The Root

On Tuesday, video was released showing the graphic shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. As the video went viral, public outcry intensified with many outraged that the men responsible hadn’t been arrested or faced any charges.

It really must be nice to be a white man in America. Imagine pleading guilty twice to a crime and still getting away with it. That is the case for former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

A large crowd came together in protest near the scene where a black man was fatally shot by police officers in Indianapolis Wednesday night.Read more...

It’s time to bust out the popcorn and wine because you still have a chance to relive all 7 seasons of one of Shonda Rhimes’ monumental creations!Read more...

On Tuesday, video was released showing the graphic shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery was unarmed and on a jog through a predominantly white neighborhood when Greg McMichael and Travis McMichael shot him after a brief struggle. The release of the video resulted in a Georgia prosecutor recommending the case be…Read more...

America is American-ing like shit right now in our collective response to the coronavirus. Of course, there’s the reality that we (black people) are disproportionately harmed by it—something that makes the aggressively white protests of the stay-at-home orders less about “freedom” and more about “freedom...but for…Read more...

We don’t know about you, but all this extra time spent at home has proved an excellent opportunity to play in our makeup and try out some new hairstyles—protective and...not so much. But even us armchair hair-and-makeup experts can use some professional help, and celebrity hairstylist and salon owner Yene Damtew,…Read more...

For many of us, 2020 has been a year we’d prefer to fast forward through. From losing Kobe and Gianna Bryant in late January to the onset of the coronavirus that has brought much of our normal lives to a halt, most of us in this country (and across the globe) have had to make significant life changes. Most of us have…Read more...

With the Los Angeles Clippers on the brink of a first NBA title this season—before COVID-19 had other plans—it’s easy to forget that not too long ago, the team was mired in ineptitude for decades, courtesy of the worst owner in the history of professional sports: Donald Sterling.Read more...

Video footage of a police officer slamming a black woman to the ground over her failure to wear a face mask in a Birmingham, Ala., Walmart on Tuesday has been shared on social media thousands of times, and now authorities are investigating the incident.Read more...

Michelle Obama’s Becoming, the former first lady’s first chance to step into the spotlight in such an intimate way, is now available for our consumption.Read more...

It’s well-discussed fact around here at The Glow Up (and The Root, at large) that Issa Rae’s glow up is our favorite glow up. Already a beautiful woman—albeit by her own branding, both “awkward” and “insecure”—Rae has emerged as one of Hollywood’s number one stunnas, shutting down red carpets on the regular with hair…Read more...

Spike Lee’s newest joint, a historical drama titled Da 5 Bloods, will be released on the streaming giant Netflix early next month.

The “clip of a person killed while doing a thing while black” phenomenon is such a part of our national zeitgeist that the most passionate conversations about it now revolve around the ethics of viewing and sharing the footage. This sort of video-captured brutality and terror has become so common, so rote, that our…Read more...

Instead of spending his birthday hurling confetti and devouring chocolate cake, Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas has some explaining to do.Read more...

After a lengthy stint at ESPN, former NFL Pro Bowler-turned-sports commentator Marcellus Wiley expressed his desire to pursue greener pastures at Fox Sports in 2018. I was a big fan of his previous show, SportsNation, and looked forward to him expanding upon his unique skill set of league experience, eloquence—though…Read more...

Axl Rose, lead singer for Guns N’ Roses is tired of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s bullshit.

Either President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are the outbreak monkeys destined to infect the entire White House with the coronavirus since they insist on not following any of the orders that the rest of the country must follow, or they’ve moved one step closer to contracting the virus, as one of the…Read more...

When it comes to the devastation caused by COVID-19, many celebrities are doing more than offering verbal support. T.I. and Killer Mike are about that action and made sure to suit up in order to help others in their native city of Atlanta.

Since taking office, Trump has declared war on two enemies: Obama and America.

Most of us may not know the privilege of fame or wealth, but there is a certain privilege in having a TIDAL subscription, especially if you’re a fan of Jay-Z and Beyoncé. When either of the two drops a project, TIDAL typically gets first dibs, and subscribers happily indulge while the rest of us scramble to sign up…Read more...

On Wednesday, a small group of black people exercised their Second Amendment right to bear arms by walking to the state capitol building in Lansing, Mich., toting large rifles, much like the mobs of white anti-quarantine protestors did last week. The difference is, these black people weren’t there to intimidate…Read more...

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Principal Dancer Misty Copeland is creating a special dance performance aimed at providing funds for professional ballet dancers worldwide to maintain living expenses amidst COVID-19.

Up to 60% Off Clearance Styles | ExpressRead more...

Alabama sheriffs are responding to the state’s order to keep establishments such as dine-in restaurants and churches closed by...refusing to do their jobs.Read more...

There was some speculation on who would fill the vacant seat left by Elijah Cummings’ tragic passing last fall, and after an election last week, it appears the man who Cummings replaced will fill the seat once more.

If your days, weeks, and now, months have all become a blur at this point, you may have forgotten that this Sunday is Mother’s Day (although we keep reminding you—focus, man!). No doubt this is especially true for mothers themselves since “stay-at-home-mom” takes on new meaning when you’re sheltering-in-place with…Read more...

