A 27-year-old black trans woman, Layleen Polanco, also known as Layleen Xtravaganza, was found dead in her jail cell on Rikers Island last week, and the LGBTQ community and her family plan to rally today to demand justice in her name.

Looks like Satan’s favorite tin-man with the perpetual fake tan and the white-man-lace front might have a heart after all.

“QUESTION EVERYTHING” reads the black and white flag waving in front of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, coyly relabeled “City Hall” for the duration of Virgil Abloh’s new exhibition, Figures of Speech, which opens Monday.Read more...

Can we talk for a minute? And no, I’m not trying to know your name. I want to talk about mental health in the black community.Read more...

Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam—once known as “The Central Park Five” are now “The Exonerated Five.”Read more...

Like many of us, I spent various moments yesterday reading mixed reporting on the status of Bushwick Bill, member of pioneering Houston rap group, Geto Boys.Read more...

After spending the past 30-plus years as your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, rap legend Scarface is putting down the mic to run for Houston city council.Read more...

If you can believe it, it’s edging on 30 years since Spike Lee implored us to Do The Right Thing.Read more...

Madison, Wisc., police officers were called to the home of a 17-year-old boy last week because he was experiencing a mental health crisis. The encounter ended with officers tackling the child, placing a bag over his head, and punching the teen, who is black, repeatedly.Read more...

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Fox News talking head Laura Ingraham hosted a D-Day interview with President Trump, which if you didn’t see it, went something like this: “blah-blah-blah Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer don’t want me to succeed..blah-blah...I like giraffes...blah-blah...I once ate a walrus.”

From urban parks to the remote backcountry, Steppin’ Out is the Inventory’s week long gear guide to push you outside and keep you happy in the wild. With sun-drenched, exceptionally long days here, the outside world is your oyster. That alone should be motivation to step out the door and explore, but just in case,…Read more...

Curtain Call! The 73rd Annual Tony Awards was full of drama (the good kind) in New York City on Sunday night, and the big winner was a town where the wind blows...any way.Read more...

Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz is in stable condition after being shot at a club in the Dominican Republic.Read more...

Feathers, tulle, velvet, yards of train and even more star power; the theatrical community celebrated its biggest honors Sunday night at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.Read more...

Tami Sawyer’s run for mayor of Memphis, Tn. almost didn’t happen. The issue? Self-doubt.

Bushwick Bill (born Richard Stephen Shaw), the hip-hop legend and co-founder of the iconic Houston group Geto Boys, has died.Read more...

Four-year Dadaist art installation Donald Trump and his administration are rejecting requests from United States embassies to fly the rainbow flag most closely associated with June, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, according to NBC News.

A 42-year-old Louisiana sheriff’s deputy, Shaderick Jones, allegedly forced a 26-year-old mother Iyeseha Todd to perform oral sex on her infant son while he recorded it, claiming the depraved act was his “fantasy.”

A 41-year-old U.S. Army veteran called his brother to tell him he was heading to New York to visit their sick mother. Before he left, he needed to make sure an outstanding DUI warrant in Pennsylvania was settled to be sure his license was valid.Read more...

I hear you looking at me right now like, “How did Ray J end up ‘round here?” And to that I say, despite the fact that I have stated very plainly that I’m a fan of one Willie Ray Norwood, I didn’t put Ray J on this list, I put “One Wish” on this list because this song is absolutely fire. And it has always been. This…Read more...

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Before an orange-tinged carnival barker began waging a war with the news media and Russian troll farms began spewing misinformation across social media to help said carnival barker ascend to the White House, the quality of news probably ranked fairly low among the things most Americans typically worried about.

If you went and saw Dark Phoenix this weekend, or plan to see Dark Phoenix this weekend, I’m going to make a few assumptions about you. First, that you probably have seen some of the previous X-Men films. Why? Because the title Dark Phoenix makes absolutely no sense and tells you nothing about the film unless you’ve…Read more...

Natasha Tynes, the author who lost her book deal after calling out a black female D.C. Metro employee for eating on the train by posting her photo on Twitter, is suing her publisher for $13 million, Buzzfeed News reports.Read more...

One thing I’ve made it a point to do more in the past few years is dig heavier into current music coming from Africa. So many artists are breaking through (i.e., Davido, etc.) but there is just SO SO much dope music coming from West Africa—Nigeria in particular.Read more...

