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  • Watch: You Have a Black Man to Thank for Your Video Games

    All right, listen up, gamers. Gerald Lawson is the pioneer of games you almost never hear about. In the mid-’70s, he perfected the game cartridge, making it possible to play multiple video games at home. As a teenager, the electronics genius operated a radio station from a housing project in the Jamaica neighborhood of New…

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  • Watch: Rise of a Black Panther Comic Book Writer

    Evan Narcisse is the writer of the hit comic series Rise of the Black Panther. It tells the early story of Black Panther, aka T’Challa, becoming King of Wakanda. The i09 senior writer and self-proclaimed “Haitian Sensation” sat with The Root to discuss going from comic critic to breakthrough comic writer, working with Ta-Nehisi Coates…

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  • Watch: Jordan Peele Loves How Black People Watch Horror at the Movie Theater

    Jordan Peele’s Get Out took home major awards at this year’s African-American Film Critics Association Awards, winning best director, best picture, best actor (a nod to Daniel Kaluuya, who played the main character, Chris) and best screenplay. During his acceptance speech, Peele had jokes about the way black people watch horror movies in the theater.…

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  • Watch: Rashida Jones Says #MeToo and Time’s Up Must Be Inclusive

    In a panel discussion moderated by Ava DuVernay at the Makers Conference on Monday, women in Hollywood discussed the #MeToo movement and Time’s Up initiative. The panel consisted of women in the film and TV industries and the Time’s Up initiative: director Melina Matsoukas, attorney Nina Shaw, writer and comedian Jill Soloway, agent Maha Dakhil,…

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  • Watch: Freed After 20 Years in Prison, but Now the Government Wants to Send Him Back

    Matthew Charles was released in 2016 after being incarcerated for more than 20 years. But now the Justice Department wants to send him back to prison. In 1996 he was sentenced to 35 years to life for distribution of crack cocaine and possession of a firearm. After the Obama administration reduced the sentencing disparity between…

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  • Watch: Kamala Harris Had Time for the Homeland Security Secretary

    Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen may have thought she was ready … but she wasn’t. She appeared in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and claimed she did not know that Norway was predominantly white, and tried to save President Donald Trump’s statement about wanting more immigrants from there. She had the gall to…

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  • Watch: 5-Year-Old Steals Halftime Show at NBA Game With His Epic Dance Moves

    The Cleveland Cavaliers-vs.-Golden State Warriors basketball game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was aight (spoiler alert: Warriors won … again), but the real show was 5-year-old Tavaris Jones’ dancing during halftime. The young Detroit native kept the crowd entertained when LeBron James wasn’t busy crying scoring. Watch the video above.

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  • Watch: Is MLK’s Legacy Under Attack?

    In November, President Donald Trump’s administration released declassified FBI documents on President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. But the release also included a batch of Martin Luther King Jr. documents filled with allegations of “abnormal” sexual behavior and of being a “slow thinker” and a “Marxist” (pdf). The Root spoke with Clayborne Carson, the Martin Luther…

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  • Watch: Hundreds Gather at Funeral for Erica Garner

    On Monday, at the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem, supporters, activists and celebrities gathered to mourn the passing of 27-year-old mother and activist Erica Garner. Garner—whose father, Eric Garner, died after being choked by police—died tragically on Dec. 30 of a heart attack. Watch the video above to hear from Erica Garner’s friends and…

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  • Watch: NFL Star Michael Bennett Refuses to Stay in His Lane

    “If you’re silent about the issues … then you’re telling a lie; you’re just a part of the crime.” —Michael Bennett The Root 100 honoree Michael Bennett is not only an NFL star as a Seattle Seahawks defensive end but also an activist, author and philanthropist. Here’s why sports does not define him and why…

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