The Root

Clear the Rack is back, a $75 refurb. Ninja Foodi, and a weird, but delightful sale on Funko POP! figures lead off Friday’s best deals.

Earlier this week, I limped into a swanky Midtown hotel. Less than 24 hours before, I’d finished the most grueling physical challenge of my life (thus far).Read more...

ORANGEBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA—For the first time ever, presidential candidates will take the main stage Friday night to talk all things environmental justice. To make the event even more historic, “Moving Vulnerable Communities From Surviving to Thriving” will take place at South Carolina State University, the only…Read more...

Lizzo knows what it’s like not to see yourself represented—in fashion, on TV, in films. She also knows that when you’re not deemed worthy enough to be represented (or even marginally included), loving yourself is often an uphill battle.Read more...

This week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren received an endorsement from a group of more than 100 Black women, queer folks, and nonbinary activists who praised the Democratic presidential candidate as a leader on visionary thinking and implementing big structural changes. This endorsement comes just two days after Rep. Ayanna…Read more...

In what seems to be an ongoing quest to not get booed at a major sporting event, Donald Trump will head down to Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday to watch the Crimson Tide face off against its SEC rival and the current top-ranked college football program in the country, Louisiana State University.Read more...

“Be first.” In boxing, it means to throw the first punch. As super featherweight Patricio Manuel explains, it also means risking being hit, “but if you’re able to land that shot, that’s gonna give you victory,” he says.Read more...

As appointees to the Black Supreme Court, we are often called upon to settle the difficult issues of our time. Over the past two years, this court has found itself smack dab in the center of some of the most contentious cultural debates including:Read more...

It is with the utmost disrespect that my heart can muster that I say this: Jeff Sessions has the tenacity of the world’s most stalwart, racist cockroach.Read more...

If I could spend every day wearing pajamas, I would. Sadly, it isn’t socially acceptable to wear my pajamas to work. But a girl can dream! Until then, I must nurture my love of sleepwear from the comfort of my own home at bedtime. The newest pajamas just added to my ever-growing collection is The Layla Pajama Set.Read more...

A South Carolina restauranteur was sentenced to prison after admitting he used violence, threats, and intimidation to force a black man to work more than 100 hours a week with no pay in a stunning case of throwback slavery.Read more...

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced Thursday morning he plans on retiring at the end of the year, capping off what’s been a tumultuous year for the top cop.Read more...

As both Morehouse College and Spelman College celebrated their annual homecoming in late October—usually more than reason enough for me to make the trip to Atlanta—I had a little extra pep in my homecoming step. The weekend also coincided with Morehouse College’s “Experience The House” open house for prospective…Read more...

Pixar has been known to snatch our thug, whether it’s in the first few minutes of Up (still in awe over how they accomplished this) or with the heartwarming reveal in Coco, and I’m here for it each and every time. Pixar has the concept of “emotional core” on lock.

Yesterday, the entire internet collectively rolled its eyes as Clifford “T.I.” Harris attempted to use yet another word he clearly doesn’t understand when he bragged about his 18-year-old daughter Deyjah Harris’ hymen on Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Moham’s podcast, Ladies Like Us. The three found humor in the moment T.I.…Read more...

It was March 2019 and we were all sitting in our respective local theaters, watching Jordan Peele’s Us. We subsequently became freaked out listening to Red’s (Lupita Nyong’o) cracked voice as she started her eerie backstory with, “Once upon a time, there was a girl and the girl had a shadow.”Read more...

If you’re scratchin’ and survivin’ while awaiting another installment of the “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” series from ABC, well, it looks like you’re going to be successful and thrivin’, instead.Read more...

A great deal on Sony Noise Canceling Headphones, a popular Marshall Stanmore II Speaker, and an Ugg Flash Sale at Nordstrom Rack lead off Thursday’s best deals.Read more...

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) will be hitting the campaign trail in support of Sen. Elizabeth Warren today, following her endorsement of the presidential front-runner on Wednesday.

The first Monday in May 2020 will be a day for time-traveling—via the steps of New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The renowned museum, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year, will also host its 73rd annual Met Gala with a nod to its legacy as the theme: “About Time: Fashion and Duration.”Read more...

Remember when the biggest and blackest James Bond rumor involved Idris Elba, despite his frequent statements that he wasn’t really interested in taking over the role? Well, the plot thickens…Read more...

Okay, okay. Enough is enough.

