These Black men are turning to yoga to build meaningful connections, HuffPost

I’ve been writing a lot lately! I recently reported on a group of Black dads who are building community by meeting up for yoga, and an instructor who randomly drives up to people on the street for on-the-spot yoga sessions.

8 Black candidates are running for governor in 2026. It’s a record, USA TODAY

A record number of Black candidates are running for governor, including David Crowley in Wisconsin and Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia. Read through USA TODAY’s list as we prepare for the midterms.

Descendants of David Drake have traced their lineage back to the once-enslaved potter and launched an effort to reclaim their ancestor’s work. Watch ’s NewsHour interview with Pauline Baker and Yaba Baker above.

What’s In The News

Across America

Alabama: Of the state’s 14 major correctional facilities, none have universal air conditioning, according to a prison reform nonprofit…

Arkansas: Tedrick Washington Jr. was punched in the face and pulled by his dreadlocks through a car window after a state trooper pursued a car he was riding in…

Colorado: The family of Rajon Belt-Stubblefield, who was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer, is suing the officer and the city…

District of Columbia: The Department of Justice has accused George Washington University’s medical school of illegally considering race in admissions…

Florida: The woman who shot and killed a man who was approaching her in the parking lot of a Walmart despite her warnings will not be prosecuted…

Indiana: The prison population in the state is climbing, but local corrections programs are facing funding cuts…

Louisiana: A lawsuit accuses the state prison system of delaying inmates’ release…

Maryland: White men tore down a Baltimore County church over a century ago. Its Black congregation never gave up…

Mississippi: A grand jury has indicted an Illinois man accused of making death threats to witnesses in the wake of the death of Nolan Wells…

Missouri: A mother is suing Springfield Public Schools, alleging her 14-year-old son was racially discriminated against and physically restrained…

North Carolina: St. Augustine’s University announced that it has canceled fall classes as the HBCU works its way out of bankruptcy...

Ohio: A man was arrested after a historic Black church in Cleveland went up in flames…

South Carolina: Winthrop University students are pressing for answers following allegations that an administrator used the N-word…

Texas: Losing primary candidates almost always fall in line — but Rep. Jasmine Crockett is breaking that norm. My colleagues Brianna Tucker and Arthur Delaney report for HuffPost.

What’s Happening

The Congressional Black Caucus is condemning Laura Loomer following her racist attack on Black women leaders, reports…

I spoke with , the only member of Congress indicted by the Trump administration. She isn’t backing down, even as she campaigns for reelection and awaits the birth of her second child…

The book “Black Farm Boys” tells the untold story of the New Farmers of America, the nation’s first organization for Black youth in vocational agriculture…

Ronald Hayes agreed to talk to a video crew about his son’s murder because he thought he would be used in an ad against gun violence. But the ad is actually aimed at smearing the political record of the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate…

“Defunding or altogether eliminating Black studies will surely exacerbate racialized persistence and experiential and student outcomes inequities on predominantly white campuses,” writes for Inside Higher Ed…

Senatobia, Mississippi police chief Harold Vanderford has been fired after sending racist text messages…

spoke with mental health advocates about the distinct pressures that can keep Black queer men from seeking help…

The influence of “Roots” continues to unfold, largely through the work of Alex Haley’s nephew at the Maryland State Archives…

Reuters: After a summer of victories for Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidates, the movement faces a new test: whether it can win over Black voters…

A man was taken into custody after students at the University of North Carolina said he got into a campus building and yelled racial slurs at them during a “Love Island” watch party…

Nolan Wells’ brothers and college teammates are carrying on his legacy as the football season gets underway…

Aallyah Wright for Capital B: In Clarksdale, Mississippi, residents and city officials are divided over the potential economic boost and environmental strain of a data center...

Rocky Myers, once sentenced to death for murder, is now fighting for his freedom after discovering his attorney defended the Ku Klux Klan…

For the Marshall Project, Daja Henry attended a concert of the Parchman Band, composed of people incarcerated at the Mississippi State Penitentiary…

wrote about what Black mothers in Mississippi can teach us about democracy...

