As the year comes to a close, we are thrilled to roll out 2025’s The Root 100, our list honoring the year’s most influential Black Americans in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Ashley Allison, whose Watering Hole Media recently acquired The Root, has been making the rounds to share the news with this year’s honorees.
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One of her first stops was New York City to visit the viral syndicated radio show, “The Breakfast Club.” Allison surprised hosts Charlamagne tha God, DJ Envy, and Loren Lorosa with the news that their show, which consistently covers some of the most important topics impacting the Black community, would be honored on this year’s The Root 100 list.
After sharing gifts from Martell (one of this year’s sponsors) with Charlamagne and Envy and flowers for Loren and Jess Hilarious (who was away from the show), Allison thanked the team for all they do to have the ear of the people.
Allison also did rounds in New York City Thursday morning to formally invite other Root 100 honorees, including Gayle King and Whoopi Goldberg.
As she steps into her new position of publisher of The Root, Allison assured “The Breakfast Club” hosts and their listeners that in a time when many Black-owned publications are shuttering and Black journalists are losing their jobs, the site will continue to be a place to find the news that is important to our community.
“We need to have places to tell our stories, and tell them our way and through our lens – unapologetically Black,” she said. “I always say that Black stories are American stories and American stories are global stories, and we deserve to have ownership over them.”
A former senior advisor to both the Obama-Biden and Biden-Harris campaigns, Allison knows a lot about successful strategies: She has over 15 years of experience in communications and campaign strategy. She’s also a frequent political commentator on CNN with her finger on the pulse of the issues that matter in our current political climate.
During her interview with “The Breakfast Club,” Allison stressed that because Black people are not a monolith, it is important to her that The Root tell our stories through multiple lenses, and while we may not always get it right, we will always remain true to our mission.
“You might not always agree with what we cover on The Root, and our position on The Root, but you will think about what we cover,” she said.
Allison also shared that for the first time this year, the rankings were removed from “The Root 100” list – an intentional decision made by the team to let all the honorees know how important the work they are doing is in this moment.
“Everybody on the list is exceptional in what they do, and it doesn’t matter if you’re 1 or 100, you’re doing it,” she said.
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