The Root

It’s safe to say no one does a drop quite like Beyoncé. From surprise albums and epic visual masterpieces to HBCU-inspired collaborations with Balmain, the megastar has mastered the art of making an entrance. And ahead of today’s pre-launch of the relaunch of Ivy Park, now powered by Adidas (the collection goes live…Read more...

When I was 12 or 13, and living in Frankfurt, Germany, my parents loaded my siblings and I into the car and we drove about four hours south and east to a small-ish town in the Bavarian region that was the site of the first concentration camp opened in Nazi Germany: Dachau.Read more...

A network and a show creator walk into “Abar”... and decide to end their popular and acclaimed show on a high note.Read more...

I have to be honest, y’all. As soon as I saw the mugshot for Kenneth Petersen (above) I just knew, in my heart of hearts, that this dude has probably called someone the N-word on Call of Duty. I just know it.Read more...

Tonight in news that’s shocking to no one, cops lie. Wild, I know.Read more...

Another day, another example of a Republican politician engaging in flat out foul behavior.Read more...

In November 2018, Florida voters moved to restore voting rights to 1.4 million convicted felons following their release. Amendment 4 to the state constitution was seen as a major victory for civil liberties advocates, who have been fighting across the country to restore the political voices of the formerly…Read more...

Mithridates the Great was one of the Roman Empire’s greatest foes and claimed to be a descendant of Alexander the Great, who died by poisoning. Mithridates’ father died from poison. His father died from poison. His mother tried to poison him.Read more...

I’ve never been a gang member or a white supremacist before, but apparently hand gestures come along with the territory. But while I rarely hear of anyone losing their job for being affiliated with the Crips or Bloods, unless you’re the president of the United States, blatant racism is typically grounds for immediate…Read more...

Toto, I don’t think we’re going to have trouble wearing our naturally textured hair in Kansas anymore—at least, we hope not.

Turns out that Trump’s fixer Rudy Giuliani also had a fixer named Lev Parnas. Lev Parnas got caught up in some campaign finance fiasco in which he allegedly engaged in a scheme to funnel foreign cash to Republican candidates, which is illegal.Read more...

Prosperity gospel is a controversial religious belief in which adherents equate material wealth or an opulent lifestyle with the will of God. It’s rooted in pro-capitalist and Pentecostal thought traditions and explains why pastors like Jesse Duplantis feel comfortable begging their flocks to cough up $54 million for…Read more...

It’s time for another hall of fame induction class! This time, we’re highlighting the iconic folks with the best lyrics of all time, the Songwriters Hall of Fame!Read more...

For years, Russell Simmons was looked at as the “face of hip-hop.” A go-to promoter and manager of the emerging genre in the ’80s, Simmons eventually become one of the most powerful men in the music industry. The pioneering mogul founded Def Jam, launched the influential TV series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry…Read more...

Ayanna Pressley loves playing with her hair. Before she became a Massachusetts Congresswoman (and a high-profile member of “The Squad”), Pressley would experiment with different hairstyles and textures, getting a weave and even cutting her own hair. Lately, she’s been experimenting with lace-front wigs.

Bad boys, bad boys, what ya gonna do, what ya gonna do when old age comes for you?

Did you know that there is a federal watchdog group that holds the government accountable? I didn’t either. But apparently, the Government Accountability Office has put a ring (and by “ring,” I mean handcuffs) on it and made it official: Trump broke the law when he withheld congressionally-approved aid to Ukraine last…Read more...

Kanye has some explaining to do.Read more...

One of the most appalling statistics I’ve ever read about racial profiling comes from a 2012 New York Civil Liberties Union report on the NYPD’s racist “stop-and-frisk” policy. In 2011, the NYPD searched 168,126 young black men (between the ages of 14 and 24). Depending on your knowledge of the relationship between…Read more...

So I guess the takeaway here is that Republicans don’t like kids. I mean, how else do you explain this?Read more...

It’s a sad night for wrestling fans, as one of its greatest legends has died.Read more...

Wow, y’all. It’s been over a whole-ass year since we’ve last seen the misadventures of Issa, Molly and the rest of the Insecure crew. Fear not, though, the drought is soon to be over.Read more...

If you were unaware, the city of Oakland is currently in the midst of a housing crisis. Prices for renting and owning homes are skyrocketing, forcing groups like Moms 4 Housing to resort to desperate measures to keep roofs over their heads.

White people love Seinfeld.Read more...

