Politics
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We Don’t Have to Wait for the General Election to See the Harmful Effects of Voter-ID Laws—They’re Already Happening
Look out, voting people. The 2016 Democratic presidential primaries have fast become the early-warning detection system on voter-ID laws. And based on what we’ve seen thus far, the electoral weather patterns don’t look so good. Conversations on the expanding voter-ID and voter-suppression franchises have, up to this point, centered on election Armageddon scenarios in the…
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Fuck This Entire Election Cycle
When Donald Trump was scheduled March 11 to stump on the University of Illinois Chicago campus, I was driving to Detroit with the goal of getting out of town before the inevitable protests began. I openly questioned on Facebook the purpose of protesting Trump, as if making a scene in public wouldn’t just embolden his…
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‘Calm’ May Not Fit Country’s Mood, but It’s Obama’s Only Choice
Sometimes, even when I suspect that he knows it will hurt him, President Barack Obama does not follow the script. The evening of the day when terrorists struck in Belgium, the president and his family attended a Major League Baseball exhibition game in Cuba. Why didn’t he rush back to Washington, D.C., or to Belgium…
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In Search of the Church of Trump
I went to church in search of Donald Trump. To understand Scott, you have to understand Cleveland. I have lived in Cleveland, on and off, for the last 10 years and have seen the city go through a lot of change. From 2004 to 2016, Cleveland has gone from being the poorest big city in…
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23 Black Political Pundits You Should Know
In this political season where the ghost of the Southern strategy has risen again via Donald Trump, political analysis from African Americans is more vital than ever. We need their thoughts, insight, wit and wisdom. Here are The Root’s top black political analysts, reporters, strategists and public intellectuals who we tune into when we want…
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Obama Legacy: A First Lady Like No Other
Code name: Renaissance. How apropos that first lady Michelle Obama’s Secret Service code sums up her life and persona perfectly. She is indeed a Renaissance woman in that she is accomplished, refined, has far-ranging talents and seemingly does it all: (working) mother, loving wife, dutiful daughter. Twice-Ivy League-educated lawyer and slayer of fashion all day,…
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Did Bill Clinton Attack President Obama’s ‘Awful Legacy’?
It’s no secret that former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama are more “frenemies” than political friends. Bill Clinton was his wife Hillary Clinton’s biggest attack dog in the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign, and both publicly and privately suggested that then-Sen. Obama wasn’t up to being commander in chief. Hillary Clinton and Obama have since…
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Afro-Cuban Issues Must Be Part of the Dialogue in Cuba
Editor’s note: This story was first published in March. We’re featuring it again in light Fidel Castro’s death. On his first day in Cuba, President Barack Obama walked to the center of the Plaza de Armas in the colonial section of Havana to view the imposing marble statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes—the George Washington…
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Obama Welcomed in Cuba During 2-Day Historic Trip
President Barack Obama will have a busy two days in Cuba during his historic visit to the island nation as the first U.S. president in nearly 90 years to do so. The president, who landed in Havana Sunday with the rest of the first family, will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony Monday, followed by a…