The Root

I feel sorry for white people.Read more...

“She’s a Sagittarius,” jokes Rachel James when speaking about Pear Nova, the award-winning, cruelty-free, cult-favorite nail polish brand she created in 2012. The Chicago-based CEO, creative director, mom and Black Ink Chicago alum refers to her nearly 7-year-old brand as her baby—that is, of course, after her two…Read more...

A slim majority of white Americans agree that hundreds of years of chattel slavery continue to impact African Americans to this day; however, only 15 percent of them support reparations to redress this damage, according to a recent poll.

Ha! Got you, didn’t I? You clicked on this—hastily, lustily, thirsty as a motherfucker—to read a review of Kanye West’s Jesus Is King. But there will be no review here today, or tomorrow, or whichever day comes after tomorrow cause I’m really very sleep-deprived right now and I’m not quite sure what day it is.Read more...

This week in the Power Rankings are just messy. We’re talking Real Housewives of Atlanta-TMZ-Get her, Jade-level of messy. As we round into the final pre-holiday weeks of the campaign preseason, the gap between the political haves and have nots gets bigger and the knives come out. Campaigns and their surrogates have…Read more...

A federal court has ordered the Trump administration’s Wicked Witch of the West Wing, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, to pay $100,000 for violating a court order demanding that the department she oversees stop collecting loan payments from students who were bamboozled by a now-defunct educational institution.Read more...

A passion for justice unites the black and brown women honored by Glamour as their 2019 Women of the Year, as Ava DuVernay and Yara Shahidi join the Women of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) on a list that includes Megan Rapinoe, Charlize Theron, Margaret Atwood, Tory Burch,…Read more...

The Root is our name and blackness is our game, so we decided to play none other than Black Ass Game!Read more...

Merriam Webster defines “identity politics” as:Read more...

Lupita Nyong’o made a name for herself by not using her remarkable acting talent, but by helping to shift the Hollywood beauty paradigm, as she conquered countless red carpets with her dark skin, natural hair, and daring style. And on Oct. 15, after three years of work, Nyong’o published Sulwe, a children’s book aimed…Read more...

Birmingham, Ala., police announced Thursday that two suspects have been charged with capital murder in the high-profile killing of 3-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney. Patrick Devone Stallworth, 39, and his girlfriend, Derick Irisha Brown, 29, were persons of interest in the case shortly after Kamille went missing…Read more...

Adidas slides, Walmart’s Build-Your-Own-Switch Bundle, a 50-pack of cable ties, and an Xbox Game Pass Subscription lead off Friday’s best deals from around the web.

It’s no secret that Tyler, The Creator likes to play dress-up; after all, the musician is also a designer, as evidenced by his subversively preppy GOLF label. And earlier this year, Tyler took it to the next level with the introduction of alter ego Igor, the platinum-bobbed crooner he debuted in May’s “Earfquake”…Read more...

The funeral for Rep. Elijah Cummings takes place today after hundreds of mourners lined up for a Friday morning viewing at Cummings’ church of 40 years, New Psalmist Baptist Church.Read more...

Black folks don’t do horror—right?! Wrong.

One of my favorite things on the internet is the genre of YouTube videos posted by white people illustrating to police officers their knowledge of their constitutional rights. They carry guns and don’t get shot in the back. They don’t even roll their windows down during traffic stops because it’s their right! This is…Read more...

Donald Trump has long derided as some “hoax” the Mueller probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election that put Trump into the Oval Office. But, now, the Justice Department that has informally reviewing the origins of the special prosecutor’s probe has turned it into an official criminal investigation.Read more...

An algorithm used by major hospitals and healthcare providers misjudged how sick black patients were compared with their white counterparts, allowing healthier white patients to get additional medical supports more often.

College students headed to the polls in droves during the last presidential election, and with that number only expected to grow in next year’s race, Republican lawmakers have been throwing up roadblocks, especially in swing states.

To hear Congresswoman Joyce Beatty tell it, this wasn’t the first time she took the founder and CEO of Facebook to task for his dismal record on civil rights—but after her tense, blistering exchange with Mark Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill Wednesday, he’d better hope it’s the last time.Read more...

Didn’t we almost have it all? When love was all we had worth giving? Those were the questions many were left asking after hearing that Lamar Odom ended his relationship with Taraji P. Henson to pursue an ultimately doomed one with Khloe Kardashian in 2009 (h/t Buzzfeed). While appearing on TV One’s Uncensored, Odom…Read more...

Sean “Diddy” Combs is a man of many businesses, children and aliases.Read more...

Proof Nomad Pants | $48 | HuckberryRead more...

The truth hurts, but a lawsuit stings.Read more...

Budget analysts, pundits, and anyone who made it past third-grade social studies was stunned to hear the shocking news that the Trump administration planned to extend his border wall into Colorado.Read more...

