The Root

It’s the first day of Kwanzaa—Umoja—so, let’s all unite and sip this hot tea.Read more...

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Some years, when we say an entity (person, persons of note, or not) embodies Umoja, or unity, the first principle of Kwanzaa, it is because their actions bring together the larger black community (see Tarana Burke in 2017). Other times, it’s more about a personal manifestation of unity (see the workers of KFC in 2018…Read more...

In the Age of Trump, you can’t help be pessimistic about the future. There’s something nasty about this new age. A nastiness—even when we kick that cheating bastard out of office—that will cling to us black folks like a sweaty, funky shirt.

There was a time back when Kwanzaa and Christmas were cruising on a yacht popping Cristal and truly Big Pimpin’.

Year-End Toy Clearance Sale | Walmart

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South Carolina state Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, a Democrat from Lancaster, issued an apology Monday after an internal military investigation concluded that the hand signals flashed by a group of cadets during the Dec. 14 Army-Navy game were not white nationalist symbols.Read more...

Rich folks know that real estate is real wealth.Read more...

Allee Willis, the prolific songwriter who penned Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September” and the Broadway musical, The Color Purple, has died at age 72.Read more...

Despite being mired in one of the biggest controversies of 2019, Jussie Smollett still seems to have a heart of gold during this holiday season.

I was raised in a fundamentalist church that believed in the seventh-day Sabbath, tambourines and neverending, four-nights-a-week services that lasted well into Arsenio Hall’s opening monologue. Apparently, God’s eternal kingdom specifically forbade rap music, brazen women who had premarital sex (if you were a man it…Read more...

Last week The Root reported that Nicole Poole Franklin, a 42-year-old Des Moines woman, told the Clive Police Department she ran over a 14-year-old girl because the girl “was a Mexican.” Now police have charged Franklin with attempted murder again—this time for hitting a 12-year-old black boy with her vehicle, an…Read more...

There’s a Christmas song by Jackson 5-era Michael Jackson that appears on the 1973 double album—A Motown Christmas—that has been beautifully destroying me since I was a child. It’s called “Little Christmas Tree” and it is, by far, the most depressing holiday song in the Motown Christmas canon.Read more...

Being a class act who’s all about the family is so “becoming” to her.

On Monday, a private jet belonging to Lil Wayne was stopped by federal agents in Miami, Florida. Among the things found on the plane was a gun and multiple drugs.Read more...

Editor’s Note: This post originally ran on December 22, 2017Read more...

It is undeniable that Lizzo has had one hell of a year. Her 2017 song “Truth Hurts,” hit No. 1 on the charts, she was the musical guest for Eddie Murphy’s acclaimed SNL return and she scored eight Grammy nominations, proving that she is indeed 100% that bitch. Yet because she is a black woman thriving, embracing her…Read more...

He said, they said. Rapper DaBaby was detained and cited by police after his concert in Charlotte on Monday night. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police claim that the rapper had marijuana in his car and that he resisted and obstructed them. The rapper insists that he was the victim of an illegal search and that he did not…Read more...

In September 2018, a group of agents from the Department of Homeland Security announced that they had successfully broken up a ring of illegal massage parlors that targeted Asian immigrants and forced them into sex slavery. One of the key things they forgot to add, though, was that two of their agents had allegedly…Read more...

It’s official: the kicks don’t lie, and the numbers don’t either. Colin Kaepernick’s Air Force 1 sneakers sold out online the same day they were released, cementing his position as one of the most influential (former) athletes in the country.Read more...

Y’all, Kwanzaa is LIT. Seriously. What other uniquely African-American holiday invites you to spend seven days talking about the realest shit?

First things first, I’m a card-carrying, financial member of Rihanna’s Navy. I admire Rihanna’s hustle and her commitment to petty by releasing an album of photos instead of an album filled with music. We asked for an album, but weren’t specific in our prayers and received a book filled with aesthetically pleasing…Read more...

