The Root

An election commissioner in Mississippi claims her intent wasn’t to be racist despite posting on Facebook that she was concerned because “the Blacks” are having lots of voter registration events.

Kanye West is apparently going to make good on a promise he made five years ago when he won MTV’s Michael Jackson Vanguard Award and announced his plan to run for president in 2020.

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Four Aurora Police Department officers are now out of a job following an investigation into photos they took of themselves at the site where 23-year-old Elijah McClain was put in a chokehold by police before dying last summer.

“I am pleased to report that yesterday, federal agents arrested the suspected ringleader of the attack on the statue of the great Andrew Jackson in Washington, D.C.”

While Frederick Douglass would probably be disappointed (but not surprised) that the so-called land of the free hasn’t lived up to its promises of liberty all even centuries after he delivered his rousing speech, “What to the Slave Is The Fourth of July,” I imagine that he would be proud to see his descendants…Read more...

Today is July 4th, a.k.a Independence Day, a.k.a ID4, according to the seminal 1996 film. A day commemorating when some white dudes won their valiant fight to stop paying taxes to some other group of white dudes. For over 240 years, America has taken to grand fireworks displays, cookouts and a solid run of Will Smith…Read more...

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on July 4, 2019.Read more...

I never thought I’d see the day.

Have I ever told y’all how blessed I am to be working at The Root?Read more...

Former long-shot presidential candidate and Tea Party darling Herman Cain is now in the hospital being treated for COVID-19, just a little over a week after he attended a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma when coronavirus cases there had spiked to their highest numbers since the start of the pandemic.

Since the NFL recently discovered that most of its players are Black and that maybe racism is a thing, they’ve been doing shit. And there’s nothing worse than a formerly wrong motherfucker with a newfound desire to do right.Read more...

What would summer be without the perfect swimsuit? Plus size swimwear has come a long way in the last five years and the options are abundant. I can’t help myself, when there is a good sale, I always look at the swimsuits first! This week there is a load of fantastic sales everywhere so I’ve rounded up some of the…Read more...

The performative gestures from brands now trying to show that they care about Black lives—all of a sudden in 2020—have been ridiculous, hilarious, and cringe-worthy. Here’s one that fits all three descriptions perfectly.

In this moment in time when white people are losing their minds and pointing weapons at Black people willy-nilly (as well as verbally assaulting them, calling the cops on them, and otherwise threatening their lives and well-being) here is an example of exactly what needs to happen to stop this bullshit: consequences.

Under normal circumstances, in a world where ‘Rona wasn’t prompt and present and folks weren’t idiots, many (if not most) of us would be heading out of town or to beaches. As a kid, road trips were my favorite thing to do. This July 4th, we’re celebrating with a playlist for the road we’d travel if we could.Read more...

After a barrage of accusations and threats to publish incriminating evidence to support their claims, the group of current and former Essence staffers who comprise #BlackFemaleAnonymous say their conditions have been met. The announcement, made via a tweet on Thursday night, came a day ahead of the collective’s…Read more...

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The dynamics that led to what commonly became known as “Megxit” perhaps became a little clearer this week. Court documents produced during Meghan Markle’s copyright infringement and breach of privacy trial against several British tabloids indicate a culture of suppression within the monarchy when it came to allowing…Read more...

In 2016, Korryn Gaines was fatally shot by Baltimore police after they attempted to enter her home. Her family sued, and after two years in court, a jury eventually rewarded them over $37 million in damages. A judge overturned that verdict last year, arguing that the officer was protected under “qualified immunity.”

In recent months, we’ve seen people lose their jobs as a result of being racist. A woman in North Carolina has learned that it can also cost you your home.

Regardless of their occupation, quite a few white Americans are dead set on ensuring systemic racism continues in this country. Take, for instance, a Catholic priest based in Indiana who told his followers that the Black Lives Matters movement is comprised of “maggots and parasites.”Read more...

As a young girl, Maya Moore dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player. But after conquering the sport as an adult, and abandoning that dream in order to pursue criminal justice reform, another dream of hers has now become a reality.

The Root is a hate group.Read more...

Nearly four in ten Asian and Black Americans say they’ve experienced racist behavior or attacks toward them since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new study conducted by the Pew Research Center.Read more...

Welcome to the latter half of 2020—we made it!Read more...