It was sometime in the early ‘90s and my mommy and I were in Miami’s International Airport. I was an adventurous child with an infatuation with The Little Mermaid. There was a Disney store in this particular airport, and I figured they’d have Ariel and the homies, so I scurried my way into the store. In my excitement,…Read more...

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

Today, the hashtag #BeckyCon2019 exploded on Twitter.

Updated, Wednesday, 11/6/19 at 6:54 p.m., ET: Upon further reflection, it’s not “as stupid as.” It’s much, much worse.Read more...

Gather around citizens: Ja Rule has some thoughts on the cultural phenomenon known as the Popeyes Chicken sandwich—because we certainly wondered and asked!Read more...

A few weeks back, I attended an album talk for noted hip-hop lyricist and producer Pharoahe Monch’s 1999 album, Internal Affairs (released on seminal label, Rawkus Records), at The REACH, the new arts and culture center that’s part of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The talk,…Read more...

An assistant coach at a North Carolina High School has resigned after a video of him celebrating a victory by calling his players the n-word was posted to Facebook’s less racist sister site, Instagram. But don’t despair, the coach insists he is not racist because he claims he has permission to use the word. And,…Read more...

Following the historic induction of Missy Elliott into this year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame, it’s time to bring in the new class.Read more...

Ernest J. Gaines, a MacArthur fellow best known for the book The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, died at his home in Oscar, La., Tuesday. He was 86.Read more...

So election night has come and gone, and while we still have to wait a year—or less, if we’re lucky—to rid ourselves of President Untailored Suit, Tuesday night was still rather eventful.Read more...

New York Police Department officials are upset over the passage of a ballot measure that gives a civilian oversight watchdog more authority to investigate police officers who lie during investigations into police brutality, corruption and misconduct.Read more...

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 9 percent of all commercial aircraft pilots in the U.S. are women and less than 3 percent are black. Let that sink in.

It has been seven years since the tragic death of iconic singer Whitney Houston, and now her best friend, Robyn Crawford, is opening up about their much-rumored relationship in her new memoir, A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston.Read more...

Since his assassination in 1968, more than a thousand streets have been named after Martin Luther King Jr. But after over a year of disputes and hostility, one city where you’ll no longer find a boulevard honoring the civil rights icon is in Kansas City, Mo.Read more...

Some will call it karma. But whatever the cause, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August, Barneys will be the next luxury retailer to end its legacy, following the demise of Henri Bendel last year.Read more...

Everyone reenacted that “Soul Glo” commercial in 1988’s Coming to America, but Wesley Snipes wanted to truly let his Soul Glo. No really; he wanted to play the actual character with the infamous Jheri curl, Darryl Jenks.Read more...

Custom Beauty Kit | $63 | Tarte

The Howard Bison clashed with the Harvard Crimson in Hartford, Conn., last week as part of the 10th Annual State NAACP Conference “Great Debate”—an intercollegiate battle of the minds that is the largest of its kind in the country. In front of an audience of 10,000 people, the real HU’s debate team beat Harvard for…Read more...

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The wheels of progress turn slowly. But while slow, things are surely progressing in the fashion industry—which is good because the streets are (always) watching. After a tumultuous year that began with culturally insensitive gaffes followed by any number of corrective measures, we have steadily kept our watch on the…Read more...

After punking out on the Kurds like Joffrey in the Battle of Blackwater, Commander in Chief and yellow-bellied bone spur sufferer Donald Trump has offered the services of the U.S. Armed forces to help Mexico defend its dwindling supply of white people.Read more...

If I told Tiny Tonja that she’d be stepping onto the Walt Disney Studios lot so that she could watch a live performance of The Little Mermaid, she’d squee with absolute delight.Read more...

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

It’s official: I am a prodigal naturalista. If you haven’t been following along, that means that after 18 months of transitioning and protective styling, I finally made the long-awaited move to cut the remainder of my keratin-straightened strands off in a return to my natural texture. And while it’s been a journey, I…Read more...

For decades, we’ve been told of the courage and fortitude of Rosa Parks. Now, for the first time ever, the story of the woman who invigorated the Civil Rights Movement will be shared in her own words.Read more...

A white woman who made headlines for summoning plantation overseers police officers after she was threatened by an aggressively napping black woman has now taken up the mantle for criminal justice reform, criticizing law enforcement officials for being “hostile” and for refusing to release bodycam footage of the—Read more...

Look, I get it.Read more...