news
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3 Wrongly Convicted Black Men Who Spent 36 Years in Prison Set to Receive $2.9 Million Each
When I was 16, my mother and my next-door neighbor, who we called “Crow,” dropped me off for my first year of college. I thought my mother would be happy that she would no longer have to scream “Did you put the seat down?” when she heard me in our only bathroom, but I was…
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Nothing but Bad Apples in This Bunch: Entire Class of Georgia State Troopers Fired Over Cheating Scandal
The Root’s Michael Harriot once asked a simple yet profound question: “Where are the good cops?” Whenever there’s a new story in the news about a police officer committing an act of police brutality, an extrajudicial killing, racial profiling or any other act of corruption, we’re always given this “one bad apple spoils the whole…
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How Did So Many People Get the Kobe Story So Wrong?
If you were a Kobe fan as much as I was, then you know that both he and Michael Jordan often repeated the now-famous Phil Jackson quote that characterized their superstar careers: “Let the game come to you.” As a perennial basketball benchwarmer, I never knew what that phrase meant until a barrage of alternative…
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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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White Woman Claims Pittsburgh Public Schools Passed Her Over for Promotions, Raises Over Less Qualified Black Employees
A white secretary for Pittsburgh Public Schools is alleging she’s the victim of reverse racism. Kristen Frankovich, a chief executive secretary who has worked for the school district since 2007, filed a racial discrimination suit against it on Thursday. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Frankovich claims in every position she’s held, she has been “consistently…
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Exclusive: Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin Endorses Joe Biden for President
In an exclusive conversation with The Root, the mayor of America’s third-blackest city announced his endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden for President of the United States, explaining how he came to his decision, why the election is not just a referendum on Trump and why he rejects the notion that “moderate” Democratic candidates…
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The Black Person’s Guide to the Trump Impeachment Hearings
The House of Representatives began impeachment hearings for President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday. While everyone seems to have a different idea of what this actually means, we decided to prepare this handy dandy guide that breaks the process down into digestible language without relying on bullshit phraseology about “American values” and the “integrity of…
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Black Health Advocates Want US Government to Take on Menthols As Hard As It’s Taken on Other Flavored Tobacco
African American health advocates are taking aim at the Trump administration’s decision to go after flavored e-cigarettes—except for menthol, a flavor long popular among, and known to be more addictive for, African Americans. The Trump administration, concerned by a rise in underage use of e-cigarettes, recently touted a ban on all flavored vaping products, but…
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Democratic Party Leader Maya Rockeymoore Cummings Mulls Run for Her Late Husband’s Congressional Seat
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, head of Maryland’s Democratic Party, says she’s considering running for the 7th Congressional District seat that was held by her late husband, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings. “I love Baltimore city, the counties of the 7th Congressional District, and the state of Maryland,” Rockeymoore Cummings said Thursday in her first public comments about…
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Beto, His Campaign Pockets Light and His Poll Numbers Low, Bows Out of His Run for the Oval Office
Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke on Friday took himself out of the running for the Democratic presidential nomination, bowing to low campaign coffers and even lower poll numbers. The once-darling of the Democratic Party, who won acclaim last year when he came within mere points of beating Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in historically red Texas,…