Imagine being put in prison for a crime you didn’t commit and then being pardoned over 20 years later under the condition that you don’t raise complaints you may have against the arresting officers, prosecutors, or your imprisonment.Read more...

Fans of the NBA 2K series are in for a treat.

I am 6.Read more...

Aside from my personal mission to convince the planet that Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” is the greatest song of all time, the only other conversation I feel super passionately about is about the fluidity of language and my distaste for the disregard for so-called “not real words” like “conversate” and…Read more...

When’s the last time I’ve done one of these? Hmmm...actually, it doesn’t matter because time doesn’t exist in 2020. It’s a construct! Let’s live in the here and now and get to this Black-ass content on Netflix for July...Read more...

This is no “Karen” story.Read more...

President Trump started his Wednesday morning the way he normally does. He woke from his sleeping coffin, pulled South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham from his woven cot and began punching him in his ball gag until his knuckles turned pink. He then walked into the presidential kitchen in which he stepped on the backs of…Read more...

If the COVID-19 crisis hadn’t introduced zeitgeist-crashing terms like “coronavirus” and “social distancing” to our lexicon, “Karen” might have very well been the word of 2020. There have been explainers about it—one of which I wrote to distinguish it from “Becky.” There have been arguments over whether it’s racist…Read more...

The filmed version of the original Broadway hit Hamilton is coming during a timely moment—not just because we’re stuck in our homes during self-isolation amid a pandemic, but because it allows us an opportunity to revisit and reckon with the history of this nation’s founding fathers during a national uprising.

If you’re a fan of true crime podcasts, it can be a real challenge finding a well-produced show anchored by a Black host. Thankfully, award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien is more than equipped to accomplish such a feat and has blessed us all with her latest endeavor, Murder on the Towpath.Read more...

The nation’s largest resource for women in politics is recognizing a rising force in the political world. On Thursday, EMILY’s List announced its 2020 recipient of the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award is Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, who represents Ohio’s 34th House District. The award, due to be…Read more...

Ending unspoken racial quotas; enforcing equal and fair auditions; better protections across all workplaces; and providing access to the best-paying shifts are just these are some of the things that the Portland-based “stripper strike” is demanding.Read more...

I know that I consistently refer to white men who make racists comments as racists but I’m starting to rethink that.

You really can’t blame Black people for believing that excessive force is just the police go-to for dealing with Black people when they get into heated exchanges with them. If our lived experiences weren’t enough to convince us of this, the fact that we can’t seem to go more than a week without seeing a new viral…Read more...

“The things Angelica did: THAT,” said The Root’s Entertainment Writer Tonja Stidhum upon seeing Angelica Ross’ new pictorial, photographed by Malik Ahmir and styled by Amiyah Scott for Interview magazine. And looking like this (with bamboo earrings, to boot), that could really be the whole post. In fact, if you…Read more...

2020 is a pivotal year for many reasons, one of those being that it’s a presidential election year. The discussion around voters’ rights and voter suppression have been recent hot topics, especially witnessing what has been happening in Kentucky as well as the ongoing push for the Senate to pass the HEROES Act.Read more...

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Apparently, somewhere along the line, hitting protesters with a car just became the default move of authority figures. While we’ve seen multiple police officers employ this horrific tactic over the last month, a driver for the Governor of Iowa has become the latest to use it as well.Read more...

The judge presiding over the trial of the four Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of George Floyd has threatened to have the case tried outside of the city if the lawyers involved continue to make “inappropriate” public statements.

Justice League star Ray Fisher seems to be calling for some justice of his own.Read more...

At this point, it’s pretty clear that cops are by and large, pretty trash. Eight cops in Louisiana have only reinforced that assertion after allegedly beating two men over a seatbelt violation.Read more...

It wouldn’t be a week in America without a Florida man doing Florida man things. This week’s Florida man is Joseph Max Fucheck who, after seeing a Black man checking his mail, decided to pull a gun on him and go on a racist rant.Read more...

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Denver Division of the FBI released a joint statement Tuesday confirming that they have been reviewing the facts in the case of Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Black man who died last August after an…Read more...

The Root partnered with HBO Max for a very special conversation about On The Record, HBO Max’s documentary, which chronicles numerous sexual assault allegations against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and explores the ways Black women’s voices are silenced in the music industry and beyond.Read more...