James Robinson was a black Revolutionary War hero who also served during the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson. During both of those wars, he was promised his freedom by those who enlisted him (and other black men turned into soldiers); but when it was time to collect on that freedom, he was returned to slavery. And…Read more...

New video released by the Chicago police late Monday night shows that when officers went to investigate a possible hate crime against actor Jussie Smollett in January, the former Empire star greeted them still wearing a long piece of tangled rope around his neck.

It’s the most important meal of the day, and she’s known as the greatest female tennis player to play the game, so how is it possible we’re just now celebrating Serena Williams getting her own Wheaties box?

In the revolving shitshow known as the Donald Trump White House, yet another liar press secretary has been chosen after current mouthpiece Sarah Huckabee Sanders, aka “Suckabee,” announced in mid-June that she was leaving.Read more...

With her latest project, Megan Thee Stallion officially ushered in summer and we’ve been jubilantly twerking ever since. With bop after bop, she’s giving us hits that bless not only our lives but our Instagram captions.Read more...

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What makes a great party? No, I mean a really great party; the kind people look forward to, year after year. This Fourth of July weekend, we’re going to find out; we’re traveling to New Orleans. to join our play cousins at Essence for the 25th anniversary celebration of their legendary festival.Read more...

A white American missionary has been accused of posing as a doctor and running a fake medical facility in Africa where she cared for hundreds of children, many of whom did not survive her treatment.

The Trump presidency has definitely lowered the bar as far as expectations when it comes to our world leaders and the person sitting in our country’s highest office. Trump alone has managed to destroy the notion that the president of the United States is knowledgeable about the world—including knowing the names of…Read more...

Cardi B’s been on a winning streak, as of late; and clearly, it’s not one she’s expecting a pesky little thing like a criminal indictment to end. Despite being indicted by a grand jury in Queens on Friday on multiple felony charges stemming from a 2018 strip club altercation, as Page Six reports, Cardi remained…Read more...

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As a lifelong hoops head, attending the NBA Awards is a bit of a surreal experience. I ran into Nick Anderson, and the 15-year-old Orlando Magic fan buried deep within me had to resist the urge to um … “talk to him” about missing those four free throws in the 1995 NBA Finals. Speaking with NBA Hall of Famer Isiah…Read more...

Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke told The Root in an on-camera interview that all Americans need to understand the story of slavery before the government considers cash reparations for descendants of slaves.Read more...

New Edition is one of my favorite groups ever because of course, they are. “Can You Stand the Rain” is one of the greatest songs of all time because of course, it is. There’s a reason why BET’s The New Edition Story was such an event. Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph—and Johnny, too, have been a part of my life since…Read more...

I don’t mean to shock you. After all, here you were, minding your business, reading a blog and thinking about all the things you could eat for lunch (Burrito bowl? Salad, out of respect for the summer body that will get here...maybe in 2021? Steak-Umms?) or the places you could travel if you weren’t in an…Read more...

For centuries, some of America’s most distinguished public figures have averted criticism of prejudice and bigotry by conducting amateur psychological exams on themselves and declaring to the world that they “don’t have a racist bone in their body.” The list of people who have proclaimed themselves to be racism…Read more...

A 26-year-old Houston woman is being held on a new, higher bail of $25,000 as she faces charges that she played a twisted game of chicken with her three young children, and killed her 3-year-old son when she hit him with her SUV—twice.

Conventional wisdom goes: The young will lead when it comes to matters of tolerance and acceptance regardless of race, color, creed—or sexual orientation. But according to GLAAD, that conventional wisdom has been turned on its head, and Donald Trump is to blame.Read more...

Reports of sexual harassment in the workplace are down among women overall, but the decline is far less steep among black women, signaling they are at greater risk.

Gizmodo The New Raspberry Pi Is Basically a $35 Desktop Computer | Jalopnik Boeing Has So Many Grounded 737 Max Planes Waiting to Be Fixed They’re Parking Them in the Employee Parking Lot | Kotaku Outer Wilds Is One Of The Best Games I’ve Ever Played | Lifehacker Protect Yourself From Ticks by Understanding How They…Read more...

Singer-songwriter Tanérelle would like you to know that her breasts—and how they hang—are none of your business, thankyouverymuch.

Will the lampooning of Meghan Markle ever end? Likely no time soon, as a new satire show premiering on BBC Two indicates. The 3D-animation comedy show Tonight with Vladimir Putin premiered on Sunday night in Britain, with the Duchess of Sussex portrayed as an obnoxious, viciously jealous “trailer trash” personality…Read more...

The U.S. government has stepped in and moved most of the children who were at a Border Patrol station in Texas after reports noted that some 300 children were living in inadequate conditions without much food water and sanitation. Oh, and older kids were taking care of the smaller kids because the Border Patrol people…Read more...

