The Root

Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco should not have been in solitary confinement at Rikers Island.Read more...

Surely, there are good cops. White people keep telling us about them and about their blue lives mattering, so they must exist. Still, with so many recordings surfacing where bad cops can be seen and heard doing and saying bad things, one can’t help but imagine how much cop malfeasance goes on when they’re not being…Read more...

They couldn’t even make it out of the opening statements before a Republican lawmaker went full older brother finger-in-your-face-but-I’m-not-touching-you levels of petty.

To the surprise of no one, Bubba Wallace’s mother insists that her son has faced racism time and time again throughout the course of his professional racing career.Read more...

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The year 2020 is full of unexpected plot twists, one of which has been Hollywood taking accountability and attempting to actually right the wrongs of the past—after being thoroughly called out on social media about it, that is.Read more...

Several Black female employees and former employees came forward via Twitter to detail their experiences with a toxic working environment under Abiola Oke, the CEO and Publisher of the Okayplayer and OkayAfrica brands.Read more...

The sun is out, the birds are chirping, and COVID-19 is still a thing. If you’re still planning on staying indoors regardless of whether your state began to open back up, social media is chock full of entertainment at your fingertips. The Root is here with options to keep occupied while socially distancing. Not only…Read more...

Right now, two separate and unequal policing bills are navigating their way through America’s highest legislative bodies as a response to the protests over the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and thousands of other people whose lives have been snuffed out by the hands, forearms, knees and bullets…Read more...

It’s kind of sad when Walmart is quicker to stop doing something that’s blatantly messed up before the actual government. The company has a tradition of flying the local state flag in front of its stores. That tradition will be suspended in the state of Mississippi.Read more...

Being Black in America is having to exist in a constant state of self-preservation. No matter our age we are seen as a threat; a thing to be terrorized. Three Black teenagers in Connecticut learned this sad truth when two white men chased them down while yelling racial slurs at them.Read more...

Georgia’s lack of any kind of law to prosecute hate crimes came under renewed scrutiny following the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in March. After years of failed legislation, the state has finally passed a bill that will allow the prosecution of hate crimes.Read more...

There is a phenomenon that occurs when you’re going about your day and can’t get a particular song out of your head. We refer to that song as an “earworm.” Well, a constant buzzing in the back of my head has recently gotten louder and louder: I refer to this song as an ear parasite—specifically, the parasitic system…Read more...

On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted all three suspects accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery.Read more...

When the massive Black Lives Matter demonstrations began in May, it was unclear how they might impact the country’s ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to a new study published earlier this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the nationwide demonstrations don’t appear to be linked to spikes in…Read more...

How many videos need to surface showing police officers brutalizing black people before America realizes these incidents aren’t so isolated after all? Video footage of George Floyd set off the largest Black Lives Matter movement since the BLM hashtag was created. What most people don’t know is that just two days…Read more...

“Image architect” Law Roach is one of the most successful talents working behind the scenes of the fashion and entertainment industries—crafting the memorable red carpet looks of stars like Zendaya and Celine Dion when he’s not throwing out biting one-liners as a judge on shows like America’s Next Top Model and HBO…Read more...

More than 100 days after Brett Hankison barged into 26-year-old Breonna Taylor’s home in Louisville, Ky., shooting and killing her, the former Louisville Police narcotics officer has been fired from the department.Read more...

In the latest display of performative allyship, we have the Washington Redkins, who are doing just about everything humanly possible to pretend like they never had a racist-ass owner even though they still have a racist-ass name.Read more...

I use social media as a learning tool.Read more...

Say what you will about 2020, but this has been the year that America is confronted with all the racism—blatant and subtle—that it celebrates through monuments, flags, product brands and the very names given to schools, streets and even entire states. It’s gotten to a point where the state of Rhode Island is moving…Read more...

The country is experiencing a racial awakening in response to the police brutality protests that are still taking place after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths. Anti-racism books are flying off of shelves, streaming services have dedicated blocks of programming to Black shows and movies, and general interest in…Read more...

Jodeci and SWV are my favorite 90s groups. Their music, to me, is so superbly good that you shouldn’t have anything negative to say about it. Jodeci is still, today, a gold standard group, which is amazing considering that they only have three albums, all released between 1991 and 1995 that are worth talking about.…Read more...

First, Paul Manafort was released from jail because his precious white lungs couldn’t stand to be around all that jailhouse stank and COVID-19.

Black folks are tired.Read more...

Terry Crews, one of the stars of NBC’s hit comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, revealed that four of the episodes for the show’s eighth season were entirely scrapped in the wake of police brutality and Black Lives Matter protests.Read more...

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According to their grammatically-challenged Twitter bio, Turning Point USA is a “Student Movement for Freedom, Free Markets, Limited Government.” While I won’t quite call them Hitler Youth USA, I wouldn’t not call them Hitler Youth USA, either. (But you can call them Hitler Youth USA if you want!) Again, I will not…Read more...

President Trump began to hate former Attorney General Jeff Sessions right around the time he recused himself from the Russia investigation. In November 2018, Sessions was forced out of the position and it was clear that Trump wanted a bodyman to take over that spot. The president believed that he needed someone like…Read more...

