The Root

A lot of white people are still very much under the impression that the United States of America is their country and theirs alone. They respond to anyone who doesn’t fall in line with their ideals and traditions to “get out of my country” or “go back where you came from” as if they were kicking houseguests out of…Read more...

President Donald “I’ve Always Been Good to You People” Trump is the Miss Millie of male Karens and the Milli Vanilli of white saviors. Sure, he can make the bold claim that he’s done more for Black Americans than any president since Abraham Lincoln (while citing bare-minimum policies that have mostly proven ineffectiveRead more...

In the fight for racial justice and true liberation, if one of us is not free, none of us are. From fighting for justice in the LGBTQ+ community to fighting for women’s rights, it is important to fight for everyone if we are going to build a truly just and equitable America. One group that is often forgotten though,…Read more...

In the weeks following the first Black Lives Matter uprisings, criminal justice reform advocates scored several major legislative wins. In New York state, one of these was the repeal of Civil Rights Law 50-A, which shielded the misconduct records of law enforcement from the public.Read more...

At this point, it’s common knowledge that protests against police brutality and systemic racism are ongoing across the country, with no sign that they’ll be slowing down anytime soon. Over the past weekend across multiple states, peaceful protests turned violent, with one resulting in a person’s death.

“So,” the moderator asked, during a public (and socially distant) book talk last week—my first time being indoors anywhere other than my house or a grocery store since early March—“what would you change if you wrote that chapter to your daughter today?”

Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Clippers apparently loves the food at the Magic City strip club in Atlanta so much that he’s willing to endure 10 days under quarantine for it.

On July 25, 2005, William Ray Norwood, Jr. better known to the world as Ray J, released his classic single, “One Wish.” Whether you agree or not with this next statement doesn’t matter, for its truth is indisputable: “One Wish” is one of the greatest songs of all time of ever.Read more...

WNBA athletes continue to make it clear that they are all about justice for Breonna Taylor. Over the weekend, members of the Seattle Storm and New York Liberty teams walked off the court as the national anthem was being played ahead of their game in Florida.

It’s no secret by now that the coronavirus has had its most outsized impact on marginalized communities: Throughout the country, African American, Latinx and Native communities have suffered disproportionately from the coronavirus, as structural inequities have magnified the virus’ deadly impact.Read more...

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Legendary rapper, beatboxer and DJ Biz Markie has reportedly been in the hospital for weeks being treated for an illness triggered by complications of Type 2 diabetes. Per TMZ, a rep for the musician says that he is in a Maryland-area hospital, and the status of his condition is unclear.Read more...

These days (well, every day if you’re really about that life), the M.O. is to uplift Black people, our stories and our accomplishments. Via Instagram last weekend, actress and entrepreneur Tracee Ellis Ross announced her new partnership with the nonprofit PushBlack in order to highlight outstanding Black people…Read more...

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Over the weekend, civil rights leader John Lewis took a final journey over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., during a ceremony that recognized the former congressman’s history with the place he memorably marched on Bloody Sunday.

Despite all the warnings and the cautionary tales, President Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien still managed to leave the NBA bubble to get wings from world-renowned Atlanta strip club, Magic City.

White supremacists who tout themselves as arbiters of patriotism while wearing the symbols of forces America went to war against will never not be amusing and aggravating at the same damn time. If they’re not wrapping themselves in the battle flags of Confederate traitors, they’re wearing the mark of the fascist…Read more...

After 20 years of circulation, Business of Fashion reports that Oprah Winfrey’s O, The Oprah Magazine will cease print publication after its December 2020 edition is released. The brand will shift its focus to digital content.Read more...

Here at The Root, we are very particular about how we label people. We know that labels can be damaging and unshakeable so we are careful not to brand a person a thing unless we are sure that they are in fact said thing.

Police in Austin, Texas have a suspect in custody in the shooting death of a man during a Black Lives Matter protest in the city yesterday.

Police have been resisting forcefully to this year’s protests against their practise of brutalizing and killing Black people with impunity, and have also been pushing back against any policy shifts that could require them to face even a modicum accountability for this kind of activity.

Doja Cat, the “Say So” and “Dindu Nuffin” singer, says she was recently diagnosed with COVID-19.

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A mother, a mentor, and a friend to many, Lady Red Couture has died.

