Wayne Dyer, the self-help guru whose books and motivational speeches helped shape the lives of millions, has died at age 75. “Wayne has left his body, passing away through the night. He always said he couldn’t wait for this next adventure to begin and had no fear of dying,” a statement released by Dyer’s family…

A former Orange County, Fla., schoolteacher says her choice in mate, music and friends is the reason she was fired from her job, and she has filed a lawsuit seeking justice. According to WESH, Audrey Dudek, a former math teacher at Edgewater High School, claims she was fired in 2013 after school officials learned that…

Looks like there’s another item that can be added to The Root’s ongoing list of things you can’t do while black: making direct, uninterrupted eye contact with a police officer. An Ohio police officer admitted on camera that he stopped John Felton, a black man, “because you made direct eye contact with me, and you…

Students and faculty at Savannah State University are saddened and stunned after a Thursday-night campus shooting in Georgia left one student dead. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, junior Christopher Starks, 22, was shot during an altercation inside the school’s Student Union building. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The…

Darryl Dawkins, the former NBA player known for his monstrous backboard-breaking dunks, has died at age 58, WFMZ reports. According to the news station, in 1975 Dawkins became the first player ever drafted to the NBA directly from high school. Affectionately nicknamed Chocolate Thunder by Stevie Wonder, the 6-foot-11-inch center played for several teams over…

On Aug. 12, a gunman fatally shot 24-year-old Whitney Brown as she sat in her car on a North St. Louis street. Her 5-year-old son, Jakeem, was in the backseat. On Tuesday, a St. Louis County police officer and his wife, both of whom were saddened by the story but wish to remain anonymous, took…

Early Wednesday morning, Vester Lee Flanagan II, reportedly upset over being fired from Virginia news station WDBJ7 in 2013 as well as the June church massacre in Charleston, S.C., targeted two of his former colleagues and fatally shot them during a live broadcast. If that wasn’t horrible enough, after killing WDBJ7 journalists Alison Parker and Adam…

Updated Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, 2:35 p.m. EDT: Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, the suspect in the fatal shooting of two journalists on the air in Virginia, was arrested in critical condition after reportedly shooting himself. He has died from those wounds, according to Yahoo News. The news station notes that around 11:30 a.m., a…

Her name was Marcy Borders, but the world knew her as the “Dust Lady” after a now-iconic image showed Borders covered in dust during the attacks on New York City’s twin towers Sept. 11, 2001. Photographer Stan Honda was working for Agence France-Presse when he captured the image, which was snapped just moments before the…

Sandra Bland moved back to Texas in July to take a job with her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University. On July 10 a traffic stop ended in Bland’s arrest, with jail officials claiming a few days later that she was found hanged in her Waller County cell. On Tuesday evening, the Prairie View City…