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Mary Jane Blige was born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Jan. 11, 1971. The future songbird would spend her early childhood years in Georgia, where she attended a Pentecostal Church and developed an appreciation for gospel music. After her father left her family in the mid-’70s, she moved with her mother and sister to the…

If you want to see what’s hot on black Twitter, check out The Chatterati.Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.  In what is arguably Twitter’s biggest death gaffe of the year, a tweeter managed to confuse a tall, rotund, 44-year-old hip-hop pioneer with a 5-foot-2-inch,…

The Root visited the Occupy D.C. demonstration in Washington’s McPherson Square on Nov. 7 to talk to some protesters about why they joined the movement, their experiences with a lackluster economy and their daily lives among the tents of the downtown-Washington encampment. Here’s what the interviewees, some of whom chose not to disclose their last…

Roy L. Clay Sr. joined Hewlett-Packard in the 1950s, set up the company’s first computer lab and was involved in creating its first computers. Later he helped venture capitalists decide on investments in startups like Compaq and Intel. He is in the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame. Research by Frank McCoy Frank S. Greene…

Red Tails is an on-screen expo for black actors. Featuring young stars Tristan Wilds and Michael B. Jordan (Michael and Wallace, respectively, from The Wire) and vets Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr., the movie follows a crew of black pilots in the Tuskegee flight-training program as they’re called to duty in World War II.…

This photo, taken between 1860 and 1870, shows a soldier holding a pistol.  A man poses in Union uniform and gloves in the mid-1860s.  In Union cavalry uniform with a cavalry saber, a soldier stands in front of a painted backdrop around 1864.   Brotherly love: Two Union soldiers put their arms around each other for…

The Root honored the 2011 class of The Root 100 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5. Mayors, policymakers, musicians and media stars gathered to celebrate one another and their achievements. Here, The Root 100 honorees in attendance pose with Deputy Editor Sheryl Huggins Salomon and Publisher Donna Byrd. Managing…

Nicknamed the “Black Moses,” Tubman is portrayed by a re-enactor during a tour of Underground Railroad sites in and around Cambridge, Md. Tubman, whose real name was Araminta Ross, was born a slave in 1822, fled to freedom in Pennsylvania only to return as a conductor on the Railroad, the network used to aid slaves in…

GW on Cain Launches ‘Revolution Solution’ Bus Tour: “This guy is like a giant turd that won’t flush, just can’t get rid of him.” Peacelady on Give Metta World Peace a Chance: “Commentators calling NBA games are forced to say ‘world peace’ several times during Lakers games. I think it sends out a good vibe…