Texas Mother Loses Three Sons in Tragic Accident on Frozen Pond
Florida Politician’s Career Is Cooked After Being Caught Spewing Racist Slurs in Viral Video
No Room for ICE: How Faith Leaders are Fighting Fascism
Black Detroit Police Commissioner Already in Trouble After Less Than a Month in Office—But He Refuses to Resign!
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Everyone Is Reeling From the Shocking Death of NBA Star Kobe Bryant
As news broke about the tragic and untimely death of NBA icon Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday, an outpouring of condolences flooded social media platforms as fans, celebrities, athletes and coaches around the world reacted in shock and disbelief. Sportswriter Jon Machota started early, tweeting a video of fellow Laker…
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![NBA Legend Kobe Bryant and 13-Year-Old Daughter Killed in Helicopter Crash [Updated]](https://assets-server.theroot.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/29110043/ftxvhczypqjqczuemcd3-300x228.jpg)
NBA Legend Kobe Bryant and 13-Year-Old Daughter Killed in Helicopter Crash [Updated]
Updated 1/26/19, 6:10 p.m. ET: Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva confirmed to the L.A. Times that there were nine people on the aircraft—a pilot and eight passengers, and he wouldn’t confirm who had died in the crash until the next-of-kin were notified. Update: 1/26/19, 4:42 p.m. ET: Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was also killed…
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Howard University Is WINNING After Receiving Largest Donation in Its History
Good news for HBCU’s comes as Howard University receives its largest donation in the college’s 153-year history. According to The Washington Post, Howard, which is in Washington, D.C., announced on Wednesday that they proudly received a $10 million donation to go towards STEM programming from the Karsh Family Foundation. The donation will fund the school’s…
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Death Row Inmate Keith Tharpe Died in Prison Before Execution. Here's Why His Story Leaves Me Conflicted
The curious case of Keith Tharpe, a story that spans nearly three decades, has finally come to its end; although, not the way many expected. Tharpe—whose saga has been followed by The Root’s own Michael Harriot since he was first set to be executed back in September 2017—was a convicted murderer and death row inmate…
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Deathstreaming: U.S. Army Vet Whose Son Was Killed on Facebook Live Says ‘Violence Has to Stop’
Could you imagine how it feels to have served in the military and then work a quarter of a century for the Department of Corrections to learn one day that your son has been murdered while broadcasting on social media—of all places? That is what happened to Roosevelt Rankins, Sr., whose 34-year old namesake was…
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Number of Children in Foster Care Rises and Tennessee Passes Bill Allowing Agencies to Deny LGBTQ Adoption
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on any given day, over 437,000 children are living in the U.S. foster care system and the number has been rising. In 2019 only around 61,000 children were adopted and 26 percent of that number weren’t adopted until they were at 9-years or older. 17,844…
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Betsy DeVos Compares Abortion to Slavery, Ayanna Pressley Invites Her to ‘Say It to My Face’
Secretary of Education and Cruella DeVille stunt double Betsy DeVos has shown us time and time again that she isn’t the brightest crayon in the box. We’ve seen her struggle to answer the most basic questions about education and even declared that she has not “intentionally visited schools that are underperforming,” after making it pretty…
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Trump Now Says He's Open to Cut Entitlements
Another day, another installment in the ongoing saga that is “y’alls President is a lying ass liar.” Our subject for tonight’s episode is entitlements. CNN reports that when the currently impeached President was asked by CNBC in Davos whether entitlements would ever be something on his plate he responded with “At some point they will…
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Nazi Tears: Christopher Cantwell Arrested by FBI
The “Unite the Right” rally was one of the darkest moments in our countries recent history. The white nationalist rally took the life of 32-year-old Heather Heyer and left countless others injured and scarred. In some good news, one of the key figures behind that rally has been arrested. According to NBC News, Christopher Cantwell…
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Applebee’s Employee Believes She Was Fired for Kicking Racists Out of Restaurant
You know, I’m not gonna lie. The fact that this story went down in an Applebee’s in New Jersey just makes all the sense in the world. NBC News reports that Amanda Breaud has filed a lawsuit against an Applebee’s in Middleton, N.J. She worked there as a supervisor and believed she was fired after…