The Root

If, like me, you were heartbroken upon learning of the death of literary genius Toni Morrison on Monday, it is likely because, while Morrison’s 88 years on this earth were full and duly celebrated, her words had such a profound impact that it was often hard to believe she was a mere mortal.Read more...

After serving 15 years behind bars, Cyntoia Brown is finally free.Read more...

You’ve probably seen a ton of lists circulating on social media lately ranking the 50 greatest rappers of all time. I don’t know who did the first one, but somehow Joe Budden—an extremely talented and gifted wordsmith—ended up in the No. 3 slot ahead of arguably, at minimum, 10 rappers easily better than him. Because…Read more...

Last year, Beyoncé helped make history when she approved Tyler Mitchell to photograph her for the cover of the September 2018 issue of American Vogue, making the then-23-year-old the first black photographer—and one of the youngest—to shoot the cover of the world’s best-known fashion magazine in its 126-year history.…Read more...

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A long-delayed TV series focusing on Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, will finally see daylight, thanks to executive producers Jay-Z and Will Smith.Read more...

How do you say the word “disability”? Does it feel shameful or derogatory, or does it roll off of your tongue, matter-of-factly? Writer and disability activist Keah Brown wishes we were all less precious when talking about disability, because while it may be a fact of her life, it’s far from the whole of it, as she…Read more...

Randa Ragland’s 3-year-old son, Jaxen, is fighting for his life.

FX announced that it will renew Donald Glover’s critically acclaimed TV show, Atlanta, for a fourth season—effectively giving fans two more seasons to see if Earn, Paper Boi, Darius and Van will get their shit together...or not (my money is on “not!”).Read more...

At this point in time, Essence is an American classic, beloved by those of us who grew up with the magazine atop the coffee tables of our mothers, aunties, grandmothers, big sisters, and now, ourselves. But on the heels of the 25th annual Essence Festival, and as the magazine approaches its 50th birthday in 2020,…Read more...

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Many didn’t believe that the photos of two police officers on horseback walking a handcuffed black man down the street on a leash was real. It looked like an image from the 1960s Jim Crow South. It looked an image ripped from a book about racism.

Narvie J. Harris Traditional Theme School in Decatur, Ga., has some explaining to do.Read more...

Once upon a time, there was a widely held—if never fully realized—belief that the country’s president ought to serve as a moral compass. If not that, at least, they ought to emphatically articulate and speak to the nation’s highest values. This is especially true in times of turmoil and tragedy.Read more...

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A group of vagrants wearing gang logos and insignias spelling out “Team Mitch” posed for a photo showing them assaulting a cardboard cutout of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

A Private Internet Access old price sale, a battery organizer, and 15% off ThermoWorks lead off Tuesday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

In a ‘90s kind of world, we were glad we had our girl Queen Latifah; and now, in 2019, she’s letting us tap into that old feeling by announcing she will play Ursula in ABC’s live concert version of The Little Mermaid.Read more...

Seven days into 2019, Cyntoia Brown was granted clemency from her life sentence.

Back in March, Private Internet Access (our readers’ favorite VPN service) raised its prices for the first time ever. And while our readers can still get an exclusive 3-years for $99 plan, they just lowered their other plans back to their old prices for a limited time.

You know how sometimes two things seem so sympatico and perfect in theory that they’re basically a union waiting to happen? Well, today, we—the universal we ... ya know, me and you, your mama and your cousin, too—got word that such a union will be realized.Read more...

In a move that is deeply decent and sensical, a technology company has announced that it will no longer be complicit in white supremacist hatred by pulling the plug on services for 8chan, a website that has become the stomping grounds for mass murderers.

Former Ohio University standout Donell “D.J.” Cooper was trying to catch on with a team overseas when a drug test revealed that he was pregnant.

We are in the final throes of summer, and if Megan Thee Stallion has it her way, we’ll be heading into the fall fully scorched.Read more...

An army private is being heralded as a hero for his role in saving kids caught in the mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, this weekend. Still, his recollection of the shooting highlights the deep trauma gun and police violence have left on this country.Read more...

Rapsody, the North Carolina lyricist known in hip-hop circles as a rapper’s rapper, has consistently delivered on both her individual releases and features. In 2017, Rapsody (born Marlanna Evans) dropped her critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated album, Laila’s Wisdom (Jamla/RocNation). The first record on the…Read more...

It’s been about three years since we last asked our readers about their favorite pillows, and since you spend a third of your life using one, we think it’s time to flip this Co-Op over to the cool side and start from scratch.