In the movement toward police defunding and abolition, it looks like Black Hollywood is speaking up.Read more...

It is very likely that former middle school principal Jamaal Bowman may have unseated 31-year-incumbent Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel in Tuesday’s New York primary, but the full results of the race will not be known for some days because mail-in ballots still need to be counted. Though Bowman delivered a victorious…Read more...

Police in San Jose, Calif., are looking for a probably racist, definitely nasty as hell white woman who appears to have no problem assaulting toddlers of color. The incident occurred on June 12 in a frozen-yogurt shop where the woman reportedly accused a Hispanic family of not social distancing and then later walked…Read more...

April Reign, well known as a diversity and inclusion advocate and the creator of #OscarsSoWhite, is partnering with the media platform Overture Global to start Ensemble, a digital content studio “aiming to accelerate opportunities for people of color both in front of and behind the camera,” according to a press…Read more...

Pennsylvania’s highest court has decided to give Bill Cosby another chance, about 6 months after his initial appeal request was denied.Read more...

Controversy ensued last weekend when NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace reported finding a noose in his garage stall. Wallace was partially responsible for NASCAR banning the Confederate flag from its events and the noose was initially believed to be a response to that event.Read more...

All it took was for police to murder yet another unarmed black man and all of a sudden we’re in the midst of a full-fledged White Renaissance, in which white people inexplicably are crippled with guilt, suddenly empathize with our plight and rock Black Lives Matter t-shirts like they bought them at a Pink Floyd…Read more...

President Donald Trump wants to make one thing clear: He doesn’t kid! Sure he hired one of the world’s most famous neurosurgeons to be the doctor of houses, and yes, his administration ordered ventilators from some guy they found off Twitter who never made ventilators in his life and paid him $69 million, but that’s…Read more...

Dining while black can be a frustrating experience. There’s always that nagging suspicion that being on the receiving end of poor service is due in part to your race. Sadly, for a mother and her 9-year-old son, it was blatantly clear why they were being discriminated against at a Baltimore restaurant.

Ahh, summer. The smell of charcoal and grilled meat, sweet buttered corn, and of course, and maybe a beer or two, if you choose. Growing up, we only had the basics when we grilled. All we needed was a simple charcoal grill, spatula, and chicken wings. However, now that my palette has evolved and I enjoy cooking a…Read more...

Did the Black delegation ever settle on a name for male Karens? I don’t like “Chad” because a Chad played Black Panther, so let’s go with “Skip” as in, “Boy, if you don’t Skip your stupid ass to another store instead of going full Karen in this Walmart because they won’t let you in without a face mask...”Read more...

“I am here to stand with you in what feels like an all-too-familiar moment. Having a father killed when I was only 5 years of age, my heart deeply grieves for [his daughters] Dream, Memory, Blessing and [stepson] Mekai,” Bernice A. King said at the funeral for Rayshard Brooks.Read more...

One of my biggest pet peeves in life is when somebody goes out of their way to explain something I already know. If you’ve spent more than two minutes on planet Earth, you’re acutely aware that white people have made themselves the center of the fucking universe for several centuries now at the expense of Black lives,…Read more...

A wave of research and media coverage over the last several years has ensured that the public knows more about America’s Black maternal health crisis than ever before. But as a new study reveals, the systemic factors that propel such disparities in maternal and infant health may be getting worse.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told The Root during an Instagram live interview on Juneteenth that he agrees with the spirit of the “defund the police” movement but is not for an all-out abolishment of law enforcement. He also delved into what exactly defunding the police looks like from his perspective and how…Read more...

Yes, fans are still watching Watchmen—and not only the TV show itself but watching out for possible Season 2 news, despite the slim chances of that happening.Read more...

America may tentatively be reopening, but after what felt like endless weeks of quarantine, many of us are emerging with some new habits—which might include a more thorough skincare regimen. Blame it on more time spent alone and makeup-free (or simply more time spent scrutinizing ourselves), but a basic Google search…Read more...

Barack Obama will be delivering a special message to the LGBTQ community at Pride Live’s special Stonewall Day virtual event, which will take place on Friday starting at 12:45 p.m. ET on Logo TV’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The event will be held in partnership with Warner Media, Nasdaq, Logo TV and Pride Media, Inc.

At first glance, there’s not really much to the video for Kriss Kross’ “Jump,” though it’s a song and video that changed their lives, along with their producer, Jermaine Dupri. Famously, the royalty check Dupri received from Ruffhouse/Columbia Records (the label Kriss Kross was signed to) for “Jump”—the single itself…Read more...

Black people in America expect racism. We expect it like white women expect the police to be their personal “Black people I find annoying” exterminators. But that doesn’t change the blend of shock, rage and sadness that unsuspecting Black folk feel when we’re randomly met with racist encounters while we’re just out…Read more...

Last week, the New York Police Department drew the ire of the internet after some officers claimed that a Shake Shack had poisoned the shakes some officers ordered. Rather predictably, it turned out to be a whole-ass lie.Read more...