert: It’s just a 2 percent solution of Clorox, McDonald’s Sprite and Sen. Jim Jordan’s armpit sweat.)Read more...

If you watched Episode 3 of HBO’s Lovecraft Country, you already know: This was a damn near perfect episode. I sincerely believe that the horror genre is where Black folks get to tell truths that otherwise aren’t safe to tell. Horror is an imaginative space for us because so much of our history and experiences in…Read more...

It happened, y’all. Brandy and Monica congregated at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta and went hit-for-hit in the highly popular nostalgic music event we now know as Verzuz. Miracles happen every day!Read more...

Kids are a lot of work.Read more...

The bullet in my right bicep always aches. It reminds me how everything about me is fair game: who I love, how I dress—indeed, my very body is up for judgment and assault from all quarters, everywhere, all the time. In 2004, I was idling in the driveway of my friend’s apartment building when a skinny kid appeared out…Read more...

A New Jersey mayor has rescinded a bill he sent to an 18-year-old activist for $2,500 in alleged police overtime charges after she organized a fair housing protest earlier this summer.Read more...

As we continue to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, new information regarding the raid on her home and the subsequent investigation continues to surface. It was recently revealed that the drug suspect officers were looking for when they raided Taylor’s home and fatally shot her, was offered a plea deal last month to…Read more...

NASCAR decided not to join the NBA, WNBA and other professional sports leagues in postponing scheduled games in protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver in NASCAR’s Cup series, defended the organization’s decision to resume races on schedule, saying essentially that NASCAR…Read more...

This September, the Vogue franchise has organized around a single message: Hope, with each global iteration of the famed fashion magazine publishing its own version of what the theme means to its team. To that end, American Vogue enlisted acclaimed painters Kerry James Marshall and Jordan Casteel to create its…Read more...

It looks like we have a big update—as big as the mouth for Netflix’s Big Mouth!Read more...

Racist white people hate being called racist white people.Read more...

You know, as a rule, I tend not to curse a lot in my posts here at The Root, despite having free rein to do so, as do all of our staff. That’s mainly because I like to consider myself something of a lady—and, as the editor of all things lifestyle here at the site, tend not to find profanity terribly necessary. Also,…Read more...

Though short-lived, the Milwaukee Bucks’ wildcat strike last week has recalibrated many people’s expectations of what is possible when it comes to professional athletes speaking out on social justice issues. Over the last week, teams from various professional sports leagues, including the NFL and MLB, canceled…Read more...

As a nod to the standards of white mainstream journalism, this story is reported in the language used to report crimes involving Black suspects, “officer-involved” shootings and protests against racial injustice.Read more...