As a washed black dad myself, I’m well-versed in all things washed black dad. I wouldn’t quite call myself a maven just yet—you need approximately 12-15 years of washed black dadding to qualify—but I’m close, and I have the sleeping pattern and sensitive toothpaste to prove it.

Perhaps seeing that his crown for dropping dimes was being snatched by Toshiba Sixty-Nine, Rudy Giuliani saw fit to come out his mouth and say some more wild-ish.Read more...

The debate field might be getting a little less crowded next month as the DNC announced new requirements for getting on the stage.Read more...

Apparently, 2019 refuses to have any chill. You’d think that with it being one of the last weeks of the year, the holidays coming up and your boy having to work through the disappointment that was The Rise of Skywalker that the wilding could at least come to a temporary halt. Yeah, nah.Read more...

Thirteen people were shot at approximately 12:40 a.m. Sunday during a memorial party held for Lonell Irvin, a 22-year-old man who was fatally shot in April.

If you’re reading this, it’s not too late.Read more...

Ben Carson, whom award-winning author Kiese Laymon affectionately refers to as “Dad”, whom The Root Senior Editor Stephen Crockett Jr. refers to as “the Godfather of Mumble Rap,” and who I habitually refer to as “ain’t shit,” has a few questions about how this whole reparations thing is supposed to work.Read more...

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. My family always cooked just as much food as they did on Thanksgiving, but I got presents as a bonus. Win-win.Read more...

Police at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, alongside state investigators, monitored the cellphones of antiracism protesters demonstrating against the campus’ Confederate statue, “Silent Sam,” in 2017.Read more...

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The ratings are in, and Eddie Murphy’s return to hosting Saturday Night Live with musical from breakout star Lizzo was a massive success, giving the 44-year-old sketch comedy show its best ratings in two years. But show creator and producer Lorne Michaels wasn’t the only one who got a boost on Saturday night; both…Read more...

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has plans. All the plans. She’s got a plan to tackle corruption in Washington; a plan to fund HBCUs; a plan to curb climate change and create over 10 million jobs. It’s as if Warren has been the only successful woman in America’s history to rock both Gucci and Louis at the same damn…Read more...

Imagine walking into a restaurant at a truck stop to apply for a job and being stabbed instead.

Boyz II Men’s second album, Christmas Interpretations, is the best, most complete, Christmas album of the modern era—and it’s not even close. Sure, there have been great songs—Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” comes to mind (more on that later)— but as for a flawless and seamless album, you don’t need…Read more...

The president, much like his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, is a shithole. So I guess it shouldn’t be shocking, but for some reason, it still is, that President Trump invited retired disgraced Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher to Mar-a-Lago over the weekend to allow Gallagher to kiss his ring in person.

Potential audiences recently got a first look at the first television show of Kenya Barris’ big Netflix deal, Black Excellence (stylized as #blackexcellence).Read more...

After years of subjecting jail visitors to invasive searches, New York City has agreed to resolve the matter by coughing up $12.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit.Read more...

Well, it turns out that the President of the United States is a liar.

On Friday, California police released a disturbing video of Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Charlie Blount wrongly accusing a man of stealing his own vehicle before slamming the man’s head into his own car and placing him in a sleeper hold.Read more...

A Mario Red Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Bundle, an Anker sale, and a Cole Haan sale lead off Monday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

Eddie Murphy appeared to have the best time of his life during his return to Saturday Night Live—his first as host since 1984—and naturally, his appearance was not without controversy.Read more...

Viewers should’ve known Eddie Murphy was going to pull out all the stops for his grand return to Saturday Night Live last night.Read more...

On Thursday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a state grant of $3.75 million to be awarded to help the formation of The Universal Hip Hop Museum, which is planned to be completed in 2023.Read more...

No surprises here.Read more...

An Energizer Emergency Flashlight, a Bird ES1-300 Electric Scooter, and a NutriBullet Blender Gold Box lead off Sunday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

Is Amanda Seales having the best year ever?Read more...