On July 9 Courtney Best, 26, stepped outside the Papa Murphy’s pizza in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she works, for a quick cigarette. Instead of her normal routine of going out back for a smoke, on this day she stepped out front, and the move may have saved a child’s life. “I stepped outside, I…

As allegations of sexual misconduct continue to mount against Bill Cosby, one historical institution has no intention of severing ties with the embattled comedian’s artwork. According to the Associated Press, the Smithsonian has no plans to pull the actor’s private art collection, which is currently on display and has been since November. “First and fundamentally,…

America has a plethora of people and a bunch of haters. For the haters, there are hate groups, and hate groups thrive in this country. So the good people over at 24/7 Wall St. have come up with a list noting the “10 States With the Most Hate Groups.” Using data from the Southern Poverty…

A couple was shot to death early Thursday morning after masked intruders stormed into their home in Bradenton, Fla., according to the Bradenton Herald. None of the five children also in the home at the time was harmed during the attack, which left Esther Deneus, 29, and her boyfriend Kantral Markeith Brooks, 29, dead. The…

After much debate and intense pressure put on lawmakers since the June 17 Charleston, S.C., church massacre, a decadeslong fight over the Confederate flag came to an end Friday as two honor guard members removed the controversial symbol from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds in Columbia, causing the gathered crowd to erupt into cheers. According…

Disturbing video of a Philadelphia man whose family says he was violently beaten, kicked and tased by at least a dozen officers has gone viral and prompted internal affairs to open an investigation.  According to the Philadelphia Daily News, police stopped Tyree Carroll, 22, on April 4, and the encounter was captured by Los Angeles-based…

An autistic teen’s family has filed a lawsuit against New York City alleging that police beat and arrested the then-17-year-old for no reason and then, without explanation, released him. According to the New York Post, two cops drove up and asked Troy Canales, now 18, what was he doing as he stood in front of…

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has fired Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts after a recent rise in the city’s homicide rate. Baltimore officials had largely ignored an ongoing call for Batts’ resignation after the April death of Freddie Gray in police custody and the subsequent demonstrations to protest police violence against African Americans.  According to…

Editor’s note: Story links in this article may contain the name and photo of the 12-year-old mentioned in this piece, but The Root is not releasing his name or photo because he is a minor who remains uncharged. A 12-year-old boy wanted for questioning in the slaying of a 31-year-old man and who had reportedly been…

Since the June 17 fatal shooting of nine African Americans inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., some six black churches have been torched throughout the South. According to Al-Jazeera, three Muslim organizations—Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, the Arab-American Association of New York and Ummah Wide—have created the “Respond With Love” campaign to raise…