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What role does race play in the lives of young Americans? You tell us.
The Root Reviews 'Black in America 2' -
The Nobel Laureate dissects the message the president's trip to Ghana should send to the corrupt and failing states of Africa.
Wole Soyinka on Obama in Africa -
Barack Obama's first presidential trip to Sub-Saharan Africa will focus on the good guys—but we couldn't resist calling out the bad. Your guide to the Ghana trip, and the company Obama should be keeping abroad.
GALLERY: African Rogues and Royalty
Barack Obama Visits Ghana; Check the African Leaders Who Weren't Invited to Dinner -
To help President Obama improve America's image in the world, Americans must learn more about the world outside their nation's borders.
Americans Must Go Global to Improve Our Nation's Image! -
The Obama White House understands how badly America needs Russia's help in fixing the world's problems.
Mr. Obama Goes to Moscow -
The president’s critics think he’s either meddling or missing in action. In fact, he’s doing it just right.
Obama's Iran Stance is Just Right -
In an excerpt from the new book This is Your Country on Drugs, Ryan Grim explains how the press covered for the CIA in the Iran-Contra drug scandal that rocked the black community in the '90s.
How the Press Covered for the CIA in the Iran-Contra Affair -
Before embarking on his North American tour earlier this week, the Afrobeat musician talked to The Root about his family’s musical and political legacy, and his thoughts on the radical future ahead for the Obama generation.
Femi Kuti Starts His North American Tour -
In Cairo, President Obama declared that Islam and America are compatible. He took aim at violent extremists. But he wasn’t as clear about bridging the gap between Israelis and Arabs.
Obama's Cairo Speech Flips the Ism Script -
President Obama's interests and Bill Clinton's new role are producing something rare in the hemisphere's poorest nation -- optimism.
U.S. Relations with Haiti Are Prioritized by Obama
TOP OF THE TREE
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Oprah's Blackest Moments
by The Root ContributorsOprah Winfrey recently announced plans for retirement in 2011. The talk show host may have a stronghold on white, suburban housewives, but The Root contributors remember moments when Oprah kept it real—black.
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What Kobe, LeBron and Dwyane Owe Spencer Haywood
by Martin JohnsonForty years ago, Haywood became the first player to leave college early and go to the pros—proving that young players got game, too.
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Shaniya's Shame
by Malika Saada SaarThe murder of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis highlights a disturbing and growing trend in the U.S.: the trafficking of young girls into sexual slavery.
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Storming the Court?
by Sherrilyn A. IfillWhen it comes to appointing federal judges, President Obama shouldn’t try to play center. Centrist judges will not balance judges on the right. Left balances right.
VIEWS
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The (Not So) New World Order
Yinka Shonibare MBE’s career retrospective at the Smithsonian just goes to show how strange things get when the empire strikes black.
Maybe Your Great-Grandmother Really Was Cherokee
A new exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian traces black-Native American relations from the 1500s to the present.
Is the USDA Still the Last Plantation?
During the Bush administration, 13,999 racial discrimination cases were swept under the rug at the Agriculture Department. What will Secretary Tom Vilsack do about it?
Rakim's Back
Def Jam is 25. "Rapper’s Delight" is 30. And Rakim is 41. But with his latest album, The Seventh Seal, hip-hop heads can remember the best of the golden age.
Color-Struck Around The Globe
Sammy Sosa’s new vampire complexion is a jarring reminder that, from the Dominican Republic to Dakar to New Delhi, white is still right, yellow is still mellow and if you’re black, get back.