A Backcountry sale, laser level Gold Box, a Blendtec blender and a cold brew maker lead off a Saturday’s best deals.Read more...

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Family is a common fixture along the campaign trail of many a political candidate, but few earn the aspirational moniker of being a candidate’s “Bobby Kennedy” as Maya Harris, younger sister of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris has among some political watchers.Read more...

With the start of each June, the countdown begins to when the Supreme Court is expected to hand down decisions in cases that came before them in the term, and among the biggest items this term were cases involving census 2020 and partisan gerrymandering.

Sometimes life comes at you fast or — in the case of former prosecutor-turned-author Linda Fairstein — decades later, with Fairstein facing the latest comeuppance as a result of backlash since a revisting of her handling of the prosecution of five black and brown boys in New York’s infamous 1989 Central Park jogger…Read more...

Sony Pictures on Friday honored John Singleton by renaming one of the biggest theaters on its Hollywood movie lot for the filmmaker, who made his first feature film, the iconic Boyz n the Hood, with Sony and Columbia Pictures.Read more...

The president is a goddamn idiot.

All of our Co-op finalists are good, but one hair tie came and conquered the others. Goody Ouchless Women’s Braided Elastics are our readers’ favorite.Read more...

When it was announced that rising actor Jason Mitchell—known for his performances in Straight Outta Compton, Mudbound and The Chi—had not only been released from his contract as a series regular on The Chi but was removed from an upcoming Netflix film (and dropped by his agent and manager), the initial response was a…Read more...

Do you always stop at an expensive coffee shop on your way to work? If you care about the taste of your coffee, then it is time to start making a pot at home. If you’ve never gotten into K Cups and prefer ground coffee, skip buying preground and get your own grinder.Read more...

Life begins with a number and ends with a number.Read more...

Raphael Saadiq, the most underappreciated R&B artist of all time, is about to bring forth the sound and light with his Aug. 23 release, Jimmy Lee. It will be his first solo release in eight years, following up his 2011 release, Stone Rollin’.Read more...

It’s African American Music Appreciation Month and filmmaker extraordinaire Steve McQueen certainly has an appreciation for music. In fact, he proved it by directing an entire Soundtrack of America.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is proving himself to be a fuckboi. At this point, I wouldn’t trust Obama’s BFF to tell me what he ate for breakfast this morning if he hadn’t checked with his campaign staff and taken a peek at his polling numbers to see where bacon haters have landed.

Pride Month has arrived, and you know what that means: Brands are decking their products out in rainbows aplenty, and also donating quite a bit of cash to organizations that support LGBTQ+ rights and communities. We’ve rounded up 20 of the coolest collections to shop, so you can be proud of more than just your…Read more...

If you think we’re going to throw our asses in a circle while simultaneously doing community service, then you’re absolutely black-ass right.Read more...

The wife of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob has reportedly received death threats after she decided, using her own free will, to crane her neck across Queen Beyoncé’s air space to speak with her majesty’s husband, who apparently does something in music.

Last month, the 92nd Scripps National Spelling Bee somehow concluded in a historic eight-way tie. Its eight winners dominated five consecutive perfect rounds and spelled 47 consecutive words correctly in order to emerge as co-champions.Read more...

Editor’s Note: Senior Writer Michael Harriot is on vacation, so this week’s Clapback Mailbag was prepared in advance. If anyone on The Root’s staff has pissed white people off in the last few days, we promise to respond to their concerns in a timely manner.Read more...

Let’s just give you all the punchline first: Dear people who live in Atlanta, I made it from Morehouse College’s campus bookstore to my actual gate at Hartsfield-Jackson in under 40 minutes, while gassing up my rental car and dropping it off to the facility in between. Also, I have receipts to prove it. Seems…Read more...

Rihanna and her billionaire boo Hassan Jameel have gotten an early start on their summer of love, it seems! The pair were recently spotted by photographers off the Amalfi Coast¸—a luxe Italian destination I was first introduced to by another billionaire, Jay-Z, when he rapped about that shit in 2006. (And there you…Read more...

I came to know this song by way of one of the greatest groups ever assembled: Immature. The trio of Marques “Batman” Houston, Jerome “Romeo” Jones and Kelton “LDB” Kessee recorded “Feel the Funk” in 1995 for the white-savior extraordinaire film Dangerous Minds soundtrack (it was also included on their 1995 album, We…Read more...

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