Entertainment News

A jury has found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, but questions remain after the trial…

I attended Kashif’s inaugural Screenplay for the People, a film pitch competition in New York City. The organization, which aims to give opportunities to diverse filmmakers who are shut out of Hollywood, is set to provide the winner, Abdullah Kokash, with $75,000 in production resources to create his screenplay. Read more about Kashif and Screenplay for the People here…

After a three-year hiatus, BET is bringing back the “Soul Train Awards”, which will air Friday, Nov. 27…

Haniyah P. for The Grio: The family of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer Sr. says the film “By Any Means” distorts his legacy and is petitioning for a disclaimer to be added...

It has been ten years since Colin Kaepernick took a knee to stand against racism and police brutality. He opened up about his life since then, the NFL and much more in a new interview with NBC News… ’s column about the decade is a must-read…

Lionel Richie has been released from the hospital after a brief stay and is “doing great”...

Erykah Badu is preparing to release her first album in 11 years. The Guardian sat down with the artist to discuss a host of topics…

wrote about Black women genre-bending artists who are making the most interesting music this summer…

Tyler Perry launched “Maxscene,” a new specialty division of his production company...

Miss USA has crowned its newest winner, Justus Kelley from Virginia. She is the first mother to win the pageant…

Months after his firing from ESPN, Ryan Clark and “The Pivot” are expanding from YouTube to Netflix on Sept. 8…

*Spoilers ahead* “Lanterns” is the hot new show right now. Writer Vanessa Baden Kelly takes fans into what it means for a Black man to earn the Green Lantern ring…

Obituaries

Cassandra Wilson, two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer, has died. She was 70…

Jerome Smith, a Freedom Rider who criticized Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy for not doing enough to protect him and other riders, has died. He was 87…

Carla Jeffery, known for her role in the Disney Channel movie franchise “Zombies,” has died. She was 33…

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 37 seconds!...

Register to attend the Great Lakes African American Writers Conference. It will be held live and virtually on Sept. 5…

The Brooklyn Museum is offering a paid internship for teens interested in art, art history and museum education...

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is celebrating its 10th anniversary from Sept. 24 to 27…

The lights are back on in Gary, Indiana, The Atlantic

Jenae Barnes went to Gary after a two-week blackout to talk with residents who feel that “whatever efforts had been made to restore power had not been fast enough.” Some residents were throwing out maggot-filled food from their refrigerators, while others were using their cars for air conditioning.

Black journalists are still fighting. Karen Attiah just won a round, The Root

In my capacity as president of the Washington Association of Black Journalists, I teamed up with NABJ President for an op-ed explaining why ’s recent victory against the Washington Post is a victory for newsroom diversity more broadly.

ICYMI: An arbitrator ordered the Washington Post to reinstate Karen Attiah, who was fired after posting about “white men who espouse hatred and violence” following Charlie Kirk’s killing.

When Harvard University launched its Legacy of Slavery Initiative in 2022, the supposed goal was to find direct descendants of the 1,613 people enslaved by university officials. Four years later, it hasn’t contacted them. Watch this feature from the Boston Globe.

What’s In The News

Across America

Alabama: Tuskegee University honored the next generation of aviation professionals with a bomber jacket awarding ceremony…

California: The state may become the first in the nation to require corporations to declare under oath whether they or their predecessors profited from slavery…

Florida: Torey Alston has been dismissed as president of Broward College following strained relations with the board of trustees…

Georgia: For Decaturish, King Williams wrote about the demise of Atlanta’s New Black Wall Street...

Louisiana: The Louisiana State University NAACP claimed that the African American Cultural Center has closed. The university is pushing back against those claims…

Mississippi: Black voters have a chance to elect their first Black judge in DeSoto County, Aallyah Wright reports…

Missouri: The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority signed a secret three-year contract to harvest bus riders’ biometric data for AI training, while cutting routes for the poor…

Massachusetts: Errin Haines, , and Christina Greer called out Trump’s repeated attacks on the press during a panel on Martha’s Vineyard…

New York: A Quogue board has denied a luxury developer’s bid to demolish a historic Black property…

North Carolina: Winston-Salem State University chancellor Bonita Brown spoke to Brianna Atkinson about her efforts to help make the HBCU stand out in a college-heavy state...