White people are having a really hard time with being told no. If it’s not inexplicable efforts to protest a quarantine order to keep people safe from the virus, it’s people like Shelley Luther who won’t let a pandemic stop them from going full Karen.

The A.V. Club The best movies on Netflix |Lifehacker What to Watch Tonight |The Takeout The best cake recipes don’t need a special occasion |Gizmodo A Brief History of the Not-So-Brief Wait for Avatar 2 |Kotaku The Best Star Wars Video Game |Read more...

Millie Small, the Jamaican singer best known for recording the chart-topping smash “My Boy Lollipop” as a teenager in 1964, died yesterday after suffering a stroke. She was 72.Read more...

The COVID-19 pandemic has fully illuminated the effect that decades of ingrained, systemic racism has had on the black community. The pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on black people on the economic front, in the severity of the virus’s symptoms, and in the racial disparity of its treatment. In Pittsburgh,…Read more...

Notorious thief and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp—who successfully stole the governorship from America’s darling and possibly Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick, Stacey Abrams—warned Tuesday that he might be dumber than the current president.

Over the last two months, the disproportionate impact the coronavirus has had on African American communities has been well-documented. But across the country, in large part because of inconsistencies in how health data is collected state to state and at the federal level, we still don’t have a complete view of how…Read more...

In a past life, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan had the type of friendship that we all aspire to have, complete with golf outings, friendship bracelets, and a bar fight or seven. But somewhere along the way, things went left, and Barkley admits that the fervor surrounding ESPN’s The Last Dance has him feeling some…Read more...

Where would we be as a society without our educators? Teachers have a difficult and extremely important job for which they don’t receive nearly enough praise. Former President Barack Obama did his part in rectifying that by making surprise video calls to three Chicago Public School teachers during National Teacher…Read more...

One of our favorite fun facts about tennis phenom-turned-fashion phenom Serena Williams is that she loves to rock sneakers under even the most glamorous of gowns. She famously did so while wearing Valentino to Prince Harry and homegirl Meghan Markle’s 2018 wedding reception, and did so again while co-hosting last…Read more...

Bobby Brown’s hit song “My Prerogative” was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 24 weeks in 1989 and was also nominated for a Grammy Award for the Best R&B Urban Contemporary Single category. Despite the song’s accolades and commercial success, the recording process was apparently not peaches and cream. Just ask…Read more...

Because the president couldn’t stay his orange ass in the White House any longer, he left Tuesday to visit a factory in Phoenix, Ariz., that makes N95 masks, and for some reason—maybe foreshadowing; definitely foreshadowing—Guns ‘N Roses’ “Live and Let Die” blared through the speakers.

I have a curiosity that I’ve been pondering since schools shuttered and our kids have been home around the clock: were my kids starving at school?Read more...

When it comes to the U.S. Census, it’s no secret that black men are historically undercounted. As Georgia has one of the largest populations of black men, Fair Count, a nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams, decided to do something about it.Read more...

Rick Bright, the ousted director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, noting that he was demoted after refusing to promote the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients.

ESPN’s The Last Dance has not only captured the entire world’s attention but provided the perfect opportunity for former NBA stars to revisit their own battles with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. And while the docuseries captures Jerry Krause’s irrational quest to destroy one of the greatest dynasties in the…Read more...

Springtime is my favorite time to upgrade my closet. It’s sunny out, I’ve cleaned my closet out and ready to refresh how I present myself to the world. This year, money is tight for many Americans so savings are more imperative than ever.

HoMedics Shiatsu and Vibration Body Massager | $49 | MorningSaveRead more...

On Tuesday, a graphic video was posted online showing the deadly shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was killed in February by two white men as he went for a jog in a Southern Georgia suburb. As video of the killing spread far and wide online, a Georgia prosecutor recommended the case go to…Read more...

Throughout the quarantine, DJ D-Nice has been providing necessary, feel-good energy through his spirited deejay sets, which combine the best of both old-school and new-school hits. Now, the Los Angeles-based musician is teaming up with the video chatting app Houseparty to make the high school senior class of 2020 feel…Read more...

In truth, we partly have the cancellation of this year’s Met Gala to thank for the refreshingly candid conversation we had with Jackie Aina on what would usually be a frantic first Monday in May. Had the event occurred as planned, no doubt the Nigerian-American beauty influencer, advocate and 2019 Root 100 honoree…Read more...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and now more than ever, it’s incredibly important to have mental health check-ins with yourself and loved ones in order to stay sane during these challenging times. Taraji P. Henson is working to ensure that in the age of COVID-19, the mental health of those on the frontlines…Read more...

As is typically the case whenever I’ve undertaken a project of some sort that requires me to carve out a sizable block of time to complete, I try to queue up a few albums that I know I love with high replay value so I don’t have to spend a lot of time skipping tracks.Read more...

Last Thursday, Janelle Monáe took part in a special performance for Verizon’s Pay It Forward Live, which aims to support small businesses affected by COVID-19. In her Instagram caption promoting the event, she placed an emphasis on wanting to help small businesses owned by women and minorities.