As part of its ongoing campaign to flood American cities with federal police all too willing to do the President’s violent bidding, not to mention drag the country’s institutions of government further into absurdity, the Trump Administration is now decrying the loss of the children’s show Paw Patrol as an example of…Read more...

Black athletes and entertainers are standing up in a major way to make sure the voices of Black people matter in this year’s elections.

Singer and performer Ciara, who has been rocking her pregnancy with signature gorgeousness despite going through it in a pandemic, has given birth to her third child.

Former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who lost to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in an election rife with evidence of voter suppression, will feature in a new documentary about that same pervasive issue in America’s democracy premiering in September.

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Y’all, I’m pretty sure Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is a white supremacist. For legal purposes, I’m not outright saying he is. All I’m suggesting is that the dude who wrote a whole op-ed calling for military intervention to stomp out protests against systemic racism, compared the protesters to Confederate traitors and…Read more...

Marking the first major change to its curriculum in over four decades, California State University will now require students to take classes on ethnic studies or social justice in order to graduate.Read more...

A school district in Virginia has voted that a high school named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will be renamed for Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who died on July 17.Read more...

HBO’s On the Record has served as an important conversation starter across media (including here at The Root), but as we all know, the work is ongoing and must continue.Read more...

As part of a push to elevate professional women’s soccer in the U.S., Serena Williams and her two-year-old daughter have joined a majority-women group of investors bringing a new soccer team to Los Angeles.Read more...

Americans agree that racism in the criminal justice system is a problem. Where they’re still divided is how to address it—and how far to go.Read more...

So this morning after eating the 170,000th honey roasted peanut I’ve eaten since March OH IT WAS SO DELICIOUS THE WAY THE HONEY AND THE ROASTED PEANUT CONVERGED IN MY MOUTH CRUNCHY SWEET TANGY SEXY YES SEXY A HONEY ROASTED PEANUT IS THE SEXIEST NUT WAY SEXIER THAN CASHEWS WHICH HAVE NUT SCOLIOSIS AND ALMONDS WHICH…Read more...

Happy Friday, y’all. This has been a week of more announcements that the movies we hoped to see this summer (and in the near future) have been pushed back even further, so we might as well get settled into this virtual entertainment life. With that said, it’s time for another round of movie and TV trailers! Let’s get…Read more...

Happy birthday to me!Read more...

While Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron spent his Thursday evening doing everything but charging Breonna Taylor’s killers with murder, the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals made it their mission to draw attention to injustices such as hers—I think.

We all have our favorites. You know, the songs or artists that you love more than everybody else. The b-sides. The indy circuit jams. The artist with 10 followers. The artist on the rise. Or those jams that you know—with your whole heart—would change or should have changed the world...if only folks really listened.…Read more...

On Thursday, Trump took a break from punching South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham in the stomach to call into his favorite OnlyFans exotic dancer Sean Hannity’s Fox News show to clown the Portland, Ore., Mayor Ted Wheeler.

There is $1 million in award money currently available to 20 talented designers of color right now—but you can’t win if you don’t apply. On Friday, Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) announced it is re-opening its applications for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) designers interested in applying for the ICON 360…Read more...

Chicago said arrivederci to its Christopher Columbus statues in the early hours of Friday morning, in response to protests “that have become unsafe for both protesters and police,” said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.Read more...

The civil rights legend and Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who fought the racist Trump administration right up until his final breath, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on Monday and Tuesday.

Citing an inability for Ebony Magazine to pay off its debts, Law360 reports that the embattled company’s lenders have submitted a filing in Texas federal court to force the once proud-publication into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.Read more...

For months, the Trump administration has been the leader of the coronavirus deniers movement. They have acted like masks were akin to slavery and that the media has been pushing falsehoods about one of the most deadly viruses to ever do it.

Hollywood has been due for a huge change for quite some time now. In fact, I specifically said it needs a gut rehab.Read more...

‘Tis the season to be enlightened: we’re now months into perhaps the most challenging crises of our lifetimes (plural), and we’re being called upon to go deep in our analysis, understanding, activism, and ability to adapt to new realities. Here at The Root, we’ll be doing our part with our inaugural monthlong Root…Read more...

What can you say about the legendary Reginald Hudlin? Well, because I can’t let this blog post start without making a Bebe’s Kids reference (Hudlin wrote the screenplay), I’ll just say, his work doesn’t lie...it multiplies!Read more...