David Alan Grier is currently starring in Fox’s The Cool Kids, where he is joined by co-stars Vicki Lawrence (Mama’s Family, The Carol Burnett Show) and Leslie Jordan (American Horror Story, Will and Grace). The show is about a group of friends living in a retirement community who have no problem breaking every rule…

Creed II broke box office records its opening weekend. Not bad for director Steven Caple Jr.’s second feature. “When I got the call to do Creed, I was working on this TV show Grown-ish,” Caple told The Root. “I was excited like anyone else would be but at the same time, you know, it came with a different wave of…

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of director Malcolm D. Lee’s first major film, The Best Man, which hit theaters in October 1999. Since then, he has directed multiple movies with predominately African-American casts, including this year’s Night School and last year’s blockbuster comedy smash, Girls Trip. But…

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who won’t allow bomb threats to intimidate her, is encouraging voters to “step up to the plate” on Election Day. The Root caught up with Auntie Maxine at this year’s Women in Media Awards in New York City.

The Root’s Video Producer Felice Leon and I went to Harlem to ask black voters what issues they want to see addressed. We found people who were more than ready to get to the polls but, as important as these upcoming elections are, we still found some folks were not motivated to vote.

Jordan Casteel wants to change the staleness of the high art world and how it views black men. The Denver artist has been painting portraits of people in her community before she was an art student at Yale and it evolved as she made a home in Harlem, N.Y.

Terence Nance is the lead visionary behind HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness and was recently named as the director for Space Jam 2. His first film, 2012's An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, won rave reviews at Sundance and put Nance on the map in the indie film world. The film even impressed Jay-Z, who became an…

At only 17 years old, Tania Speaks turned her pain into a huge profit after classmates bullied her for her bushy eyebrows. She is now the founder of the successful beauty product, Brow Boost—as well as the recent men’s grooming line, Beard Boost.

Joe Morton is widely known for his Emmy-winning role as Elijah Pope on ABC’s Scandal, but don’t get it twisted, Morton has been Forrest Gump’ing through a lot of iconic shows and films including What’s Happening, Sanford & Son, Terminator 2 and even M.A.S.H. “Papa Pope” walks us through some of his roles over the…

BlacKkKlansman director Spike Lee sees a lot of similarities between the Ku Klux Klan and today’s administration, specifically around fear-mongering and coded rhetoric (see: the origins of Trump’s popular slogan- “America first.”)

MTV, I’mma let you finish—but Aretha Franklin was one of the greatest singers of all time, so I would expect the Video Music Awards to go above and beyond to pay her proper respect.

It’s back-to-school season, but not all students have access to art programs especially under the current administration. Actor, singer and activist Bryan Terrell Clark wants to change that.

The youngest professional artist in Nigeria is gaining international exposure for his stunning lifelike portraits. Eleven-year-old Kareem Waris Olamilekan draws family members, friends and other community members from his makeshift art studio in Lagos. He also recently caught the attention of French President Emmanuel…

Superfly, the remake of the classic flick Super Fly, hits theaters today. The film’s soundtrack is executive-produced by Future.

Updated: Wednesday, June 6, 2018, 3:53 p.m. EDT: President Donald Trump commuted Alice Marie Johnson’s sentence on Wednesday, and she will be released from prison after spending 21 years behind bars for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. Trump didn’t give Johnson a full pardon, which would have cleared her record.…

America’s No. 1 protest artist? Forget Banksy—meet Hank Willis Thomas. The African-American conceptual artist challenges ideas and oppression through themes of pop culture. He’s gained a huge following in the art and celebrity community, among them art lover Swizz Beats. Whether it’s photography, sculptures,…

Updated: Friday, May 18, 2018, 11:14 a.m. EDT: Plot twist—turns out, none other than Sean “Diddy” Combs was the mystery buyer of the Kerry James Marshall painting. The mogul made his bid through another buyer via phone. Marshall’s dealer told the New York Times that Combs was introduced to the artist’s work by fellow…

A group of teens began a 50-mile march in Mississippi on March 31 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and to mark the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The group, which includes adult mentors, will finish its march on April 4 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., where King was killed on April 4, 1968.

The Root 100 honoree and NFL star Michael Bennett posted bail after turning himself in Monday in Houston. He was indicted last week on a felony charge of causing injury to the elderly during the 2017 Super Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles defensive end allegedly injured the shoulder of a 66-year-old paraplegic woman at…

Calvin Broadus, aka Snoop Dogg, has became a major player in the ancillary cannabis industry after co-founding Casa Verde Capital and acquiring $45 million from investors. The ancillary business involves companies that never touch the actual product—from tech startups to weed-focused attorneys.