Culture

Fred Hampton, left, head of the Illinois Black Panthers, and Dr. Benjamin Spock, right, attend a rally against the trial of eight people accused of conspiracy to start a riot at the Democratic National Convention. The rally was held outside the Federal Building in Chicago on Oct. 29, 1969. Photo: Getty Images Don Casper/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service

Forget What JD Vance Said — Here are 13 Times White Folks Never Apologized For Bad Behavior

Despite JD Vance’s claim that white folks no longer “have to apologize for being white anymore,” here’s many times Black folks never got a much deserved apology.
NFL Might Tax Steelers’ DK Metcalf's This Eye-Watering Sum For His Sideline Move

NFL Might Tax Steelers’ DK Metcalf’s This Eye-Watering Sum For His Sideline Move

Pittsburgh Steelers player DK Metcalf is looking at getting seriously taxed in the pocketbook for
The Most Stunning Black Images of 2025

The Most Stunning Black Images of 2025

As the year comes to a close, we’ve rounded up some of the most stunning
Everything to Know About Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat on His 65th Birthday

Everything to Know About Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat on His 65th Birthday

In honor of what would have been his 65 birthday, we’re looking at some of
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    An Editor Schools Us on Life as Bus Driver

    It isn’t unusual for journalists to try other jobs, sometimes out of necessity, but the days of a George Plimpton — who a couple of decades ago told us about his adventures in professional sports, as a stand-up comedian, a movie bad guy and a circus performer — seem to be gone. Plimpton, who died…

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    An Editor Schools Us on Life as Bus Driver

    It isn’t unusual for journalists to try other jobs, sometimes out of necessity, but the days of a George Plimpton — who a couple of decades ago told us about his adventures in professional sports, as a stand-up comedian, a movie bad guy and a circus performer — seem to be gone. Plimpton, who died…

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    News Anchor Wins Gamble on ‘Miracle Drug’ After Stroke

    “Minutes after collapsing on live TV, Dawne Gee woke up in an ambulance paralyzed from the neck down. She was having a stroke,” Jere Downs reported Tuesday for the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky. “It was 7:43 p.m. Friday night. ‘I could look up and see the ceiling. There were lights everywhere, and they were working…

  • The Root’s manCODE and Young, Fabulous & Female Events Head to Atlanta on Dec. 5!

    The Root will be hosting two of our favorite events the same night in Atlanta, and whether you’re a man or woman, you won’t want to miss out! If you’re looking for a girls’ night out filled with networking, great conversation and fun, come join us for our Young, Fabulous & Female event in Atlanta…

  • Black Writers’ Room: Author Gives Us a Glimpse Inside the CIA’s Covert War on Jamaica

    With the death of Fidel Castro, there has been a resurgence of interest in his role as an advocate for countries in Africa and the Caribbean. One of those countries was Jamaica, where Castro would help build schools and hospitals and train Jamaican workers. In the 1970s, Castro developed a friendship and partnership with then-Jamaican…

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    Has US Media Coverage of Castro’s Death Been Overly Politicized?

    We saw the scenes of Cuban exiles in Miami dancing in the streets Saturday at the news that Fidel Castro had died at age 90. It was not difficult to find the views of people like Tom Llamas, an ABC News reporter whose parents fled the island as political exiles. He was emotional as he…

  • Dances of the Diaspora: Tap Dance, an Original American Art Form Rooted in Slavery

    For Chloé and Maud Arnold, tap dancing is life. For these sisters and entrepreneurs, who have been tap dancing since childhood, the art form has given them a lucrative career—they are founders of the D.C. Tap Festival, film producers and more. Whenever Chloé and Maud have the opportunity, the Washington, D.C., natives, who were mentored by Debbie Allen, spread…

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    Nearly Half of American Voters Expect Worsened Race Relations

    “Nearly half of U.S. voters (46%) expect [Donald J.] Trump’s election to lead to worse race relations, while just 25% say they will improve (26% say there will be no difference),” Shiva Maniam reported Monday for Pew Research Center. “By contrast, after [Barack] Obama’s election eight years ago, 52% of voters expected race relations to…

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    Prominent Race Panelist: Trump Should ‘Raise the Fight in You’

    No doubt that a panel of thinkers about race would have said the same thing even if they hadn’t just seen portions of Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s PBS documentary “Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise.” They concluded nevertheless that the impending presidency of Donald J. Trump demands that black America fight back. And…

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    More Than 1,300 Attend Service for Pioneering Political Journalist Gwen Ifill

    When the service set aside for community tributes to Gwen Ifill ended Friday night at Washington’s historic Metropolitan AME Church, knots of people found each other as they remained in the sanctuary. The Atlantic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates was with the New York Times’ Yamiche Alcindor and Sherrilyn Ifill, Gwen’s cousin and president and director-counsel of…