My America is single, without a president and currently trying to find itself, but there’s a man in the White House who is threatening the status of many that inhabit our “great” country.Read more...

Some lovely Twitter user by the name of Green Chyna gave me one of my most stressful hours on Sunday when they created a quiz titled, “Being Beyoncé’s assistant for the day: DONT GET FIRED THREAD.”

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Same-gender-loving men have been accused of trying to ruin the black family, and that’s a black-ass lie. Men who are part of the LGBTQ+ community are concerned with having the right to merely exist and to be treated as equals. As for an agenda? We do not, nor have we ever, had the time to come up with a plot to take…Read more...

If you ever dreamed of sipping Mo’ on the living room floor of the Brooklyn apartment immortalized by the Notorious B.I.G., you might not be able to play Nintendo with Cease-a-Leo, but for a scant $4,000 per month, you can rent Biggie’s childhood home, presenting the unique opportunity for affluent hip-hop fans to…Read more...

It’s a word that trails women and people of color like a stray dog: “electability”—a word that’s become a catch-all code for nebulous concerns that certain candidates just don’t (or can’t) inspire voters to turn out at the polls as much as others. But, as a new study suggests, if those concerns are tethered to a…Read more...

Tyler Perry is building his empire and his next venture is coming with a little help from his friends at BET.Read more...

Donald Trump is a liar.

A video of a Washington, D.C., Metro police officer tasing a man who was simply asking questions about the detention of two juveniles has sparked outrage and anger among residents and activists. But no one was “shocked” by the incident...unless you count the man who was subjected to D.C. Metro cops’ impromptu…Read more...

Leave it to the businessman who’s so bad at business, he’s probably lost every game of Monopoly he’s ever played, to try and profit off his presidential library.

J. Cole has quietly amassed a hell of a roster over at Dreamville. One of his current artists, Ari Lennox (who in May released her debut album, Shea Butter Baby—seriously, how fuckin’ awesome of a title is that?)—is really starting to make noise, as she should be. Lennox, who is a singer/songwriter from Washington,…Read more...

Through the early days of the 2020 presidential campaign, Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has had trouble getting black voters to come to his events. That was not the case on Sunday—but then again, this wasn’t a campaign stop.Read more...

Fun fact: When Rihanna gives you a standing ovation in the middle of your flute solo, your DNA test is probably right: you’re 100 percent “that bitch.” Frankly, we didn’t expect Lizzo to top the stellar Sister Act 2 tribute she gave only a week ago at the MTV TV and Movie Awards, but clearly, she had more tricks up…Read more...

Queen & Slim are staying alive, no matter what. Even in a world where police officers constantly target people who look like them.Read more...

The 19th annual BET Awards have come and gone and it was the blackest way to start the summer. I watched the shenanigans go down live from one of the blackest media rooms in the game.Read more...

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See, what had happened was …Read more...

The day has come, y’all!Read more...

Have you ever heard a song that totally had you at hello? Well, for me, one of those songs would be Deep Cotton’s “We’re Far Enough From Heaven Now We Can Freak Out.” Deep Cotton is the duo of Nate Wonder and Chuck Lightning, Janelle Monae’s longtime collaborative partners responsible for much of the production in …Read more...

After being convicted of the murder of activist Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others when he plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters during the infamous Charlottesville rally, James Alex Fields Jr. is begging the judge responsible for his sentencing to show him mercy.Read more...

Since his retirement from the NBA in 2011, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has been just as dominant as he was on the court. His estimated net worth of over $400 million is a byproduct of a diverse portfolio that includes franchise ownership, investments and lucrative endorsements with companies like Gold Bold and…Read more...

A big Kindle ebook sale, a bunch of menswear deals on Amazon, and travel-friendly bike repair tools lead off Sunday’s best deals from around the web.

In 1968, a year fraught with violent civil rights protests and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., tennis legend Arthur Ashe became the first black male athlete to win the U.S. Open. But beyond his groundbreaking accomplishments on the tennis court, Ashe’s tireless activism off of it is equally commendable.…Read more...

As Lena Waithe’s star continues to rise, she’s taken her responsibility as a black filmmaker seriously. Not only does she make it a point to create opportunities for other deserving black creatives, but she holds other Hollywood veterans in positions of power to do the same.Read more...

Today is the 22nd day of June, in the year of our Lord, 2019. Since the year of our Lord 1996 I’ve been preaching the same (debatably controversial) gospel: Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” is one of the greatest songs ever created. I stand firm and pat on this statement.Read more...

Planned Parenthood of St. Louis, which happens to be the only abortion provider left in the state of Missouri, can keep providing the service for now, but Missouri officially yanked its license Friday, endangering the clinic’s operation long-term.

Despite reported misgivings by the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE agents are prepared to start rounding up migrant families with existing deportation orders Sunday in 10 major cities around the country.