It only took a global pandemic, a four-month hiatus and a tab of approximately $150 million, but all is right in the world because the NBA Playoffs have officially begun. To the delight of sports fans far and wide, August Madness kicked off on Monday, and here are some takeaways from Day 1.Read more...

White conservatives have to be some of the most manipulative, delusional and disingenuous people on Earth. They’ve made being deliberately obtuse an art form, and you could almost admire them for it if their willful ignorance superpowers weren’t used almost exclusively to perpetuate white supremacy while denying that…Read more...

It’s week three of The Root Institute, meaning it’s time to talk about the health of our minds and our finances featuring actress Taraji P. Henson and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).Read more...

Quinn Coleman, the Senior Director of A&R at Capitol Records and son of former BET Chairman and CEO Debra Lee, has died at the age of 31, Billboard reports. Coleman’s cause of death hasn’t been confirmed at this time.Read more...

I am a 23-year-old Black man from Cobb County, Georgia, and it cost me $64 to vote in the Georgia primary elections.

Police unions are the fucking worst. Any request for cops to do their job even slightly more responsibly is met with what can only be described as pouting and temper tantrums. Take, for instance, the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police, who are big mad over perfectly reasonable legislation to ban the use of no-knock…Read more...

In Missouri, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department is searching for a man who called a Black woman the n-word multiple times before pistol-whipping and shooting her.

The Amos ‘n’ Andy versions of The Simpsons characters Patty and Selma—you might know them as Sunken Place landlords Diamond and Silk—are apparently finally convinced that racism is real.Read more...

COVID-19 has taken an unrelenting toll on this country in the five months since the pandemic began. As deaths hit 1,000 per day over the last month, new data suggests that COVID-19 has become the third leading cause of death for Black people.

After watching a recent viral video showing a white woman biker getting her pants ripped by a buffalo at South Dakota’s Custer State Park, The Root decided that we must take action.Read more...

Let’s face it: Sometimes toilet paper just isn’t enough for that squeaky-clean feeling. After you’ve taken care of business, the goal is that fresh, just out of the shower feeling. Those rolls of Charmin aren’t working quite hard enough, no matter what the packaging says. That’s where bidets come in. They may not be…Read more...

In Jackson, Miss., three police officers accused of causing the death of a 61-year-old Black man on January 13, 2019, are now charged with second-degree murder.Read more...

It’s been a chaotic year, and now more than ever, we need someone to come and make us feel a bit better. Thankfully, comedian Katt Williams stepped up to the plate and provided his signature bluntness in a new, six-minute Supreme stand-up style advertisement, where he berates Donald Trump, discusses the importance of…Read more...

I did something recently that I haven’t done in probably 10 years—I made two compact disc (CD) purchases. That’s right, in the year of our lord 2020, I purchased Adriana Evans 1997 self-titled debut album and De La Soul’s Five-Mic classic, 1991’s De La Soul Is Dead. I spent $21 and $25, respectively, of my hard-earned…Read more...

Monday marks the start of America’s push towards a new day and much like the rest of 2020, that new day is going to look mad different.

Fun fact: “WAP” may also be an acronym for “Women Active in Politics.” Both Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are proving as passionate about our current political cycle as they are for the joys of enthusiastically consensual sex—which is as it should be since the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

It’s been nearly 18 years since the legendary D.J. from the iconic rap group Run-DMC was gunned down in his recording studio in Queens, N.Y., on October 30, 2002. Now, two men have been arrested and charged with the killing of Jason Mizell, also known by hip-hop enthusiasts all over the world as Jam Master Jay.Read more...

Conceding even the tiniest thing to a hateful and violent twerp like our president feels like a total defeat. Unfortunately, I must admit that there are (at least) three zeitgeist-related places that he has “won”—where his influence has been total and, possibly, irreversible.

In a nod to the insanity of institutional racism, the team formerly known as a racial slur has announced that Jason Wright will lead the organization as team president, making him the first Black man to serve in that position in a league that is 60 percent Black.Read more...

For someone who genuinely consumes fresh air like a glass of fine wine, the mask mandates are hard to stomach, but stomach I will. The absolute least you can do is wear a simple cloth face mask when you’re headed to a crowd. Not to mention, if you want to offer patronage to your local stores still afloat, they’re…Read more...

COVID-19 doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon because people won’t listen, and it appears that the virus has found its way to Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s production company.

Over the weekend, The Root reported on two separate white nationalist rallies—one in Stone Mountain, Ga., and one in Kalamazoo, Mich.—where groups of white people mad about various things were met by anti-racism counterprotesters who let the white supremacist MAGA-humpers know that the only thing they have to be mad…Read more...

If you have been paying attention to Trump’s latest attempts to steal the presidential election or waiting on a check to come in the mail, you’ve probably not been up on game. It’s OK, I got you.

Just like our forever First Lady Michelle Obama, we are not going to stop talking about the importance of voting this election cycle—no matter how unenthused you might be. While there were many factors that led to the outcome of what we’d feared would be a disastrous 2016 election (Electoral College, we’re looking at…Read more...

