Sunday, February 28, 2021

Slavery Yoga was Taught to Kindergarteners in Delaware for Black History Month. No, Seriously.

Just Saturday, I wrote in a report that “It’s about time we have a serious conversation about how a lot of white teachers have no business whatsoever teaching Black students.” I based this statement on three separate stories—all of which occurred during this Black History Month—involving white teachers being racist…

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Recap: 28 Days of Album Cover Blackness with VSB

Another year, another Black History Month coming to a close. For the past 28 days, The Root has been celebrating Black Joy and how that looks—whether it’s through art, family, food or music. Panama Jackson, senior editor of Very Smart Brothas, has brought us all the joy through the most iconic and Blackest album…

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Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley Said Systemic Racism is Fake and America 'Liberated Slaves'. I Translated His White Fragility Speech for You

So, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is out here pretending that he’s not the Meg Griffin of the Republican party again. On Friday, the clout-chaser-in-lying-about-antifa-attacks delivered a speech during Republican PornHub Live, aka the American Conservative Union’s annual CPAC conference in Orlando, Fla. Hawley gave a…

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What's Good? Black History Month Collabs That Will Make a Difference Well Past February

“You good?” read the motif on one of the designs in Target’s Black History Month 2021 assortment, a now-annual rollout featuring collaborations with Black makers—and one arguably ahead of the curve of last year’s so-called “racial reckoning.” In the wake of the current racial justice movement, which was tragically …

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Louisiana State Trooper Suspended Without Pay After Video Shows Him Kicking and Dragging Ronald Greene Before He Died in Police Custody

Last October, The Root reported on the mysterious and fatal story of 49-year-old Ronald Greene—a Black man who died in police custody after leading officers on a high-speed chase in Louisiana in 2019. It’s a wild yet familiar story where a Black man is brought to the hospital bruised and bloodied. The cops claimed his…

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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 28: Wilson Pickett's Pickett In The Pocket (1974)

I mean, bruh. If this ain’t one of the Blackest album covers of all time then I don’t know what is. Wilson Pickett is out here rocking a red pleather suit with gold or green shimmery accents. He has beautiful Black women by his side who are clearly about to ruin his shot, or would if he wasn’t such the motherfucking…

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28 Days of Black Joy: Chosen Family

Friends, how many of us have them? I do, and it’s been life-saving during this global ponderosa.

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

Why Does LeBron James Have to Keep Telling White People He Will Not Shut Up and Dribble? This Time, It's a Fellow Athlete

It’s been more than three years since Fox News white supremacy-wench Laura Ingraham went full KKK-Karen on her show and told NBA superstar LeBron James to stay away from the social and political commentary game and to just “shut up and dribble” for the game that he knows. James responded by not only refusing to be…

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Mitch McConnell Says He'd 'Absolutely' Support Another Trump Presidency Despite Trump Calling Him a 'Political Hack'

That’s it: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell shall henceforth be known by the name Trump’s-Lil’-Bitch McConnell.

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Georgia High School Teacher Tells Class Breonna Taylor's Death Was Her 'Criminal' Boyfriend's and Her Own Fault

It’s about time we have a serious conversation about how a lot of white teachers have no business whatsoever teaching Black students.

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Black Dog Lovers? The Complex Relationship Between Black folks and Man’s Best Friend

You know those videos where the dad, who didn’t want the dog at first, slowly becomes his friend? Yeah, that’s me for the most part.

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28 Days of Black Joy: Cannabis Is the Blackest Thing Ever

I have been smoking weed since I was 14 years old.

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28 Days of Album Music Blackness With VSB, Day 27: Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)

I don’t need a ton of words to describe the way I feel about the cover for Public Enemy’s sophomore album, 1988's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Mostly, I just need to say how bad ass it is. And especially how bad ass it was to a 9-year-old whose big sister was into Black Power and hip-hop with…

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Friday, February 26, 2021

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Renames 2 Dorms After Black Activists Who Fought to Desegregate Higher Education

In a nice twist of fate, two residential halls at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville are being named after Black civil rights activists, not because the buildings were already named after racists but simply because the two activists deserve the honor.

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Black Lives Matter Says $3 Million Fund for People Struggling From Pandemic Depleted After One Day, Seeks More Donations

A day after announcing a $3 million fund to support grants to Black people struggling during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) says the fund has been exhausted.

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During His Presidency Obama Found That White Hate of Black People Made Reparations a Pipe Dream

It isn’t that the first Black president didn’t believe or want to give Black folks their 40 acres and a mule; it’s just the level of white hate he witnessed during his time in office made the push for reparations a “non-starter.”

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Golden Globes' HFPA States the Obvious: 'We Need to Bring in Black Members'

In a display of utter disrespect during Black History Month—of all months—it was recently revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the journalist-based voting collective of the Golden Globes) has absolutely no Black members. Frankly, most Black people already figured that—and if you’re a Black person…

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Make It Rain With TwitCoins: Is There Anyone You'd Pay to Read Their 'Super' Tweets?

If you’re an active member of the Black Twitter community, chances are you’ve heard some variation of the phrase, “How is Twitter free?!” after something super dramatic and entertaining happens, rivaling the best television show during sweeps.