The instant Akon joined me at The Root’s office in a skyscraper overlooking Times Square, he seemed at ease. With his publicist in tow, he strolled in, falling headfirst into a conversation we were having about the huge buzz around upcoming events in Accra, Ghana in December (AfroNation and Afrochella); a pilgrimage…Read more...

60% Off Select Styles | Columbia | Promo code OCTSAVERead more...

Twenty-four years ago, a talented, young duo from Atlanta was booed as they received a Source Award for “Best New Rap Group.” A then-20-year-old André Benjamin overcame his emotions to make a bold declaration that forever changed hip-hop: “The South got something to say.”

Ursula’s iconic villain song, “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, explored her desire to assist the helpless peons in the sea…for a price, of course.Read more...

Since his unexpected death last week, Rep. Elijah Cummings has received an outpouring of adulation and praise for his strength, leadership, and commitment to uplifting his colleagues and constituents.Read more...

Refusing to accept his punishment for his failure to properly protect and serve his community, disgraced former NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo is suing the department to get his job back.Read more...

The Platinum Card®from American Express offers one of the best packages of perks and travel rewards in the credit card industry, and the American Express® Gold Card is one of the best dining cards around, but do you remember the American Express®Green Card? It’s been primarily a business card in recent years, but the…Read more...

A Hamden, Conn., police officer was arrested and charged with assault and reckless endangerment on Monday for shooting an unarmed black couple. The arrest comes six months after Officer Devin Eaton fired 13 shots at Stephanie Washington and her boyfriend, Paul Witherspoon, as they drove their SUV near Yale…Read more...

A GreenWorks 21" Lawnmower, a giant TV, and a refurbished Dyson V7 lead off Thursday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

The trailer for Burden has arrived and I’m fucking tired.Read more...

Real talk? I’ve never quite understood the appeal of America’s favorite pastime (*ducks*). Right around the fourth inning, I’m generally starting to doze. (No, really, that actually happened once at a Twins game in their last World Series-winning year). But leave it to Simone Biles to make baseball a little less…Read more...

It is, to date, the largest monetary commitment of its kind: a $27 million commitment from Princeton Theological Seminary for scholarships and other initiatives to redress the institution’s long, tangled history with slavery. But campus-based advocates say the pledge, announced last Friday, is just a starting point.Read more...

Refurb Dyson V7 Motorhead HEPA Cordless Vacuum (Fuschia) | $173 | AmazonRead more...

Close to 6,000 families in the Chicago area will be getting a life-changing gift just in time for the holidays: the clearing of their medical debts.Read more...

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—aka the Notorious AOC, aka key member of the House’s progressive “Squad”—set Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg back on his heels Wednesday when she grilled him about the social media giant’s potential to manipulate marginalized communities in next year’s elections.

Donald Trump’s latest bid to keep his long-sought tax returns under wraps has resulted in his lawyer making a brash contention: As the occupant of the Oval Office, Trump couldn’t be prosecuted even if he really did shoot someone in the middle of New York’s famed Fifth Avenue.

A New Mexico school resource officer has resigned after his body camera recorded him slamming a sixth-grade girl to the ground, wrestling her down and threatening her with trumped-up felonies, all because she committed the egregious crimes of disrupting class, taking an extra milk and standing up on a school bus.Read more...

The world of what we’ve traditionally known as “feminine products” is getting more gender-neutral. In an effort to be more inclusive of trans and non-binary consumers, Always is removing the gendered “venus” symbol from its products, CNN reports.Read more...

Republican lawmakers staged an impromptu protest against the Constitution on Wednesday, intentionally obstructing justice and delaying testimony from a key witness in the impeachment inquiry investigation into crimes that Donald Trump and White House staff already publicly admitted to.Read more...

We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.Read more...

Before “safe space” became a dog whistle for white Americans blind to the fact that, by default, every space they occupy is their own, the phrase just described a place for marginalized communities to gather together and, simply, feel safe.

Lizzo don’t play tag, bitch, she been “It.” And she’s taking on producer Justin Raisen’s plagiarism claims head-on.Read more...

Wellen Hemp Crewneck | $47 | Huckberry

On Sunday, the highly-anticipated HBO series Watchmen set the internet ablaze with America’s shocked reactions to a little-known incident frequently called the Tulsa Race Riots. The bombing of Black Wall Street is common knowledge to a large percentage of black folks (we’ve written about it at least 20 times,…Read more...

I’m reminded, today, a day after Donald Trump called his impeachment inquiry a lynching—and an hour after reading that good ole’ Uncle Joe Biden once made the same analogy about Bill Clinton’s impeachment—of last week’s round of “So, Who Doesn’t Want to Be a Nigger But Wants to Say Nigga?” Specifically, my thoughts…Read more...