The Root

Captain Brett Crozier was worried about sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which had been battling the coronavirus, so he sent an email explaining the complexity and the urgency of the dire situation he faced.

The top of 2020 was shaping up to be a banner year for Simone Biles. Widely looked at as the best women’s gymnast of all time, all eyes were on the 23-year-old reigning world champion to see if she’d repeat her stellar performance from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Read more...

No, hear me out...Read more...

As the COVID-19 epidemic has derailed all of our lives, it has done unimaginable damage to the live entertainment industry, as festival season, concerts and theatrical productions have been unceremoniously postponed or canceled outright, leaving performers, directors, production crews and the venues themselves with…Read more...

President Trump and Jeff Sessions were once a White House version of famed New England Patriots duo Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, that is until Sessions started realizing that what Trump wanted in an attorney general was a body man to do his dirty work, and when Session said “nah,” he then resigned at Trump’s…Read more...

This one hurts.

In the state of New York alone, there are over 90,000 people behind bars.Read more...

The one really fun and entertaining thing about this COVID-19 shut-in situation is the emergence of beat/song/hit “battles” between so many of our faves. While somebody has to lose in these instances (Mannie Fresh, I see you whoadie), the legacies of the artists are set in stone so it’s more fun and games than true…Read more...

Marsha Ambrosius is the shit, in case y’all forgot.Read more...

There are two things I can never get enough of: crab legs and new Frank Ocean music. And while I always make it a point to partake in my favorite crustacean, the gracious soul who blessed us all with Channel Orange has been shortchanging our eardrums for a while now.

Amazon fired warehouse worker Christian Smalls on Monday after he led a walkout at a Staten Island distribution warehouse calling for safer working conditions. As news of the walkout spread—and as Smalls began talking to major media news outlets about the health and safety issues leading up to the protest—Amazon…Read more...

On Tuesday, and I didn’t think this was possible, President Trump handed the mic to someone who is actually dumber and less qualified than the president, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

When the COVID-19 pandemic initially started there was fear that it would have an inordinate impact on black communities. In Michigan, those fears are sadly coming to life.Read more...

“You come for the king, you best not miss”... this free content.Read more...

Finally eschewing the sentiments of noted not-scientist Donald Trump, Ph.D. (Doctor of Phuckery), some red-state governors are beginning to take the research-informed advice of health experts and issued stay-at-home orders in Southern states already ravaged by the coronavirus. Other governors and legislators, however,…Read more...

20% Off Onsen Towels | HuckberryRead more...

At this point, you probably don’t need me to reiterate that hospitals are in short supply of, well, everything. Thankfully, the Food and Drug Administration made some moves on Thursday that will hopefully ease at least one of those shortages.

In case you’re wondering how police were going to use the coronavirus epidemic to target black people, don’t worry, someone is already on it. Even though a stay-at-home order is in effect for the entire state of New Jersey, four neighboring police forces have united to prevent black residents from doing what public…Read more...

The coronavirus pandemic has made it so people are having to take precautionary measures that would never have occurred to us in any other situation. Some of these sanitary measures may seem over the top, but hey, this is where we are now.Read more...

Limiting access to voting has long been a battle the GOP is willing to fight. Even when the people vote to ease restrictions on the act, the GOP comes through with a law that basically says “Sike, lol, you thought.” Florida’s latest attempt at voter suppression has, for the time being, been put on hold.Read more...

If you know The Glow Up, you know we are huge fans of the hit FX series Pose and its incredible cast and crew. In fact, one of the show’s breakout stars, Angelica Ross, was a 2019 Root 100 honoree (where this writer may or may not have embarrassingly gushed over her while introducing her as our gala’s keynote…Read more...

This seems to be one big case of “are you fucking kidding me?”

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is in the news today for sending his private plane to China to get 1.7 million N95 masks for health care workers in Massachusetts.

I fucking hate the New England Patriots. There I said it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a litany of problems upon the American public. Outside of just trying to avoid getting sick, there’s rising unemployment, a shortage of necessary supplies and coping with being isolated from friends and family. In Colorado, people now have to worry about being pulled over by fake…Read more...

