The Root

As the city of Chicago lurches forward with its lawsuit against actor Jussie Smollett, John Legend penned a blistering op-ed last week, taking aim at Chicago’s powerful police union.

Prior to his shocking death in 2016, The Purple One was working on a memoir. And while he didn’t live to execute his vision, it looks like he’ll be blessing us from beyond the grave on October 29.

Root Staff Writer Jay Connor told us days ago that “Karma has a GPS,” and it turned out to be more factual than we thought. New reports have surfaced stating that Kodak Black is blaming his most recent legal troubles on his GPS system.Read more...

Rossi Lorathio Adams II, the 26-year-old founder of media company State Snaps, faces up to two decades in prison for hiring an intruder to break into a house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to force the transfer of an internet domain at gunpoint, according to CNN.Read more...

With droves of research suggesting education is one of the most effective tools to rehabilitate those currently serving sentences behind bars, Congress is trying to do something to make education more available to inmates.

Karimah Guion-Pledgure had been an employee of Multnomah County, Ore. since 2011 when her employer put up a “Blue Lives Matter” flag in the workplace in 2017.Read more...

As reported by The New York Times:

The sighting of a man previously thought to have been killed by law enforcement officers has sparked a number of theories and set Black Twitter on fire with both praises of wonder and joy.

Malissa Ancona, 46, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in St. Francois County Court in Farmington, Mo., according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.Read more...

Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executiveof Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), loves Rihanna as much as the rest of us. He loves her ability to bring in boatloads of money even more.Read more...

It’s officially beach season, and if you aren’t happy with your current cooler collection, Arctic Zone’s well-reviewed soft side models are 20% off on Amazon this week.

According to Black Enterprise, The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and Hennessy have partnered to announce a $10 million HBCU scholarship initiative.Read more...

Kerry Lathan, 56, was on parole when he was shot alongside Los Angeles rapper and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, on March 31.Read more...

Larry Mitchell Hopkins, the 69-year-old leader of the United Constitutional Patriots, an armed border militia group spreading conspiracies and rounding up asylum-seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border, has been taken into custody by the FBI.Read more...

Donald Trump seems to be rebounding from the Mueller report just fine.Read more...

John Singleton’s family confirmed the iconic filmmaker’s stroke to E!News on Saturday.Read more...

For true 70’s and 80’s babies the phrase “He likes It! Hey, Mikey!” is forever etched into your etch-a-sketched minds. The famous ad campaign for Life cereal ran for over a decade starting in 1972, and now, in 2019, The Quaker Oats brand is hoping to find its new iconic Mikey.

Last week, Emmanuel Aranda allegedly threw a five-year-old boy from the third floor of the Mall of America in Minnesota, according to authorities.Read more...

It’s 4/20, so you know what that means! (Just in case my mother is reading this, April 20th is a day that we recreate the time God Facetimed Moses via a burning bush.)Read more...

Washington, DC, is in the midst of a culture war between the new residents who want to mold the city into their own version of VanillaTown and the folks who didn’t ask for any of this shit but now have to defend their ways of life. Yes, we’re talking gentrification. From new residents of Chinatown trying to stop the…Read more...

It’s 4/20 and high time for cannabis-infused beauty. According to a recent WWD report Google searches for cannabidiol (CBD) reached an all-time high in March; the most asked question: what is CBD?

Members of a local militia in New Mexico apparently decided to take matters into their own hands regarding this nation’s immigration policy and detained a group of asylum seekers at gunpoint before turning them over to U.S. Border Patrol.

A Florida man has been charged with making death threats against prominent Democratic officials, including Sen. Cory Booker, and Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and spewing hateful invective against blacks, Muslims and immigrants in a series of phone calls.

Just in time for National Weed Day, aka 420, aka tomorrow, April 20, the Carl’s Jr. burger chain is bringing out a special offering—one that could whet the appetites of those who may have the munchies after deciding to indulge in a little bud.Read more...

It’s no secret that veteran White House correspondent April Ryan and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders don’t have the most collegial of relationships, and now Ryan has vociferously called for Huckabee Sanders’ resignation.

People who read the Clapback Mailbag often ask how I can stomach wading through the morass of emails, tweets, comments and direct messages each week. It is true that they are often filled with hate, grammatical errors and ignorance, but the reason I love Fridays is simple:Read more...

After evaluating testimonies and assessing surveillance video of a February road rage incident that erupted into violence, felony assault charges against Sgt. 1st Class Kai Waters, 33, have been dismissed.Read more...