A two-port Aukey 60-watt USB-C charger, a Western Digital 5TB hard drive, a Neo Geo Samurai Showdown limited edition mini console, an 11-piece Cuisinart cookware set, an Amazon Echo Dot, a rare discount on PPE gear, a Disney Twice Upon a Year sale, and an Ella Paradis G-Spot Hero vibrator lead Monday’s best deals.Read more...

The uprising against the racist police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s killing earlier this year has put policy recommendations like defunding police in closer to the realm of reality and not just in the imaginations of Black activists.

White supremacists and the people who oppose them faced-off and got into fisticuffs in different parts of the country this weekend.

The creators of Black Love, an OWN docuseries which says it aims to tell the stories of Black couples and increase representation, spent the weekend fielding backlash from Black Twitter after releasing a promotional trailer in which dark-skinned women were made all but invisible.

Make no mistake: White people know birtherism is racism.Read more...

America knows it has a homegrown terrorist problem, it just isn’t ready to deal with the reality that the face of American terrorism is...well...a hueless face. White people have no problem accepting the fact that not all terrorists come from the land of scary Muslims and that some come from right here in the U.S of…Read more...

A Georgia State Patrol trooper has been arrested on felony murder charges after he shot and killed a 60-year-old Black man following a traffic stop on August 7. Now, an attorney representing the victim’s family says a civil rights investigation is underway.Read more...

A sale on recent anime blu-rays, JACHS NY’s shorts sale, a super useful charging station, lightweight padlocks, and more are some of Saturday’s best deals.Read more...

You know, when one of your officers is alleged to have been responsible for the unnecessary death of a Black man, it’s probably not a good look to rehire an officer who was let go for racism. Yet, that’s exactly what the Minneapolis Police Department did.Read more...

Can America do literally anything without being racist about it? We already know that this great nation of ours can’t seem to police its citizens, distribute resources to communities, facilitate voting, or fund education in a way that focuses on racial equality, but one would think that something like providing…Read more...

Despite going on vacation to Florida earlier this month, bond will not be revoked for the former Atlanta police officer charged with killing Rayshard Brooks.

In June, LeBron James unveiled his plan to protect the voting rights of Black Americans with the launch of his non-profit organization, More Than a Vote.Read more...

I know I start all of these with a reflection on 2020, but it really is jarring just how fast this year is going, yet feels like it’s going so slowly. Maybe it’s because the year has been so dense with heavy events such as the global pandemic, uprisings, presidential election, etc. Speaking of dense, this is a packed…Read more...

In Pennsylvania, a white judge is facing six counts of judicial misconduct for being an outright racist.Read more...

Remember when kiss-ass election thief Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was eager to show Trump that he was an obedient Trump soldier by refusing to implement a statewide mandatory mask law? Oh, Kemp was showing out for the president. He reportedly purchased a Camaro and then rode in front of the White House doing donuts hoping…Read more...

BET’s five-part docuseries Ruff Ryders Chronicles follows the formation, highs and lows of Ruff Ryders Entertainment. Through their look, lyrics and sound, the hip-hop collective and label—founded by Swizz Beatz’s uncles and aunt Joaquin “Waah” Dean, Darin “Dee” Dean and Chivon Dean in 1997—aimed to bring real street…Read more...

We, as a people, love “firsts”—even when we recognize that they are long overdue. This week, many have been celebrating the announcement of Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as Joe Biden’s running mate as a historic first: the first Black—and Asian—woman to be nominated for vice president of the United States. But as…Read more...

In an interview with Sports Illustrated that was published on Wednesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the public’s response to the league’s new-found commitment to social justice.Read more...

It’s not an understatement to say we’re currently living in the age of “WAP,” an unadulterated (and very adult) celebration of the sexual agency and well-lubricated pleasure of women. To be clear, though these are issues pertinent to all women, the discussion—and attendant debate—have primarily defaulted to young, cis…Read more...

Welcome to Lovecraft Country...or um, you know...welcome to America for Black folks.Read more...

Black women are well known as the backbone of our democracy—and, as of this week, a Black (and Asian) woman could well be on her way to making history as our country’s next vice president. As one of the most active voting blocs in America (h/t Center for American Progress), Black women are already well aware of our…Read more...

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion set the internet on fire with their song and video, “WAP,” which stands for “wet ass p***y.” Well, after probably a million formal and informal takes on the song, the staff at The Root decided to curate a playlist of Raunch-jams for your listening pleasure(s). Shouts out to Cardi and…Read more...

To me, 2020 is really just one big episode of The Simpsons. Matt Groening is chock full of wacky ideas, and at this point, we’re waiting to see if a car is going to crash through the garage for real this time.

The year 2020 has felt like a decade, and we are only two-thirds of the way through it. This year was already slated to be packed with important moments: the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the presidential election in the fall, and of course, a host of weddings, births, graduations and other important moments in one’s life.…Read more...

The second biggest lie that I allow people who’ve read my book, and who’ve heard me speak about my book, to believe is that I’m brave. “How did you find the courage,” they ask, during Q&As at independent bookstores, and through emails and (now) Zoom talks, “to be so forthcoming and vulnerable about your neuroses and…Read more...