I’m still processing some aspects of both Euphoria’s season finale and the entire completed season. (Namely, whether the show is actually good, or if I just enjoy it and think it is.) But one cemented detail is that Zendaya catapulted into the holy shit stratosphere of acting and talent and presence and range.…Read more...

In the stretchiest stretching of all logic that can be remotely elongated, this might be the biggest stretch of all time by a Republican attempting to blame a mass shooting on anything but bigotry, white supremacy, mental illness or “video games.”

If your home features recessed lighting features, this is officially the time to upgrade them with smart bulbs. Philips’ Hue Ambiance BR30 bulbs can’t display every color of the rainbow, but they can shift between energizing daylight and soothing warm white, and every shade of white in between, and you can get two of…Read more...

Her character’s future may hang in the balance on HBO’s Big Little Lies, but Zoë Kravitz is indisputably winning at life. The actress and musician, who wed longtime love Karl Glusman in late June, is now making the most of her ongoing brand ambassadorship with Saint Laurent, teasing a new collaboration with the…Read more...

New York Mayor and Democratic presidential long shot Bill de Blasio reportedly used members of his NYPD security detail to move his daughter out of her Sunset Park Brooklyn apartment.

A$AP Rocky had cause for praise this past Sunday. (I know, I know, the more devout amongst us would say every day there’s cause to praise the Lord, but nevertheless!) The 30-year-old rapper, born Rakim Mayers, seemed in high spirits after arriving stateside this weekend, after spending more than a month in a Swedish…Read more...

What’s hot, cold and giving girls a chance to excel in STEM? ComEd’s 6th Annual Icebox Derby, which took place in Chicago on Saturday. The sun was high over the city’s Daley Plaza, but so, too, was the momentum, as 30 girls on six teams completed their race to create the best and fastest recycled refrigerator-based,…Read more...

In trying to shift the blame of white domestic terrorism from the actual white people committing it and the “president” who champions and enables it, there has been a lot of talk about the dangers of video games.Read more...

If you expected the tragic mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, by two white domestic terrorists (at least one of whom is alleged to be a white supremacist, but neither will be named here, because fuck them), that left some 29 people dead to sway the president to lay off his racist immigration agenda,…Read more...

Memorials now line the streets of Dayton, Ohio,’s historic Oregon District, just one day after a masked gunman shot and killed nine people early Sunday morning.

We asked, and Rihanna listened. If like me, you were wowed by Fenty’s 40—now 50—shades of foundation but didn’t find Pro Filt’r’s “soft matte” finish an ideal match, the groundbreaking brand has another offering in-store, come Aug. 15. That’s right; for those of us who need a little more moisture in our makeup, there…Read more...

Brandon Johnson is no more.Read more...

With the encouragement of our President, America has gone to great lengths to paint minorities as criminals, parasites and in some instances, terrorists. But after the latest pair of mass shootings this weekend, in which a total of 29 people were killed, the fears and frustrations of American citizens have taken over…Read more...

A Kindle Bestseller sale, stainless steel steak knives, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and Owlee Speakers lead off Sunday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

As somebody who used to rock a fitted cap almost every time I left my apartment, recently, someone asked me why I had inexplicably stopped.Read more...

Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment has evolved into a cultural cornerstone, but there was a time and place where the now-iconic imprint was dismissed as an ominous purgatory where promising careers went to die.Read more...

Since Nipsey Hussle’s murder in April, his former fiancée Lauren London has transformed her Instagram account into a vigil for the celebrated community organizer, entrepreneur, and recording artist. As she’s publicly mourned his absence and inconceivable loss, she’s provided heartfelt insight into their relationship,…Read more...

In what could only be described as a grievous insult on top of deadly injury, the Baton Rouge police chief apologized for hiring the officer who killed Alton Sterling more than three years ago.Read more...

When Nikki Haley thinks you’re being an asshole, you know you’ve gone too far.

“What does a beautiful future mean to you?”Read more...

A New York administrative judge has found, like those of us with working eyes, that Daniel Pantaleo—the New York City police officer who used a banned chokehold when arresting Eric Garner for the domestic terrorist crime of selling loose cigarettes—should be fired.

A$AP Rocky could be coming home.Read more...

On the topic of colorism, model and activist Yves Mathieu summarized its impact like this: “Sometimes it is our own people that make us feel smallest and put us in this mental place that we should not be in.”