Thank god for cellphones.

On Thursday, Attorney General William Barr held a press conference early in the morning to tell everyone how much he loves and respects the president. Fine, he held a press conference...who knows why he held a damn press conference, but he did and it was stupid.

“They do anything for clout,” raps Cardi B and her hubby boo Offset in their newest video, but what Cardi won’t do is accept a plea deal.Read more...

Thursday’s announcement of the launch of a groundbreaking news channel aimed at black audiences set the internet on fire. There would finally be a news organization focused on issues important to the black community.

Issa Rae is a busy woman. She is a Cover Girl, she’s building up that IMDb filmography, and I’m sure there’s likely some other pending projects we’re not even aware of yet.

It is a pretty bold claim to make that mascara is better than sex, but Too Faced is confident when naming their products. If you love to stock up on their mascaras, eye shadow palettes, highlighters, and more, you’re in luck. Right now, with a $35 purchase, you can get a free mini Better Than Sex Waterproof mascara…Read more...

A new season inevitably means a new skincare routine is in order. First Aid Beauty understands your skin’s needs, and to prove it, they’re taking 20% off a selection of the best products for spring. I’m a big fan of the brand’s gentle Ultra Repair Face Moisturizer, now down to $20, and you may also want to consider…Read more...

Howard University’s yard isn’t a dog park, but the historic black university in Washington, D.C., has been reduced to as much by colonizing residents who have made it their home (and Lassie’s).

Raniya Wright, the South Carolina fifth grader who died after a fight at her elementary school last month, died of natural causes, according to Colleton County coroner Richard Harvey and prosecutor Duffie Stone, who spoke at a news conference Friday.

Hidden in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s now-public but heavily-redacted “Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election” is a trove of information concerning the plot to use black grassroots organizations to help Donald Trump become America’s 45th president.

Ginger White is a woman on a mission. And that mission, it appears, is to keep former pizza guru Herman Cain off the Federal Reserve Board, and she’s willing to go as far as describing Cain’s private parts to the Senate Banking Committee.

The Devil’s mouthpiece aka White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, aka Suckabee, takes all her cues from the president.

Since her release from prison in 2014, “All the Way Up” rapper Remy Ma has gone to great lengths to rehabilitate her image. She’s become invaluable to VH1's Love & Hip-Hop empire, she’s joined husband Papoose in becoming the unofficial brand ambassadors for “Black Love,” and she co-hosts the popular talk show State of…Read more...

One year later, Beychella is still on the minds of many. With the release of her new Netflix documentary, it is evident that Beyoncé has made a cultural impact on our society. The performance celebrated every facet of blackness imaginable and paid homage to those who paved the way for so many, but even after this…Read more...

On April 18, 2019, The Toxic Masculinity Brigade held an emergency meeting after receiving a press release informing them that the “real ass bitch, give a fuck about a nigga” lyric that has annoyed their ashen spirits has been brought to you by none other than Lil Yachty.

Attention fellow badass women! There’s a new podcast coming just for you. I mean, everyone else can listen, too, but it’s made for the badasses.

The much-anticipated series chronicling the Central Park Five, When They See Us, is nearing its debut, and we now have more footage to whet our appetite.Read more...

For black women throughout the world, “Don’t Touch My Hair” is much more than the pinnacle of Solange’s discography, it’s dogma—or an ominous warning that both life and limb can be lost should you cross that line.Read more...

The DNA testing company Ancestry.com says it’s pulling an ad depicting a mixed-race couple during antebellum slavery after a furious—and well-deserved—backlash accusing the company of romanticizing and whitewashing the reality of interracial sexual relationships during that period.Read more...

When I think of the 90s, there are a few specific groups, songs and television shows that immediately come to mind: Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Jodeci, SWV, Wu-Tang Clan, Jade’s “Don’t Walk Away,” Groove Theory’s “Tell Me,” (for my money, one of the best and most 90s songs of all time) and indisputably Zhané’s…Read more...

As we head into the warmer season, it is important to take care of your skin. Wearing sunscreen is critical during the summer months, but there are more ways to keep your skin hydrated and healthy. If you’re not already using a vitamin C serum, you should because it can brighten, firm, and hydrate your skin. If you’ve…Read more...

Think of a millennial in the workplace, and a host of stereotypes probably pop up. Maybe you envision a beanie-clad, kombucha-swilling engineer hunched over a laptop in an open office. Or maybe a 30-something manager sorting invoices over cold avocado toast. Or maybe you picture someone juggling a bunch of gig jobs:…Read more...