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The Biggest Winners of 2017
With everything—and everyone—we lost in this past year, there were some big wins. Black women showed up and showed out in various ways. Black men put their careers and livelihoods on the line to speak out against racial injustice, police violence, and sexual assault and harassment. Creative artists experienced amazing glow ups, and black teenagers…
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The Biggest Losers of 2017
As the year comes to a close, The Root takes a look back at those who took an L. We aren’t talking the kind of loss you feel sympathy for—or the kind of losses you point a finger and laugh at or shake your head in shame and secondhand embarrassment. Let’s review everyone—and everything—that caught…
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Puff, Puff, Pass: Marijuana Goes Legit in California Jan. 1
The passage of Proposition 64—the Adult Use of Marijuana Act—in California had everyone excited about recreational marijuana becoming legal in the state on Jan. 1. Unfortunately for a lot of smokers, they will still have to rely on medical recommendations for the foreseeable future as cities sort out who can and who cannot sell marijuana…
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#Flint: 1,342 Days Into the Water Crisis, City Accused of Violating Terms of Agreement to Replace Lead Pipes
Thursday marks 1,343 days since the people of Flint, Mich., had clean water running through their taps. Although studies continue to claim that the lead levels are much lower, residents are still advised to rely on bottled water and water filters as opposed to using water directly from the tap. As the people wait for…
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Recy Taylor, Catalyst for Anti-Rape Activism in the Jim Crow South, Dead at 97
Recy Taylor, whose story of sexual assault at the hands of six white men in 1944 is featured in the book At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance—A New History of the Civil Rights Movement From Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power, died at a nursing home in…
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Ohio Teens Charged With Murder After Sandbag Thrown From Freeway Overpass Kills a Man
Four young teens in Toledo, Ohio, have been charged with murder after they allegedly threw a construction sandbag from a freeway overpass and killed a passenger in a car. The three 14-year-olds and one 13-year-old threw multiple sandbags and other objects onto the southbound lane of Interstate 75 on Dec. 19, according to CNN. One…
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Neo-Nazi Teen Mowed a Swastika Into a Field 2 Months Before Allegedly Killing Girlfriend’s Parents: Report
Roughly two months before a 17-year-old Virginia teen allegedly shot his girlfriend’s parents to death, neighbors say a giant swastika was mowed into the grass of a community lot. Instead of notifying the police, they told the teen’s family. Some now regret making that decision. The mowed swastika was roughly 40 feet across, and tire…
