The Root

Since the NBA’s bubble began, I’ve struggled to comprehend the New Orleans Pelican’s rationale. Yes, Zion Williamson is their pride and joy, but if you’re trying to make the playoffs—the Pelicans are currently 11th place in the West—the Duke product has to be on the floor.Read more...

Although clubs are closed for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it doesn’t mean we can’t shake a lil’ sum’n sum’n in the comfort of our own homes. This Friday, the girls may be getting the summer banger they’ve been craving in order to turn up the way we used to. (It’s me. I’m ‘the girls.’)Read more...

Over the weekend, a group of people who likely think “racial profiling” refers to white people using Black emojis on their social media posts painted a “Back the Blue” mural on a street outside the Tampa Police Department headquarters.Read more...

The Navy SEALS museum in Fort Pierce, Fla., is under investigation after video surfaced of a Colin Kaepernick stand-in being used for an attack dog demonstration.Read more...

Can we get a ‘Hallelujah’ for Danielle Brooks? The Orange Is the New Black star has been cast to portray gospel legend Mahalia Jackson in Lifetime’s Robin Roberts Presents: The Mahalia Jackson Story.

A Black family in Pennsylvania got to experience firsthand the impact of 400 years of white supremacy emboldening white people to act overtly racist when a white man wielding a sword threatened them and made a comment about their race.Read more...

You know, for a group of people that love to talk about their First A amendment right to be an asshole, white folks really love intimidating those whose opinions don’t match theirs. Take for instance 51-year-old James Kleinhenz. He’s a Flagstaff man who, on Saturday, felt the need to verbally harass and then pull a…Read more...

Here at The Root, we are very particular about how we talk about people. First, we don’t want to label anyone as something if that isn’t true and, secondly, we don’t want to get sued. But, whenever I hear that Trump is being investigated for anything my first thought is, “He did that shit.”

I really wanted to like the XFL.Read more...

Like many folks who haven’t seen the hit stage play Hamilton in person, I relished the opportunity to watch it on Disney+ when it released on July 3, 2020. Even if you don’t care for musicals—or the subject matter of this particular musical—it’s impressive in its expanse and each of the stars of the show provide…Read more...

John Boyega is workin’...and it looks like his portrayal will be tackling a timely and often controversial topic: police brutality.Read more...

Booooooy, some of these corporations really need to get out of the pseudo activism business because many of them just can’t seem to do anything right—in America or abroad.Read more...

Writer, showrunner and actress Lena Waithe spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about a host of topics in a brand new feature released Monday, including the need to support the ideas of creatives of color, as well as Black queer representation on television.Read more...

I would be lying if I said I ever watch hockey, but this weekend something spectacular occurred.Read more...

Did Wakanda have housing projects? Payday lenders? A Wakandan Dollar General?Read more...

On Sunday, Michigan Republican State Senator Tom Barrett learned that life comes at you fast.

To the relief of sports heads everywhere, the NBA is officially back in business. However, it looks very different than the sport we’ve all known and loved throughout the course of our lives.Read more...

Bruh…Read more...

For some reason, elected officials can’t seem to stop the hemming and hawing to produce a bill that doesn’t pad the rich and placate the poor during a fucking pandemic in which nearly half of the population is out of work.

Last Wednesday, Portland’s leading anti-police violence and Black-led organization Don’t Shoot Portland posted a message on their Instagram account, documenting a break with the Wall of Moms, a loose grouping of largely white women that had formed in response to the Trump administration’s sending of federal law…Read more...

We get it: With everything going on in the world, it can be difficult to carve out time to discover new music. Industry-pushed tunes that you may not even bang with like that could also get in the way of you finding something that tingles your consumer taste buds.Read more...

An HP back-to-school sale on laptops, desktops, and printers, an Aukey 12-in-1 USB-C hub, a discounted copy of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers for PS4, a Goooloo 1500A jump starter, a Taste of Asia snack mix package, and a reusable face shield five-pack lead Monday’s best deals.Read more...

It’s August, which means we’re in the last full month of summer (spoiler alert: it doesn’t really slap during a lockdown), and we have more strong Blackness coming to Netflix.Read more...

Ryan Breaux, the 18-year-old brother of singer-songwriter Frank Ocean, was reportedly killed in a single-vehicle car crash on Sunday.

