the root tv
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Watch: Afro Pick Pops Up Near Philly’s Frank Rizzo Statue
For years, activists have pushed to remove Philadelphia’s Frank Rizzo statue. Now the Rizzo statue in Philly’s Center City section shares the floor with an 800-pound Afro pick, a new sculpture by black artist Hank Willis Thomas. The sculpture is part of a series hosted by Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Monument Lab, and it’s sparking a…
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Watch: We Built This
There are some people out there who get upset whenever we say, “Black labor built this country.” But these are, indeed, #facts. Here’s a quick history lesson. The first slaves were brought to the United States in 1619. Their job was simple: make white settlers money. Fast-forward to the late 18th century. Cotton was king…
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Netflix to Premiere Tragic Documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
On Oct. 6, Netflix will globally premiere The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, directed by Oscar-nominated documentarian David France. The documentary courses through the untimely death and unsolved murder of the transgender trailblazer Marsha P. Johnson, all the while shedding light on the impact she had as a leader of the gay-rights movement.…
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Judge of Characters: The Bodega App and Tyrese Make the World Ask, ‘Why?’
This week, the biggest question that’s being asked all over the internet is … why? Why are people trying to reinvent, aka gentrify, bodegas? And why is Tyrese pleading for the Rock not to shoot the Fast and the Furious spinoff? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I do have some hilarious…
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Exclusive: Pastor Jamal Bryant Spills on Dropped Stalking Case, ‘Being Messy’ and Redemption
Pastor Jamal Bryant told The Root in an exclusive interview that a Bronx, N.Y., judge dismissed a case Thursday in which a New York City woman accused him of online stalking. Media outlet Rolling Out reported this summer that Jennifer Wright filed a restraining order against Bryant after alleging that he stalked her online. Wright…
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Watch: Listen to Grandma, Y’all
Did Grandma ever tell you to lie on the floor and cut off the TV during a thunderstorm so you wouldn’t get struck by lightning? We can’t be the only ones. It’s National Grandparents Day, and we got together to honor the leading ladies in our lives—because everything we need to know, we learned from…
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Watch: Harlem’s Fashion Row Celebrates 10 Years of Being a Major Platform for Designers of Color
In 2007, Brandice Daniel founded Harlem’s Fashion Row to challenge the lack of diversity in the fashion industry. The annual event serves as a major platform for black designers to get their work in front of key players in the business. Along with the runway show, there’s also the Style Awards. This year’s honorees were…
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Judge of Characters: Jason Whitlock Refuses to Stand for Something, so He Falls for Anything
This week, we’re all as weary as the entire world is; no really, like, the actual planet Earth is exhausted and ready to self-destruct. And all I can say is, same sis, same. We’ve got people in the world like Jason Whitlock, who can’t seem to keep Colin Kaepernick’s name out his mouth, and there’s…
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Watch: Breaking Down the School-to-Prison Pipeline
School is back in session, and it’s time to learn about a system that funnels black and brown kids from schools into our criminal-justice system. It’s called the school-to-prison pipeline, and it’s affecting black children as early as preschool. Watch above. Tune in to The Root on Friday for a Facebook Live panel discussion on…
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Watch: America’s Racist History of Labor
News flash: The history of labor in America is racist AF. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894 after a railroad strike led by the American Railway Union known as the Pullman Strike. This was a turning point in the labor movement, though it didn’t benefit all American workers. Black Pullman porters weren’t allowed…