• This Marble Black Acrobat Is More Than Just a Simple Ornament

    This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black Archive & Library at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Among the most original treasures of the British Museum, a marble figure of a young black acrobat performs the daring…

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  • Ferguson Is America and the Time to Act Is Now

    Last week the Department of Justice released its report documenting the racial discrimination and bias that is endemic to policing in Ferguson, Mo. The deep problems unveiled by the DOJ’s investigation reflect a harsh reality that exists in many places across the country—not just Ferguson: At every level of our criminal-justice system, African Americans are…

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  • Behind-the-Scenes Images of First Family in Selma

    While the nation was riveted by President Barack Obama’s stirring tribute to the legacy of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Ala., this past Saturday, the White House’s chief photographer, Pete Souza, was behind the scenes capturing some brilliant images of the historic day. He shares why the occasion was so meaningful in an essay at Medium.com. Here are some…

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  • Wis. Police Chief Prayed With the Family of Unarmed Man Shot by Police

    Having learned from the protests that engulfed Ferguson, Mo., after unarmed teen Michael Brown was fatally shot by a white police officer in August 2014, the police chief of Madison, Wis., immediately reached out to Tony Robinson’s family to express his condolences after the unarmed 19-year-old was fatally shot by a white police officer late…

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  • Beauty and Influence: Vintage Black Glamour

    Nicole L. Cvetnic is The Root’s multimedia editor and producer.  Whether they’re bold, sophisticated or classic, there is no doubt that African-American women have been fashion trendsetters for generations. To celebrate their style and elegance this Women’s History Month, we turned to the new book Vintage Black Glamour by Nichelle Gainer, who presents a carefully…

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  • What a Slave-Reparations Claim Has to Do With Harvard Law School

    Who was the first person to ask for reparations for slavery? In America the concept of reparations for slavery is generally thought to have originated during the Civil War era, with the failed promise of 40 acres and a mule. But it actually dates back to Revolutionary America, when a former slave named Belinda went…

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  • Watch: Syracuse University Student Found Dead in Times Square Hotel

    New York City police are investigating the death of a 21-year-old Syracuse University student who was found dead Saturday in her hotel room in New York City’s Times Square, the New York Daily News reports. Sabrina Cammack, a senior on the school’s track team, was discovered dead about 9:20 a.m. in her hotel room at…

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  • Boko Haram Pledges Allegiance to ISIS

    In an audio message published Saturday on the Twitter account of Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the terrorists pledged allegiance to another group of terrorists: the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria, according to the Huffington Post. The recording features a man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abu Bakr Shekau pledging support to the…

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  • Mom and Daughter Give Birth 34 Minutes Apart at Florida Hospital

    In a story that will be told for generations, a mother and daughter recently gave birth just 34 minutes apart at the same hospital, according to a release from Tampa General Hospital in Florida. Angela Patram, 37, and Teranish Billups, 20, both gave birth Feb. 19 at the hospital. Patram’s fifth child, Rayna Simone Patram, was…

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  • NYPD: Woman Recants Story of Being Raped by ‘Black Man’

    It was a hoax. That’s what police say about a Brooklyn, N.Y., woman who claimed she had been raped Saturday by a black man, the New York Daily News reports. She recanted her story just hours after stumbling, tattered and scratched, into an emergency room at 2:15 a.m. Saturday, the report says. Police tell the…

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