• Photos: The Root 100 Release Party at Martha’s Vineyard

    On Aug. 19 The Root hosted a reception to announce the honorees who made The Root 100 for 2014. Now in its fifth year, The Root 100 is our annual ranking of the most influential African-American leaders. This year, for the first time, the list was unveiled at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Attendees included Scandal…

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  • Records Show Ferguson Arrests Are Double What Police Reported 

    Authorities released statements that only 31 people were arrested Monday night and into early Tuesday morning while protesting a police officer’s killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown, but NBC News claims that more than double that number were actually apprehended. According to police records obtained by the news station, some 78 people were arrested, and most…

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  • 47 People Arrested in Ferguson as Quiet Protest Turns Tense

    The evening started off peacefully as protesters assembled, chanted and then made their way early Wednesday morning to the lot of an old Ford dealership approved by police as an authorized demonstration area. Protesters were even allowed to spend the night in the lot if they wanted. However, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson noted…

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  • Black and Blue: Officer Sees Both Sides in the Michael Brown Shooting

    Last week, seemingly like everyone else, I was discussing the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. In a private email chain, I shared some of my un-PC thoughts about Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson’s press conference, in which Jackson alleged that Brown had robbed a convenience store prior to his life-ending encounter with Officer Darren…

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  • Why Don’t Cops Give Our Kids the Same Break They Gave the Ray Allen Intruders?

    Former Miami Heat star forward Ray Allen is again standing on center court. This time, however, Allen stands in the unusual plight of victim. He was inadvertently thrust into the spotlight by events that reinforce the problems of places like Ferguson, Mo., and the issues of fairness and equality and justice across this country. Unlike…

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  • Michael Brown’s Death Reopened My Eyes to My Privileges as a Black Woman 

    I didn’t fully understand the privileges that I enjoy as a black female in America until a recent incident, punctuated by the shooting death of Michael Brown, made it all the more clear. Yep, you read that right—I’m touting my privileges as a black female, not my woes, which are typically what are written about…

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  • How to Deal With Friends’ Racist Reactions to Ferguson

    I have been so offended and angered by what some of my friends on Facebook have said about Michael Brown and the situation in Ferguson (he was a thug, he deserved it, black people destroy their own communities, blacks are criminals, all the police officers in Ferguson should quit because blacks don’t appreciate them and more).…

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  • St. Louis Police Fatally Shoot Knife-Wielding Man 3 Miles From Ferguson 

    Police in St. Louis shot and killed a man who witnesses say robbed a store and began acting erratically once police arrived, including moving toward the officers the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. According to the newspaper, the shooting happened around 12:30 p.m. after a man entered the Six Stars Market, grabbed several items and left. A…

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  • Attorney: Ferguson Police Officer Should Have Been Arrested

    The results from a second autopsy ordered by the family of Michael Brown, the unarmed Ferguson, Mo., teen who was shot and killed by a police officer Aug. 9, show that there was no struggle between Brown and the officer before he was shot six times, according to Daryl Parks, one of the family’s lawyers.…

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  • What They Saw: 5 Eyewitnesses to the Michael Brown Shooting

    As of press time, at least five eyewitnesses in the Michael Brown shooting case have come forward. All five witnesses had distinct vantage points: One person was with Brown during the incident, one woman was inside her vehicle, another woman observed the incident from her apartment balcony, one man was inside his apartment and another…

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