The Root

Remember when Trump came out and used the same one-liner to encourage black people to vote for him (“What do you have to lose?”) as the mantra to try hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, to treat the coronavirus?

Michael Jordan’s 63 against the Boston Celtics in 1986 was the first time I saw him play a full game live. Except it wasn’t. I actually watched a VHS recording of that game, because it came on while we were out of the house, and my dad taped it. But that detail gets obscured in my memory and recollection of this…Read more...

I’m Batman.Read more...

These Verzuz battles are something special. The Timbaland and Swizz Beatz-created Instagram events, where popular musicians, songwriters and producers go head-to-head playing some of the biggest and best songs they’ve placed their magic on, have become an instant hit as we shelter-in-place.

At first, Ebbie and LaVondria Herbert thought their 5-year-old daughter Skylar had strep throat.Read more...

For almost 25 years, “Let Me Clear My Throat” has provided the soundtrack to nearly every black ass gathering, from pool parties and graduations to weddings, game nights and family cookouts. While DJ Kool takes tremendous pride in the ubiquity of his breakthrough 1996 single, one place you should never find this song…Read more...

“There can be miracles when you believe”—this isn’t just a quote from a Whitney Houston/Mariah Carey duet that Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds produced, it’s a summary of what happened on Monday night.Read more...

Trump is a victim of poor performance. According to several Russian prostitutes whom I didn’t speak with but will speak for, the president tends to jump the gun.

If you were to ask PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor to send you her location, you would get a ping that shows the White House and a response that says, “She’s on the president’s neck.”

In the age of self-quarantine, ESPN’s 10-part magnum opus, The Last Dance, has provided sports fanatics with a much-needed escape from the chaos and uncertainty that consumes our everyday lives. But for three-time NBA champion Draymond Green, the docuseries—which chronicles Michael Jordan’s final season with the…Read more...

TikTokers cannot get enough of the #SavageChallenge, the Keara Wilson-created viral dance craze which is set to Megan Thee Stallion’s song of the same name from her latest project, Suga.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) have been lining up behind former Vice President Joe Biden for months. Biden has all but claimed the Democratic nomination for president, and the CBC PAC has now officially unanimously endorsed him for president.Read more...

At 16, Coco Gauff is projected to become one of the tennis world’s greats—buzz that began when the Florida teen was only 11 and already four years into following in the footsteps of her idol, Venus Williams. At 15, Gauff would best her hero at Wimbledon in 2019—and again at the Australian Open earlier this year…Read more...

Natasha Rothwell, comedian and breakout star of the hit series Insecure (on which she has also been supervising producer) is taking her talents even further than HBO with a show of her own.

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April 20 (4/20) is widely recognized as the smoker’s holiday. It’s a day where marijuana partakers everywhere celebrate the festivities by...well...doing the thing most of them do regularly anyway, except on this day, they’re doing it for the culture. The American Civil Liberties Union, on the other hand, is using the…Read more...

Whether it’s revisiting old novels or watching some of your favorite movies, nostalgia can be a useful coping mechanism during periods of intense stress. Personally, my nostalgia comes in revisiting video games I loved growing up. Oftentimes, wonky controls, poor graphics and dated mechanics can make some of those…Read more...

It’s a rule so common, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was law across the U.S.: that in order to be convicted by a jury of your peers, that jury has to unanimously agree on your guilt.Read more...

The last week has shown that the quarantine has officially broken white people. If it’s not taking to the streets in an effort to protest a microscopic virus, it’s going on the radio and saying some truly wild shit about the effort to combat it.

Dion Waiters can’t get right.Read more...

The Paycheck Protection Program was included as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and was touted as a relief fund aimed at bailing out small businesses and nonprofits and helping them pay their workers during the coronavirus pandemic. But since the $349 billion stimulus package…Read more...

Once again President Carole “That Bitch” Baskin is continuing to blame everything coronavirus related on governors and the Obama administration.

I can’t lie, Teddy Riley keeps pissing me off.Read more...

With layoffs, furloughs and other financial struggles becoming increasingly commonplace, the NBA just became the latest company to buckle under the weight of our country’s economic collapse.Read more...

First, it came for his son.Read more...

After six seasons, the popular music drama Empire is officially coming to an end on April 21. It was announced earlier this month that although the show was supposed to have 20 episodes this season, it would be ending with just 18 episodes.

As we gear up for the rematch of Teddy Riley “Verzuz” Babyface on Monday night in response to the unsuccessful weekend show, Entertainment Writer Tonja Renée Stidhum scored an exclusive interview with one of the stars from the previous night: the actual tile referenced in Tyrese’s impassioned plea to “throw in the…Read more...

