On Dec. 6, Tarrant, Ala., police Officer William Stacy got a shoplifting call from Dollar General. Stacy gets such calls all the time. When he got to the store, he was shocked by what he saw: Helen Johnson, 47, was short the money she needed to get a carton of eggs, so she had stuffed…

Friends and family of Lennon Lacy, the 17-year-old North Carolina teen found hanged, believe that his death may have been connected to a relationship he had with a 32-year-old white woman who, they say, turned to prostitution to support her crack habit, according to a New York Daily News report. Lennon’s body was found Aug.…

John Crawford III walked into a Beavercreek, Ohio, Wal-Mart on Aug. 5. He was there with his girlfriend, Tasha Thomas, to get marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate. The plan was to make s’mores for a family cookout. Once at the store, he picked up an unboxed BB gun from the shelf and began walking the…

If you or people you know need health care now, signing up for Affordable Care Act health coverage must be done by Dec. 15 in order to be covered by Jan. 1. If by chance you miss that date, all is not lost. The Miami Herald reports that first-time Obamacare consumers without insurance can still…

The Rev. Al Sharpton and relatives of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and Michael Brown marched arm in arm Saturday along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., protesting the recent deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers. Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Members of several civil rights organizations joined Sharpton in…

San Diego protesters took to social media Friday with charges that a staff member who works for City Councilwoman Lorie Zapf called them “f—king idiots with their hands up” and added, “I wanted to shoot them.” According to KPBS, on Wednesday during the City Council inauguration, community representative Shirley Owen grew tired of protesters who…

A 19-year-old California woman is fighting for her life after taking a friend’s prescription medication and having an allergic reaction that caused her “body to burn from the inside out,” according to news station KABC. Yaasmeen Castanada began feeling sick on Thanksgiving and took a friend’s antibiotic, Castanada’s mother, Laura Corona, told the news station.…

Rapper Earl Hayes reportedly shot and killed his wife, actress and dancer Stephanie Moseley, before turning the gun on himself in what TMZ is calling a jealousy-fueled rage after he heard rumors that Moseley might have been cheating on him. According to KTLA, officers were called to the Palazzo East apartments, a high-end apartment complex…

On Saturday, Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose hit the court during pregame warm-ups wearing a black T-shirt with white letters that read simply, “I Can’t Breathe.” On Sunday, Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush wrote the phrase on his shirt before taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The players’ silent protest wasn’t lost on the…