The Root

My email inbox is the boulevard of broken dreams.

There has been so much trauma, violence, inhumanity and depraved indifference splashed across our screens in recent months, it’s often difficult to process it all—let alone the brutality we’ve become almost inured to over the past decade and those prior. But what we have been witnessing as of late is not only not new,…Read more...

A police officer protecting and serving the suburbs of one of America’s blackest cities was demoted and given an extended weekend break after posting a mumblerap freestyle to social media that could only be appreciated by people whose top five emcees are Post Malone, Iggy Azalea, Dylan, Dylan and Dylan (he does spit…Read more...

Any Black person who has been on Reddit for any reason knows that the platform exists as the digital capital of the internet for the white, racist and fragile. On June 29, Reddit responded to pressure by hundreds of users and moderators on the site to do something about the virtual Klan rally happening on its platform…Read more...

A Black Lives Matter organizer in Florida is facing felony charges for allegedly stealing flags from a car during a Pro-Trump caravan.Read more...

I’m Black. I love Popeyes. My Black love for Popeyes is further proven by the fact that I want to put an apostrophe in Popeyes (ya know, like Popeye’s) so badly and I keep having to erase it. Every. Single. Time. Apostrophes were unnecessary? That’s Black love.Read more...

White people really don’t like being confronted with the realities of systemic racism. If they’re not spending their time spamming The Root’s comments section with all kinds of inventive headassery, they’re going out into the world and committing acts of vandalism to further prove that “All Lives Matter.”

Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-Tex.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) were among those who gave rousing speeches on the House floor Thursday in support of progressive New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who excoriated a male, Republican colleague after he called her a sexist slur earlier in the week.Read more...

I’m not being flippant or facetious or any other f-word when I say that I really want former Vice President Joe Biden to shut the fuck up. If I say, “God is good—all the time!” I don’t want to hear Joe Biden say a fucking word. If I say “the roof...the roof..the roof is on fire….” I don’t want Joe Biden to tell me…Read more...

The world of online marketing turns on keywords and with Search Engine Optimization of vital concern to business owners and advertisers alike, tools like Google’s Keyword Planner can be essential to identifying what keywords to buy ads near in Google search results.Read more...

Weruche Opia is the brightest light.

Do me a solid and go watch Salt-N-Pepa’s 1994 music video for “Whatta Man.” Around the 1:07 mark, Salt is getting loved on by a faceless gentleman. That faceless gentleman just so happens to be the late Tupac Shakur. Surprise! He appears around the 3:16 mark as well.Read more...

It’s starting to look like the cognitive test that Trump claims he aced is the only test he’s ever done well on because he won’t stop talking about it. This test literally has questions like, “Do you see an elephant? Can you point to the elephant?” and Trump is out here acting like he’s the latest Mensa member.

When Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz isn’t playing catch with his fully grown adopted, but not really adopted man-child Nestor, he’s apparently violating House ethics rules, allegedly.

While many people are rushing out to go to the beach or soak up the sun, this weekend, next weekend and the weekend after that should really be spent social distancing. If you don’t have any plans to keep yourself occupied this weekend, social media is chock-full of entertainment at your fingertips, and The Root is…Read more...

At this point, we have no shame in admitting we’d purchase pretty much anything Beau-Tuber Jackie Aina puts her well-heeled stamp on—and in several cases, already have. But while she already has plenty of stellar collabs under her belt, the beauty advocate and 2019 Root 100 honoree’s first independent product offering…Read more...

This pandemic has been rough, but thankfully, I have people who frequently check in on my psychological and emotional well-being. (Hopefully, you do as well.)Read more...

A Samsung Galaxy S10e Gold Box, a pair of Anker Soundcore Neo true wireless earbuds, a sale on The Wonderful 101: Remastered for Nintendo Switch, a Dyson V7 cordless vacuum, and a Nordstrom Rack clearance sale lead Thursday’s best deals.Read more...

Gabrielle Union is all about expressing yourself—your truest self. That goes for everyone and anyone, including her children.Read more...

I once threw a party for myself that lasted 10 years.Read more...

Throughout his presidency, White House occupant Donald Trump has had an obsession with Chicago.Read more...

As the debate around Confederate iconography intensifies, the House of Representatives has approved a funding bill that includes a measure to remove Confederate names from military bases.Read more...

In March, the federal government issued a moratorium on evictions due to the closures and job losses that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. On July 25, the moratorium expires and unless Congress acts fast, thousands of Black people are at risk of losing their housing.Read more...

OMNIBUS, an organization of Black firefighters in Winston-Salem, N.C., is fighting to change decades of institutional racism within their fire department.

