Nayaa Martinique and her family took the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis to Atlanta so the college freshman could start her journey as a Spelman woman.

Years ago, The Root Editor-in-Chief Danielle Belton and I were having a conversation about America’s jacked-up relationship with black people. We were enslaved for more than 200 years, lived under American apartheid for another century, and then finally, in the last 50 years or so, America has made a half-hearted…

Last night, the Yara Shahidi-led vehicle Grown-ish debuted. For those not in the know, it’s a spinoff from hit ABC show Black-ish that focuses on Shahidi’s character, Zoey, and her journey from super-sheltered private school student to college freshman in this millennial world. Comparisons to A Different World will…

On Jan. 19, Netflix is going to set Twitter afire with the release of its original film Step Sisters. I remember when Drumline: A New Beat (effectively Drumline 2) came out on VH1 (and was terrible), black folks had a field day tearing it to shreds. But this shit right here? This shit right here, my nigga? I almost…

Editor’s note: Once a month, the National Interest column will tackle broader questions about what the country should do to increase educational opportunities for black youths.

I regret not attending an HBCU.

I’m not going to lie and sugarcoat how I feel about parenting. When I describe it to friends who don’t have kids, my parenting spiel usually goes something like this: “It can be the best of times, it can be the worst of times.” And as my son graduated from high school this past weekend, I couldn’t help breathing a…

For some reason unbeknownst to many of us, historically black college Bethune-Cookman University in Florida has announced that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will be the keynote commencement speaker next week.

At the top of 2017, I brought in the New Year with a girlfriend and we wished for positivity and stability. Literally two weeks later the relationship ended.

Yesterday, April 11^th, was Spelman College’s Founder’s Day. On April 11^th, 1881, the beginnings of what has become a shining star of Black America saw its inception. And I, for one, am thankful that the founders saw fit to create this institution of higher learning that has honestly done almost as much for me as my…

Black-ish’s Yara Shahidi is about to embark on college life, and she has a lot to choose from. In an interview with Seventeen magazine, Yara revealed that she got into every college she applied to.

You get a degree! Everybody gets a degree! New York just cleared the way to become the first state in the United States to make tuition free for middle- and low-income students at two- and four-year public colleges.

As Black folks continue to do awesome things, we will continue to highlight Black folks doing awesome things. Today is one of those days. Everybody, please turn your books to the Book of Outkast, chapter 2, verse 1, and let's put our hands together for Dr. Regina Bradley, Ph.D.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, I’m not referring to the fast approaching holidays; I’m talking about Homecoming Season!

When I got to Morehouse College in 1997, there were two groups of people on the yard whose geograhic residence was pretty easy to point out: Atlanta and Washington, DC. Atlanta was easy for me for obvious reasons, to the point where it was even fairly easy to distinguish between an East side dude and a West side dude.…

Chances are, if you were a normal college student, you were a terrible person to date. Who really knows anything about being a quality partner at 18, 19, even 20, 21 years old? Most of us at that age were just trying to find ourselves (or find ourselves in someone else’s pants). Now that I’m safely in my 30s, I would…