Ohio: Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy convicted of murdering Sonya Massey in her home, has died in prison…

Texas: A judge has rejected a bid for a new trial for Karmelo Anthony, who had been sentenced to 35 years in prison as a result of a fatal stabbing…

What’s Happening

Target has pulled a Halloween costume after backlash that it resembled caricatures from minstrel shows…

Keshia Golden, a survivor of domestic violence who said she accidentally killed her boyfriend in self-defense, accepted a plea deal and will avoid jail time…

Cudjo Lewis was one of the last survivors of the Middle Passage; he died in 1935 and never saw Benin again. His great-great-granddaughter just received citizenship from the West African country and talked with Adria Walker of the Guardian about what it means to her…

In Queens, a burial ground where nearly 300 freed Black people were laid to rest in the 1800s has been paved over and is now used by an NYPD contractor to store abandoned cars…

It’s not too late to celebrate Black August, a commemoration of Black revolutionaries and activists…

The BackBlack campaign is mobilizing small-dollar donors — who gave the majority of last year’s 130,000+ gifts under $100 — to support Black-led nonprofits overlooked since 2020…

Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, authorities are investigating after Demetrius Fleming was found dead in an apparent hanging...

The Marshall Project: “For those whose loved ones were killed in St. Louis, the investigative process could be improved with empathy, better communication, and frequent updates”...

For , “historically Black beaches are spaces shaped by refuge, joy, and quiet resistance”…

Salamishah Tillet penned a feature about the history of Jack and Jill for Town & Country…

for The Lens: “In every corner of the now-scuttled 6th District, Black residents tell of deep connections through Louisiana history, food, and today’s struggles. But this spring, the nation’s highest court concluded that those voters share only race, not a cohesive culture”…

Smithsonian Magazine: These photos visualize the legacy of Peter Spencer, the founder of America’s first independent Black church…

Texas Roadhouse slammed online claims that employees are tampering with Black diners’ food, calling the allegations a hoax…

The Trump administration removed Kehinde Wiley’s painting of Dominicans from a U.S. embassy, calling it “very woke”...

A federal judge is examining the Justice Department’s case against Don Lemon months after his arrest…

Entertainment News

A former producer for Wendy Williams is heading up a three-part documentary about the TV talk show star for Peacock…

Jill Scott is Billboard’s 2026 R&B Hall of Fame honoree. She spoke with the outlet for a wide-ranging interview...

A “Bel-Air” spinoff starring Coco Jones as Hilary Banks is in the works at Peacock...

Check out this fun article about how volleyball is luring the greatest gathering of NBA daughters…

Gladys Knight is taking a step back from performing to focus on “transitioning into the next stage” of her life and career…

X-Men fans finally have their Storm in Maya Boyd…

Alice Coltrane’s artistic and spiritual practices are fertile ground for imagining what Black liberation can look like today, Ambre Dromgoole writes for Hammer and Hope...

talked with Tupac’s family amid the ongoing trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis...

André 3000 has officially joined the cast of “Scooby-Doo: Origins,” coming to Netflix in 2027…

The talented pianist Sullivan Fortner was recently profiled in the New York Times…

Dr. Dre’s comments about artificial intelligence set the internet on fire earlier this week. talked with him and Jimmy Iovine at his home…

Obituaries

Janie Bradford, the songwriter who co-wrote the Motown hit “Money (That’s What I Want),” has died. She was 87…

Jerome “Big Duck” Smith, a New Orleans civil rights icon and Freedom Rider, has died. He was 87…

Michael Wright, a talented actor known for his roles in “The Five Heartbeats” and “Sugar Hill,” has died. He was 70…

Samuel Monroe Jr., known for his role in “Menace II Society” and “The Player’s Club,” has died. He was 52…

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 38 seconds!…

Dr. Michael Forde built a free searchable library covering Black history, racism, and health equity, backed by verified sources…

“March on Washington 2026: Defend the Vote” is set to take place in DC on August 28…

The Washington Informer is seeking DMV-based content creators to join its Creator Studio...

