I spent my earliest years as an educator searching for books that reflected my students’ experiences; I wanted to introduce them to books that reflected not just the colors of their skin, but also the textures of their lives. I wanted them to see themselves as I saw them: loved, powerful, and full of potential. Too often, those stories were missing from the shelves.
The term “back in the day” is often used as nothing more than a throwaway line. But for Black children growing up in the 1970s, 1980s, and even the 1990s, it was real life. It meant freedom, friendship, and community. It meant the smell of barbecue in the summer air, the sound of jump ropes hitting concrete, and the laughter of children echoing through the neighborhood. “Back in the day” was not just a time. It was a feeling. The Root recently explored what Black kids once did for fun before the world went digital, but we’ve gone a little further.
facebooktwitterinstagram The Los Angeles Rams and Verizon honored Navy veteran Tina Terrones as the Verizon Military Hero of the Game during the first quarter of
facebooktwitterinstagram The Los Angeles Rams took control early and never looked back, cruising to a 34–10 win over the New Orleans Saints before 72,055 fans
facebooktwitterinstagram The Los Angeles Chargers held on for a 27-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Week 9, improving to 6-3 before a crowd of
facebooktwitterinstagram Prop 50 proposes new lines for many of California’s 52 congressional districts, which would negate the five Republican seats drawn by Texas. Democrats could gain
facebooktwitterinstagram It’s been a hard-fought World Series so far. Toronto evened things up with a resounding 6–2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game
“Fear is the tool that people use when they don’t really stand for anything. That is what they use,” said LaTosha Brown, the founder of Black Voters Matter, to a crowd of supporters outside a courthouse in Virginia in support of New York Attorney General Letitia James. After being indicted on “mortgage fraud” on Oct. 9, by a Trump Administration Department of Justice that has seen an endless carousel of sudden firings, replacements, and drama, James is defiant. Many legal observers predict that the charges against her will be dismissed.
“Democrats are going to take back control of the United States House of Representatives. It’s the reason why we see Republicans in full-blown panic right now,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 22. Democrats have been strategizing on redistricting strategy with leaders in Democratic states since Republicans in Texas. “We’ve never seen this level of extraordinary gerrymandering attempts take place across the country.
It was just after dawn in Paris when the sirens began to wail through the narrow streets surrounding the Louvre. Soldiers with rifles guarded the courtyard, tourists were turned away, and the great glass pyramid stood silent under a gray sky. Inside, the world’s most visited museum had been stripped of eight priceless jewels once belonging to Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie.
The country’s most dependable safety net is changing again, and this time, many fear it will fall hardest on the people who have always leaned on it the most. Across the nation, millions are bracing for the next wave of Social Security changes taking effect this fall and into 2026. What Washington calls modernization and reform, others see as a tightening noose around the necks of working people, especially Black Americans, who for generations have been shut out, shortchanged, and forced to survive on the margins of a promise that was never fully kept.
In a bold move reflecting the urgency of the times, the California Teachers Association (CTA) has thrown its weight behind Proposition 50, an initiative spearheaded by Governor Gavin Newsom aimed at redistricting. CTA is reaching out to California’s Black voters by activating a campaign utilizing some of the state’s legacy Black newspapers.
A total of 134 Head Start programs in California and across the country will not receive their operational funding if the federal government shutdown extends beyond Nov. 1 These early-learning programs are located in 41 states and Puerto Rico and serve more than 65,000 children, according to the First Five Fund.
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In January 2025, the NAACP and the law firm Singleton Schreiber filed a lawsuit against Southern California Edison Company and Edison International on behalf of Altadena residents whose homes and businesses were destroyed in the Eaton Fire.
ProPublica’s in-depth investigation reveals that Russell Vought, Donald Trump’s former budget director, is the real power inside this White House. Vought is the principal author of Project 2025, a racist and authoritarian blueprint that reshapes government around a single goal: to make America a white Christian nation.
Tish James, the New York Attorney General, will be arraigned in Norfolk, Virginia, today on one count of bank fraud. Advocacy groups are at the courthouse in support of James to deliver a strong message against intimidating strong Black Women.
You can try to bury people. You can rewrite their history books, close their schools, and burn their libraries. You can pass laws that punish truth-tellers and silence teachers who dare speak the name of freedom. But you cannot silence color. You cannot silence the wall. Across this country, in cities both proud and scarred, the story of Black America refuses to die. It is written not in the ink of permission, but in the paint of defiance. It rises on concrete, brick, and steel. The murals speak where the history books fall silent.
For years, Los Angeles-based painter Mia Gardner has relied on side jobs and part-time work to keep her art career afloat. But lately, her biggest challenge hasn’t been finding inspiration — it’s finding affordable health insurance.
Elmer Fonza and his family were disappointed to learn that Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a reparations-focused bill by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) on Oct. 13. That legislation would have established a process for victims of racially motivated eminent domain to seek restitution.