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O-T Fagbenle Will Be the Barack to Viola Davis' Michelle in Showtime Anthology Series, The First Lady

In 2019, we first heard that Viola Davis would be portraying former (and forever) first lady Michelle Obama in an upcoming Showtime anthology series aptly titled, The First Lady.

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It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! Nah, It’s Ta-Nehisi Coates Writing the Script for the Next Superman Movie

Look, I’m not saying I yelled “LET’S FUCKING GO, BAYBEEE!” when news broke that Ta-Nehisi Coates has been tapped to write the next Superman movie.

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'Love Is the Strut. Hate Is a Stumble': The Root Presents It's Lit! Salutes the Black Bottom Saints With Alice Randall

In case you haven’t noticed, “Black joy” has been our theme for Black History Month 2021 at The Root—and as the month comes to a close, it’s fitting that we share the joy that is writer Alice Randall. Perhaps you’re familiar with Randall through her bestselling (and controversial) 2001 parody of Gone With the Wind,…

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Conservative-Funded Group Asks Supreme Court to End Affirmative Action in College Admissions

The conservative-funded Students for Fair Admissions group is taking its legal challenge to Harvard’s consideration of race in student admissions to the Supreme Court.

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Michigan, Northwestern Announce George Jewett Trophy to Honor Big Ten's 1st Black Player

While pursuing a degree in nursing, George Jewett broke the color barrier as the first Black football player in the history of the Big Ten. During the 1890 and 1892 seasons, he played fullback, halfback, and kicker at Michigan before transferring to Northwestern in 1893 to play two more seasons and earn his degree.

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Michigan Police Officer on Unpaid Leave After Being Accused of Sharing Racist George Floyd Meme

There’s a reason I generally never feel bad about the negative things I say and write about police officers. I’ve spent much of my life witnessing the disregard and even the contempt a lot of cops have for Black life. And that’s only based on what I’ve observed in person—I can only imagine what cops are saying about…

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Bundles on Bundles in This Week’s Good-Ass Games at Good-Ass Prices

Happy Friday, folks! I hope your week has been good so far, I’m feeling pretty good myself. We got quite a few bangers in store today, so I figure we might as well jump right in.

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From Uptown to World Wide Funk: Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Bootsy Collins Made an Album, Y'all

It’s Friday and I’m at work (from home), but I’d “rather be with you.” Actually, I kind of am! Hey, readers of The Root, I have some great news to end the week on. There is an actual body of work featuring Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Bootsy Collins (the latter of whom is listed as a “special guest”). It’s called An

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Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale: Illustrator-Author Tim Fielder Looks to the Future With a Modern Epic

Tim Fielder is a force of nature. His enthusiasm for life is evident in his consistent booming laughter and the kinetic energy of his 6’4 frame as it grabs you in the friendliest bear hug. He’s the type of guy who remembers meeting your mama at a conference for five minutes and then shows her love the next time he…

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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 26: Michael Jackson's Off The Wall (1979)

Ain’t no way in the world this monthlong series would pass without a nod to one of the greatest albums ever that also happens to feature Michael Jackson at his Blackest. 1979's Off The Wall is a certified classic. It’s the album that launched Thriller. But the cover let’s you know it’s about to be the jams. Mike has…

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28 Days of Black Joy: The Art of Chuck Styles

It all started over the past year when like many of us, I made a very hard turn into damn near exclusively buying clothing pieces by and for Black people. While I’ve always been very much into F.U.B.U. as a philosophy (while oddly never buying an actual FUBU apparel) my Buy Black meter hit an all-time high.…

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Thursday, February 25, 2021

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies Allege a Gang Targeting Black and Latino Communities Exists in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

I know you read that headline and thought “OK, but isn’t that generally Los Angeles policing as a whole?” You’re not wrong, but a group of deputies have alleged that there are functioning gangs embedded within law enforcement that target Black and Latino neighborhoods.

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Alleged Capitol Rioter Identified After Ex-Girlfriend Shared Berating Texts Sent From the Capitol With the FBI

It’s been going on close to two months since the redneck Taliban attacked the U.S. Capitol building because the Republican mafia led them to believe the 2020 election had been stolen. But the FBI is still identifying and arresting people suspected of taking part in the whiney and wrong wypipo war on non-MAGA votes. A…

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Get a 48-Pack of AAA Batteries for Just $12, or AA Batteries for $13

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Black Renaissance & Chill: Finish Black History Month Strong With This Week's Virtual Events

Well folks, it seems that we’ve come to the end of this year’s Black History Month Road—but I can’t let you go just yet without providing another installment of virtual events to help you say goodbye the right way. However, there is good news to report! Next month is Women’s History Month—or as we call it, “Black…

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Thasunda Brown Duckett Will Be the Next CEO of TIAA, Making Her 1 of 2 Black Women to Lead a Fortune 500 Company

January brought big news to the business world, as Starbucks COO Roz Brewer was named the new CEO of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, making her the only Black woman to currently helm a company in the Fortune 500 (and only the third, after former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and Ursula Burns and Bed Bath & Beyond Interim CEO…

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