Register to attend the Great Lakes African American Writers Conference. It will be held live and virtually on Sept. 5...

STARZ is accepting applicants for its #TakeTheLead Writers’ Intensive — a program seeking to provide mentorship to emerging TV writers. The deadline is Sept. 15…

Michael Wright, a talented actor known for his roles in the 1991 musical “The Five Heartbeats” and the 1994 crime drama “Sugar Hill,” has died. He was 70.

No cause of death was released.

“Michael was a husband, a father (Manon Wright, Byron Barr, Brittney Briggs, Brianna Barr, Sir Barr, a grandfather (Yoko), loved one, a friend, and an extraordinary artist whose work touched generations,” his wife, Susan, said in a statement.

“Many knew and loved him through The Five Heartbeats, The Wanderers, V, The Principal, Streamers, and the many other characters he brought to life throughout his remarkable career,” the statement continued. “His talent, presence, and contributions to film and television will live on, but to those of us who loved him personally, he was so much more than the roles the world knew him for.”

Leon Robinson, his “Five Heartbeats” co-star, also paid tribute to the late actor. “We made History together, we were honored together, you made your mark and for that you will be remembered, my friend,” he wrote on social media.

Born in New York, Wright attended the now-defunct New Lincoln School and later enrolled in the famed Lee Strasberg Institute, where he honed his skills as an actor.

His acting career began with his role as Clinton Stitch in the 1979 crime drama “The Wanderers.” He later appeared in the 1980s TV miniseries “V” and the 1983 war film “Streamers,” for which he won a Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his stellar performance as the volatile soldier Carlyle.

In 1991, Wright portrayed Eddie King Jr. (also pronounced Kang) in “The Five Heartbeats,” starring alongside the film’s director Robert Townsend, Harry Lennix, Leon Robinson, and Tico Wells.

Wright had a knack for portraying passionate characters. He then pushed himself further as the intimidating Raynathan “Ray” Skuggs in “Sugar Hill,” and into the early aughts as the troubled Omar White on HBO’s “Oz.”

“The greatest sin an actor can commit is to fail to be interesting. I always try to make my characters interesting. I want you to be riveted and wonder what’s going on behind my eyes,” Wright told Sheen Magazine in 2021.

“I want the audience to think along with me and go on an internal journey. It’s the minute things that you do that make a characterization compelling.”

Attacks on Black citizenship are attacks on democracy, The Nation

Too often, Democrats reinforce Republicans’ lie that the language of racial justice is the problem—instead of the injustices the language is trying to name, Kali Holloway writes in The Nation.

Black colleges are building more dorms amid enrollment growth, Capital B News

Housing has long strained HBCUs, but this summer, several Black colleges have flipped that narrative. They are breaking ground on new dorms and announcing housing development as enrollment climbs, Alecia Taylor reports.

What’s In The News

Across America

Alabama: Brock Morgan, a former Howard University student-athlete, is joining FOX54 in Huntsville after submitting 223 job applications…

District of Columbia: Students at HBCUs generally rely more on parent loans. They’re starting school under new federal loan borrowing limits set by Trump’s bill…

Florida: A police officer is accused of using Flock camera tech to track his estranged wife’s vehicle 717 times, according to an affidavit…

Illinois: spoke with Sharon Bush, the president of a Chicago-based philanthropy funding Black-centered, racial justice work throughout the state…

Indiana: Thousands of Gary residents will likely be without power until Tuesday, nearly two weeks after severe storms passed through. also reported on the blackout for Black Information Network…

Massachusetts: Black Boston families have a median net wealth of $7,800. White families, on the other hand, have a median net wealth of $549,200…

Michigan: Jerome Vaughn is leaving WDET after three decades in journalism…

Mississippi: ​​Nearly a year after 21-year-old student Trey Reed was found hanging from a tree, his family says attorney Ben Crump stopped responding to them…