I took a few measly sick days, but still can’t escape #Megxit—hasn’t this woman already followed the North Star to freedom? I kid, I kid...kind of. As we well know, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex rolled back out of England like the London fog a mere three days after she and Prince Harry rolled back in after a six-week…Read more...

On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the seven House members who will prosecute President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, and while the usual names are there (we see you, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.)), we also…Read more...

Numa Perrier is a force.

Much has been finally been made and explored in terms of this notion of trauma—what it is, who experiences it most, what its effects are. But the scary part about trauma is that if it happens too often; too frequently, it can start to feel normal, which can be dangerous. Your body’s fight-or-flight response, triggered…Read more...

Since its inception in 1997, the WNBA has provided a master class on how gender inequality manifests in the workplace. Players like A’ja Wilson and Kayla McBride have openly critiqued their paltry wages; four-time All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith confessed to playing an entire season pregnant after receiving “no support”…Read more...

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Ralph Lauren, keep our black Greek iconography off of your chinos. In what was the latest but likely most inadvertent incident of cultural appropriation since Gucci’s blackface-sweater scandal this time last year, American legacy brand Ralph Lauren crossed the line—by…Read more...

On Wednesday, after learning that Russian President Vladimir Putin was proposing reforms that would strengthen the prime minister’s role after rumors that Putin was planning to shift to Prime Minister, the entire Russian government chucked Putin the deuces and bounced.

Black and Latinx people pay more than white people when it comes to banking fees, according to a new report released Wednesday.Read more...

Lev Parnas is ready to tell you why fools fall in love. He knows everything that the lonely do at Christmas and whether T-Pain really brought that girl a drink. Parnas knows whether or not all of the people in the club actually got tipsy and whether or not they committed DUIs later that evening.

If you’re professionally involved in music, being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is probably the endgame for you.Read more...

Mike’s Hot Honey | $7 | AmazonRead more...

The 2020 election is shaping up to be one of the most consequential elections in American history, and frankly, many of us are stressed just thinking about choosing a new leader (and getting rid of the old one).

I’ve never spent a day of my life in prison, but after a recent rash of stabbings and violent attacks led to the deaths of five inmates housed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, I’m pretty sure there’s a blatant disregard for the safety of those being kept behind bars. Evidently, Jay-Z feels the same way, and on…Read more...

As I sat and binge-watched what I thought would be an inclusive, sex-positive, informative series, I realized that Netflix and Janelle Monáe sold me a dream of black kink and birth outside the binary.

When Tyler Perry decided to show off his screenwriting prowess, let’s just say it didn’t serve the inspiration he intended and the whole display ended up as dramatic as his television shows.Read more...

When I got married in October 2018, my wife and I broached the idea of going to Accra, Ghana, for our honeymoon. Now, this wasn’t a random “Let’s go to Africa!” ideation; I’d never been to the African continent in any of my travels and had wanted to go, and my wife grew up in Accra, eventually moving to the United…Read more...

“Swatting,” if you’re unaware, is a prank where some calls in a fake emergency in a targeted effort to generate a huge response from law enforcement. It’s never funny, it’s always dangerous and apparently it’s being weaponized by racists.Read more...

So it’s looking like the President may have killed Gen. Maj. Soleimani simply because it was a Thursday.Read more...

Institutionalized racism is an unfortunate reality of life in America. Luckily, there are those like Kim Gardner who are willing to fight back against it.Read more...

You know, maybe all the white Hollywood insiders just need to keep diversity’s name out their mouths and just yield the floor to the writers, directors, and actors of color who actually have to deal with the lack thereof.Read more...

Tonight is the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucus next month. Each candidate is essentially making his or her closing statement before Iowa engages in its hella weird, rather archaic primary system that will let us know who white America is really feeling at the moment. With Bernie Sanders allegedly…Read more...

Like millions of other people, my holiday season was pretty trash.Read more...

Folks, it’s time to steam that impeachment outfit. The Senate impeachment trial of Donald J(ulius d’Orange) Trump will begin this week, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.Read more...

A collective of black faith leaders has penned a letter criticizing white Christians who are willing to support a racist, law-breaking, lying, adulterous president who treats the Ten Commandments and the Constitution like toilet paper.Read more...

Over the course of her brief career, Cardi B has repeatedly defied the odds to become one of the most successful artists in the history of rap music. And on Monday, she added another feat to her lengthy list of accomplishments when her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, became the longest-charting debut by a female…Read more...

The NAACP, in a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Census Bureau last Friday, is alleging the federal government is unprepared to accurately count America’s black residents—an issue that could result in political disenfranchisement and billions of dollars in losses for black and brown communities.Read more...