-
If There Are Good Cops Out There, Prove It
There are no good cops. Yes, you read that right. From where I sit, right now, in this moment in time, in the wake of tragic incidents that have transpired over the last few weeks, there are no good cops in this country. Not when another innocent black man—this time, 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.—is…
-
Robin Williams, Who Battled Drugs and Depression, Dies at 63
Robin Williams, the beloved actor and comedian, was found dead in his Northern California home Monday from a reported suicide. The Oscar-winning actor was 63 and had a history of battling depression and drug abuse. According to a statement released by the Marin County Sheriff’s Department and viewed by Fox News, Williams was found unconscious…
-
Georgia Teacher Fired Over Nude Selfies
Lakeisha Jones is suing Georgia’s Savannah-Chatham school board over what she claims was an unfair firing, according to Savannah Now. Jones was employed as a business teacher at Myers Middle School in Savannah, Ga. Students found nude photos of her on her cellphone after she sent them off to find scissors during classroom time. Jones…
-
Openly Gay Richmond, Calif., Council Member Called ‘Filth’ and ‘Dirt’
Jovanka Beckles, Richmond, Calif.’s first openly lesbian council member, has become the victim of vicious heckling. “I’m going to keep coming up here and tell you how gays have no morality. … You’re filth. You’re dirt. Because I have the constitutional right to say it,” Richmond resident Mark Wassberg said at a recent City Council…
-
Black Kids Don’t Have to Be College-Bound for Their Deaths to Be Tragic
Another unarmed black boy has been shot down by police. Absorbing the ongoing news of the investigation Monday morning, I listened to eyewitness interviews and looked on as the media flashed pictures of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old gunned down by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer over the weekend. The repeated refrain in so many of…
-
Painting Shows How All Men Are Equal in the Eyes of God
This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute, part of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Enthroned in celestial majesty, the impassive, monumental figure of Christ proclaims the spiritual…
-
Black Female Candidates Face Different Challenges—Some of Them From Black Voters
Black women are often the backbone of political campaigns—making calls, managing offices and registering voters. And we show up at the polls. In the last two presidential elections, the turnout percentage of African-American women was greater than all other demographic groups. In Virginia, for instance, Gov. Terry McAuliffe owes black women, in particular, for his…
-
Carnival and Culture in the U.S. Virgin Islands
The US Virgin Islands are awash in green. Gaze out from just about any of perch on these three Caribbean outposts and behold some of the richest imaginable hues of nature’s most abundant color. The broccoli-colored valley of trees sweeping between Blue Mountain and Mount Eagle on St. Croix. The spearmint-toned wall of organ pipe…
-
Aunt Jemima’s Family Wants Her Dough
The family of Anna Short Harrington, the woman who was the inspiration for much of the Aunt Jemima imagery, has filed a lawsuit against Pepsi Co. and its subsidiary the Quaker Oats Co., along with the Pinnacle Foods Group and the Hillshire Brands Co. D.W. Hunter, Harrington’s great-grandson, filed the class action lawsuit on behalf…
-
Obama Should Take More Vacation, Not Less
It’s that time of year again—the time when many take summer vacation, and the time when many will criticize President Barack Obama for doing so. I’m not one of these critics. In fact, I may be one of the few people in America now genuinely convinced that the president should take more vacation time, not…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