Nevada: Alisa Goods vanished in Las Vegas on August 8, her family said. Now they’ve been receiving strange messages from her phone…

New York: Spike Lee’s annual Michael Jackson Block Party is returning to Brooklyn on August 29…

North Carolina: North Carolina Central University is now the first HBCU in the nation to launch a dedicated AI research center…

Ohio: Floun’say R. Caver, the deputy general manager of operations for Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, was found dead in Virginia…

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia officials are planning a citywide effort to recruit 1,000 Black men and allies to serve as mentors for Black boys and young men…

Texas: The judge has been removed from the case of Karmelo Anthony, who is seeking a new trial in the 2025 deadly stabbing at a track meet…

Virginia: Police have arrested a 19-year-old found hiding in a dorm closet at Virginia State University in connection with a shooting on campus that left five people injured…

What’s Happening

NABJ President explained why Stephen A. Smith got a “Thumbs Down” award, saying: “If NABJ is going to be serious about defending Black journalists and journalism itself, then sometimes we have to say their names”...

CNN: The Navy is weighing renaming an aircraft carrier under construction that was set to honor Doris Miller, a Black war hero, and potentially switching it to honor Trump…

BET Digital has launched a national community reporting initiative to expand local multimedia journalism...

Northwestern University is reportedly shuttering its 80-year-old Program of African Studies, laying off staff and keeping students in the dark. The school is pushing back against that claim…

The wife of a North Carolina mayor is facing backlash after her racist Facebook post that blamed Black residents for the city’s problems…

Meanwhile in Florida: Democratic socialist Angie Nixon defeated Trump impeachment whistleblower Alex Vindman in Florida’s Dem Senate primary, a major upset for the left…Trump ally Byron Donalds won Florida’s GOP primary and is one step closer to becoming the state’s first-ever Black governor…Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz won the Democratic primary in a new Florida district despite outcry from local and national Black leaders…

By disparaging the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests as “Woke 1,” liberals are following the right wing’s lead, writes…

wrote about the seemingly annual discourse around the so-called Black elite and Martha’s Vineyard…

The Fifth Circuit won’t stop until it has warped Supreme Court precedent enough to allow DeRay McKesson to be punished for being Black at a protest, G.S. Hans writes…

A Raleigh man has been charged with murder after Sheremy Gwenette Dillard, a beloved girls’ basketball coach, was found stabbed to death...

“Reading Rainbow” star Mychal Threets said he will check himself into a hospital, telling everyone he is “safe” but “not okay”...

wrote about the products hairstylists use on their kids’ hair, like Luster’s Pink Hair Lotion, rat-tail combs, and Shine ‘N Jam…

The Justice Dept. is investigating the College of William & Mary over whether some of its scholarships and financial aid are discriminatory...

Entertainment News

Have you seen the new trailer for the “A Different World” reboot yet? Watch above…

GQ’s Frazier Tharpe talked with Druski about how he’s dominated social media with his viral videos. Now he’s eyeing Hollywood…

Trina told 99 Jamz Radio that her upcoming album will be her last…

TDE is bringing live performances, food, a mobile recording studio, and much more to HBCUs across the country…

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II spoke with Vanity Fair about Marvel canceling “Blade” and “Wonder Man”…

The American Black Film Festival is heading to Los Angeles from May 20-23, 2027…

Vogue: Coco Jones and Donovan Mitchell collaborated entirely with Black designers for their wedding wardrobe...

Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar, chair of the department of African American Studies at Emory University, is the driving force behind historical accuracy on “The Gilded Age”...

Colman Domingo told NPR’s Tonya Mosley in a new interview that he’s always up for new challenges. He’s also eyeing “Diarra from Detroit”…

wrote about the disjointed performance of Usher and Chris Brown’s “R&B Tour,” and the future of the genre…

Obituaries

Rev. Cleveland B. Sparrow Sr., a pastor and civil rights activist who broke down barriers in Washington, has died. He was 89...

