The Root is an African American oriented online magazine. It launched on January 28, 2008, by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Donald E. Graham, and was owned by Graham Holdings Company through its online subsidiary, The Slate Group.^[2][3]

In 2015, Graham Holdings sold The Root to Univision Communications.^[4] The site was subsequently re-launched under the Kinja platform used by other Gizmodo Media Group (formerly Gawker Media) websites.^[5]

In July 2017, the blog, Very Smart Brothas, co-founded by Damon Young and Panama Jackson, became a vertical of The Root.^[6]

The Root 100 is the magazine's annual "list of the 100 most important black influencers between the ages of 25 and 45."^[7] This list has been published since 2011. Readers of The Root are allowed to nominate those who they feel are deserving of being on this list. The list has had a wide variety of people from celebrities such as Donald Glover, writers like Roxane Gay, and athletes as well. Other influential people in the black community who are not as well known, such as activists are encouraged to be added to the list as well.^[8]

Danielle Belton has been editor-in-chief at The Root since July 2017.^[9]