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Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) is doing plenty of walking back this weekend after increased media scrutiny into her past statements, amid reports that she is one of a few Black women under consideration for Joe Biden’s running mate position.

I love Beyoncé. But more importantly, I really love when members of the global Black diaspora connect with each other.

A 15-year-old Black girl who was being detained in a juvenile facility in Detroit for failing to complete online schoolwork has been granted release by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Cotton Face Masks (5-Pack) | $30 | The Tie BarRead more...

Protests are scheduled to happen in St. Louis, Missouri this Sunday in response to Prosecuting Attorney for the County, Wesley Bell’s recent announcement that he will not file criminal charges against former Police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

The petty President of the United States says his government will be banning the social media app TikTok from operating in America, and that it could happen as soon as this weekend.

If you’ve ever heard the statement ‘anti-Blackness is global’ and wondered what it truly meant, consider this news: the Supreme Court in Jamaica, an island whose population is around 80 percent Black people, has ruled in favor of a school that said a seven-year-old could not attend their classes unless she cut her…Read more...

Summer Henley Blowout Sale | JACHS NY | Use code HNLYRead more...

In 2018, a 57-year-old Black woman was walking to a subway station in Brooklyn when a white man began stabbing her and yelling racial slurs.

Alabama’s prison system has come under scrutiny in recent months following a federal report that details widespread, systemic issues of abuse and a lack of proper oversight. As a result of the findings, four guards have been charged with using excessive force against an inmate.Read more...

In Harper Woods, Mich., protests have been ongoing since the death of Priscilla Slater, a Black woman, while in police custody in June. The town’s longtime mayor is now facing growing calls to resign because of comments he made sympathizing with white supremacists after his wife got into an altercation with…Read more...

You’ve probably heard it countless times, but it can’t be said enough: 2020 is an extremely pivotal presidential election year.Read more...

Following a 103-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers drew parallels between his team deciding to take a knee during the national anthem and the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.Read more...

On Aug. 1, 2016 the Baltimore County police arrived at the home of Korryn Gaines to serve an arrest warrant for a traffic violation. Gaines was killed after a six-hour standoff and her, then 5-year-old, son Kodi was shot in the cheek.

Holy shit: A lot of you really like the guitar. There were so. many. passionate and helpful responses to our call for the best guitar for beginners. I didn’t bargain for a master class in purchasing your first axe, but that’s exactly what I got, and I implore anyone exploring guitar to go check out all the wonderful…Read more...

The city of Tulsa has ordered that a Black Lives Matter mural, painted on a street in the district where the Black Wall Street massacre happened nearly 100 years ago, be painted over.Read more...

This is the last week of July...hell, it’s the last day of July—can you believe it?! Time is a construct, blah blah blah. We are firmly in a place where most of 2020 is behind us...let that marinate. When you’re done allowing the seasoned thoughts to sit, let’s get into these trailers!Read more...

So the NBA bubble thing is weird. And the social justice messaging on the jerseys is dumb. So dumb. SO DUMB. But I am also weird and dumb, and I am fascinated by the uncanny valley of the NBA’s reboot. The crowds are computer-generated avatars! Some people in the gyms are wearing masks and some aren’t, which seems not…Read more...

Say what you want about the NBA bubble, commissioner Adam Silver—and Disney exec Rosalyn Durant—has not only sidestepped a global pandemic, but has delivered the game we all know and love while preserving the health and safety of some of the most popular athletes in the world.Read more...

We all have movies that resonate with us. And in those movies, there are usually songs that help flesh out the story that become part of our lives. Today’s list is full of our favorite soundtrack jams.

It was a moment instantly cemented in fashion history—and one of many that reaffirmed that Rihanna is a bonafide fashion icon. At the 2015 Met Gala, the bad gal ascended the red-carpeted steps of the Met in a couture fur-trimmed and embroidered canary-colored velvet cape—with an epic train—by Chinese designer Guo Pei.

The U.S. Postal Service was out there minding its business until the bully-in-chief took aim at the public service, calling it a joke, demanding it increase prices and claiming that mail-in voting would be compromised. When he was done with all his orange unhinged ranting, Trump did what he’s done throughout his…Read more...

Wesley Bell, St. Louis County’s top prosecutor, announced Thursday that his office would not bring charges against Darren Wilson, the former Ferguson, Mo., police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Mike Brown in 2014.Read more...

It’s back!