We get it: With everything going on in the world, it can be difficult to carve out time to discover new music. Industry-pushed tunes that you may not even bang with like that could also get in the way of you finding something that tingles your consumer taste buds.

Earlier this year, 60-year-old William Garrison had an important choice to make. Convicted to serve a lifetime in prison when he was just 16 years old, Garrison was eligible for parole in February, or he could serve a seven-month sentence and walk away from prison, finally, a free man.Read more...

You’re really sticking to this gimmick now, huh?

On Sunday—partially because the president knows he’s losing and maybe because he’s has to battle Babyface—the Teddy Riley of presidents came with video footage cut and spliced to show only moments of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo praising the federal government’s coronavirus response.

If you’re black and among the living, there were two events that demanded your attention this past weekend: the much-anticipated Teddy Riley vs. Babyface battle and the network premiere of ESPN’s The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary that explores Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls. While one of…Read more...

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are putting their foot down, collectively.Read more...

Stevie Wonder has been open about his admiration of his friend Bill Withers since the “Lovely Day’ musician’s passing in late March. During his live streamed performance for Global Citizen’s One World: Together at Home event on Saturday, he made sure to pay tribute to the late great musician and also instill hope…Read more...

Soon after recovering from their own bouts with COVID-19, Idris and Sabrina Elba are diving right in to use their platform and resources to assist others on a global scale.Read more...

“I can’t go home. I can’t go back there,” they stated emphatically, taking breaths between each word. “If I am forced to go home I may die, literally.” A mentee who had received notification that they would be forced to vacate their college dormitory within 72 hours called me in tears, concerned about their safety in…Read more...

As if her skin tone and the themes on her Lemonade album weren’t dead giveaways, we’re here to remind you that Beyoncé is black.

Pure, genuine respite may feel hard to come by lately, especially if you’re on day...39? 300?—of quarantining with the kids. Thankfully, Michelle Obama is offering a little bit of solace to maxed out parents and caregivers—“Mondays with Michelle Obama,” a limited weekly series in which the forever first lady reads a…Read more...

Listen—black people didn’t need a global pandemic to make us hyper-aware of our appearance and how we have to work a little harder to avoid being “suspicious-looking.” Hoodies, baggy pants and dark clothing are just a few things that have increased the likelihood of us being racially profiled. Now, statewide…Read more...

Some students at Carrollton High School in Carrollton City, Georgia managed to get themselves expelled—despite class not being in session due to the ongoing national health emergency—because they hadn’t yet figured out that viral racism has consequences.Read more...

Over 400,000 people tuned in Saturday night for what was supposed to be the much anticipated Instagram battle between two music giants but ended up being an awkward, clumsy, cringe-worthy non-spectacle that ended in the whole thing being called on account of clusterfuck and postponed....again.Read more...

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The WNBA paid tribute to Gianna “GiGi” Bryant in a big way during the organization’s annual draft Friday by making her and fellow Mamba Academy teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester the first three honorary 2020 draft picks.Read more...

Rapsody’s EVE is considered by some people to be the best hip-hop album of 2019 bar none (it’s me...I’m “some people”) and now, it has inspired courses at two universities.Read more...

Remember when Black Lives Matter protests were the scourge of the nation? How about when Colin Kaepernick started the trend of kneeling during the national anthem and conservative white America considered it a full-on assault against any and everyone who ever served in the U.S. military? Well, it turns out—and this…Read more...

With many Americans under some version of a stay-at-home order, you’ve probably found yourself spending an inordinate amount of time in front of your TV. If you’re like me, you may have found yourself burning through your watch list. No worries, I got you. Whether you want to lean into the post-apocalyptic vibes or…Read more...

Nursing homes around the country are struggling as they house one of the most vulnerable groups when it comes to COVID-19. Leave it to a potential white supremacist to only add to that struggle.

If there’s one piece of advice I can pass on to people who are working from home for the first time, it is this: caffeine is key. Working from home effectively requires more discipline than most might realize. You’re surrounded by comfort—your bed, your couch, your things, your kitchen—and infinite distractions from…Read more...

In one of the most counterproductive displays of political activism in recent history, a group of Michigan conservatives gathered on Wednesday to protest the state’s stay-at-home order. As you can predict, social distancing guidelines were not followed and this has led the Governor to respond.Read more...

Brilliant comedian Chris Rock had this bit during his comedy special Bigger and Blacker in which he “joked” that there isn’t a white person in the room who would be willing to trade places with him and he’s rich. I know I’m paraphrasing here but, he explained that for even a downtrodden white person, it still pays to…Read more...