Since we’re all stuck (or should be) inside the house for the foreseeable future (despite various projected goals for peak contagion and flattening curves—shoutouts to the homies Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx, y’all some real ones), the amount of movies and television shows being watched is about to put Netflix on par with…Read more...

So…Read more...

It’s one of the most basic ways to fight the spread of the coronavirus: soap and clean towels. But on Monday, people locked behind bars in Washington, D.C. and Texas had to sue correctional facilities in order to get them.Read more...

Imagine being able to say that you got to sit betwixt the knees of the leading matriarch of black Hollywood while she does your hair, ever so tenderly. Well, Viola Davis has those bragging rights.Read more...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, stealer of Trump’s press conferences and corrector of Trump’s lies, “the country’s top medical expert on the coronavirus pandemic and a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force,” has been forced to beef up security after receiving threats to his personal safety.

Many celebrities are trying to do their part to assist hospital employees who are risking their health and safety to help patients during this difficult time. Lizzo donated lunches to workers at three U.S. hospitals, and Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation donated $1 million to aid in COVID-19 response efforts, a deed …Read more...

Movies that are “so bad, they’re good” are one of life’s unsung treasures. And like anything, adding blackness to that principle is like adding proper seasoning—our series reviewing/recapping bad black movies, Negro Noir. As our queen-in-chief Danielle Belton pointed out, it’s so black, the title of the series is…Read more...

Ellis Marsalis Jr., legendary jazz musician, educator and patriarch of the Marsalis family, has died at the age of 85.Read more...

Why don’t superheroes go to city council meetings?Read more...

On Sunday the 29th, the New York Times published “Nothing Matters Anymore (Except What Actually Does)“—my essay about some of the existential crises the coronavirus has thrust on us, the violence of the whiplash of the past month, and the electric slide.Read more...

It’s become in vogue to bash the president.

With a global pandemic keeping us trapped in our homes for the foreseeable future, Instagram Live has become the premier destination for music aficionados to get their much-needed fix. And outside of DJ D-Nice’s legendary #ClubQuarantine parties, super producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have spearheaded the effort to…Read more...

Last month, Kesha Gray was arrested in Cordova, Tenn. after police officers stopped her for questioning about a reported domestic violence incident and appearing to be too distraught to talk to them. Video footage of her arrest soon spread across social media. Now, the Memphis branch of the NAACP is calling for an…Read more...

In a crisis—and absent any real leadership from the president—people love an authoritative Italian man with a PowerPoint.Read more...

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With everything from polygamy to forced boob jobs and black-and-white-music videos, it’s no surprise that the internet can’t get enough of Netflix’s newest series, Tiger King. One of the show’s newest viewers is O.J. Simpson, who took to his Twitter page to discuss the surprise plot twist of one of the show’s stars.

As if you didn’t know, art has been in Kanye West’s life for as long as he’s been able to talk about it. The rapper/producer/overall creative was enrolled at Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Academy at the age of 4, and of course, dropped out of Chi-Town’s American Academy of Art, where he was studying to receive his B.F.A. …Read more...

Conquer COVID-19 Bundle | $30 | HumbleRead more...

Black lives matter and so do black stories.Read more...

With churches and pastors coming under fire for defying shelter-in-place mandates for holding religious services—two pastors were arrested in the last week—civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton called on the heads of the country’s largest historically black religious institutions and other faith leaders to halt…Read more...

A longstanding rumor is now official: The NFL will extend its postseason to include 14 teams.Read more...

Shea Moisture’s business model was built on the concept of “Community Commerce.” Now, in the wake of the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the personal care brand is once again making good on its promise to bring commerce to the community, announcing on Wednesday morning a one million dollar fund…Read more...

In today’s “the ‘rona ruins everything” news, the sports world continues to suffer as the coronavirus pandemic rages on and major athletic events are either postponed or outright canceled.Read more...

It may be April Fools’ Day—even though we’ve all collectively decided that ain’t shit funny in terms of pranks during this unprecedented time—but Netflix certainly isn’t joking about this month’s new lineup!Read more...

Trump has to have an enemy.