Call it the Midas touch: Chicago-based, Afro-Latina-founded independent makeup brand Midas Cosmetics just made beauty a little more inclusive, collaborating with Instagram and YouTube creator Darius McKiver (better known as @NeonMUA) to create Dusk to Dawn, a collection of face palettes crafted with every skin tone in…Read more...

I am not real.Read more...

When we talk about white privilege and systemic racism, one thing that always comes up is generational wealth. It’s a thing white people disproportionately benefit from and a thing that is virtually nonexistent for Black people, as history has shown us far more instances of Black wealth being sabotaged (*cough* Black…Read more...

A member of a white supremacist group accused of targeting journalists, activists and politicians for harassment and threats of violence admitted to his involvement in federal court in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday, and investigators found that the whole thing may have started with a white student trying to get out of…Read more...

In case you forgot, supermodel Beverly Johnson is a G—one of the originals, in fact. And the woman who walked so Naomi can strut is far from finished wielding her decades-long influence on fashion, as evidenced by her recent revelations about her groundbreaking career, which included being the first Black model to…Read more...

Have you ever just been sitting around and thought to yourself, “Self, there were several music groups—both in hip-hop and R&B—that went by a three-letter acronym. Somebody should rank them.”? No? Just me. I’m self. Hello.Read more...

Because of COVID-19, things are definitely different when it comes to professional sports. Major League Baseball teams are in the process of beginning their season, and Opening Day is reportedly set for July 23 and 24. The NFL is also figuring out some steps in order to commence football this season. According to CBS…Read more...

Deaf Americans are often left out of conversations about equality and justice. Police brutality, incarceration and other forms of systemic racism are issues that can manifest in even more harmful ways for folks who are both Black and deaf.Read more...

NBA stars Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, three-fourths of the infamous banana boat crew, have joined forces to launch the Social Change Fund, which will provide resources and support to organizations focused on empowering the Black community.Read more...

Reusable Cotton Masks (Set of 2) | $24 | Frank and OakRead more...

As we’ve witnessed throughout the past few months, Hollywood is in the midst of a racial reckoning—or at least, starting to have that conversation on an unprecedented scale.Read more...

Pardon me if you’ve heard this before, but we have this thing in our society—the word escapes me at the moment—where men feel inclined to express themselves in ways toward women that they never would with another man.Read more...

It often feels like everything bad that happens in America disproportionately affects communities of color, and the global pandemic that continues to spread across the country has shown us nothing different. Despite the numerous reports that show Black and Hispanic people are at greater risk for COVID-19 infection, a…Read more...

Idris Elba is one of Britain’s best-known actors, and he has made a name for himself both onscreen and off with his work in the director’s chair and as a writer and producer. His contributions will be recognized at the upcoming BAFTA TV Awards, where he will receive the organization’s Special Award.Read more...

If NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett gets his wish, he will soon become something that the league he once played for desperately needs: another Black owner.Read more...

Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer | $220 | NeweggRead more...

Brandy returns with new music on Friday with B7, her first album in eight years. On Tuesday, the R&B superstar sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe during his “At Home With” radio series to discuss the 15-song project, its collaborations and some of her career’s biggest hits.Read more...

An Anker Bluetooth speaker, a marked down pair of 1More ColorBuds, a rare discount on Shenmue III, a NeoGeo Mini International Edition console, a Kyoku Japanese Nakiri knife, a one-day sale on Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a Dash AirCrisp Pro air fryer lead Wednesday’s best deals.Read more...

Black people make things happen.

Donald Trump is gonna hate the “new” NFL.Read more...

Are y’all ready for a very timely and relevant film starring two major celebrities? Always!Read more...

It’s truly disheartening how quickly the American judicial system works to lock Black youth up. If you had any skepticism about how efficiently the school-to-prison pipeline works, the case of a 15-year-old girl in Michigan who was sent to juvenile detention for not doing her homework should quickly dispel it. Her…Read more...

You know why Trump supporters refuse to admit that y’all’s president is racist? Because they are him and he is them. On every issue—whether it be abortion rights, gun rights, LGBT rights, religious rights, racist monuments or Black Lives to Matter—the conservative narrative will certainly be echoed by the Lord of the…Read more...

Depending on where you live, corporal punishment—the practice of school administrators, staffers, or teachers subjecting students to physical punishment—may seem like it belongs in a bygone era. But in fact, the practice is still legal in many states, many of them in the South.Read more...

It unfortunately took a global pandemic and the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor for the nation to realize that we are long past due for significant policing reforms. Due to the fact we currently have a racist-ass president, it’s mainly been on the individual states to implement these reforms. In Minnesota,…Read more...

President Donald Trump is a bigot, and apparently, his administration is equally bigoted.