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 46 seconds!…

Looking for something to do in the nation’s capital this weekend? The Library of Congress National Book Festival will take place on August 22 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center…

“March on Washington 2026: Defend the Vote” is set to take place in DC on August 28…

Register to attend the Great Lakes African American Writers Conference. It will be held live and virtually on Sept. 5...

We need more Black animators and showrunners in kids TV. Sugar Snap Media, an animation studio, is looking for applicants for its creator program…

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is celebrating its 10th anniversary from Sept. 24 to 27…

Are you a senior with a story? NPR is looking for Americans age 65 and older to share their experiences for the Senior Podcast Challenge…

The NAACP has teamed up with the legal team seeking answers in the mysterious death of Nolan Wells, a Black teen who was found dead after a boating trip in Mississippi.

“We’re taking up this fight to search for truth and transparency surrounding the death of Nolan Wells,” Kristen Clarke, general counsel for the NAACP and former assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, said in a statement.

Wells’ body was found on Mississippi’s Horn Island on July 6, two days after he visited the island for a Fourth of July celebration. His parents, seeking a thorough investigation into their son’s death, retained noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump shortly after.

Clarke and the NAACP’s Office of General Counsel will work with Crump to push for transparency and timely updates from authorities.

“Drawing on the Association’s long history of pushing for full and fair investigations when Black lives are lost under suspicious circumstances, we will help bring additional investigative resources to bear and work to ensure that no stone is left unturned in seeking answers and accountability for Nolan’s family,” Clarke continued.

In July, Crump released the findings of an independent autopsy for Wells during a press conference at the NAACP National Convention. The autopsy found that the cause and manner of death are both undetermined, pending investigation.

“The world is watching, and Nolan Wells’s family deserves a thorough accounting of what happened,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement. “Too often, the deaths of young Black people are dismissed, downplayed, or inadequately investigated unless we demand answers. Our involvement in this case is part of our ongoing commitment to make sure those answers are pursued with urgency and respect for Black lives.”

The NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the country.

Hello from the NABJ Convention in Atlanta!

Thousands of other Black journalists, educators, and media professionals have descended on Georgia’s capital city for the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention, which offers attendees career development, job opportunities, and much more.

I participated on a panel with two amazing panelists, and Danielle Wallace, to discuss how to build platforms, like this very newsletter. I hope we encouraged more journalists to consider creating their own.

Some other notes:

• The NABJ Convention will be in Houston next year, but NABJ President Errin Haines confirmed that it will be in New Orleans in 2028.

• NABJ and the National Business League announced a strategic partnership to launch a media enterprise accelerator to assist independent journalists and media-related business owners.

• The parents of Nolan Wells spoke before the NABJ crowd on Thursday. Read Adria Walker’s reporting here.

Here’s an overview of what’s been taking place during this year’s convention: For the Atlanta Voice, Donnell Suggs contextualized what it means for the gathering to be back in the city for the first time since 2007. Richard Prince provided a detailed look into some of the more granular topics within NABJ.

After Cyclospora outbreak, local Black farms see rise in support, Capital B News

Ever since the nationwide outbreak of the Cyclospora parasite, local Black farms are seeing a rise in support, Adam Mahoney reports for Capital B. Here’s how to find Black farmers in your area and support them.

Black residents warned of abusive cops for years. Then police shot and killed a toddler, The Intercept

Police shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley in the Mississippi town of Senatobia, where community members had long warned their elected leaders about the abusive cops in the area.

Ashley Etienne: “Black voters must stop being a tool and use their power,” The Emancipator

spoke with , a longtime senior advisor to former Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden and former VP Kamala Harris, about how Black voters should utilize their political and economic power.

What’s In The News

Across America

Arkansas: Two looming data centers in Little Rock have residents extremely concerned about outsiders “appropriating rural, Black-owned land”...

California: The family of Kiara Bowling, who was hit and seriously hurt by 7- and 4-year-old brothers who stole their parents’ car, said she is still in critical condition…

Colorado: Cherry Creek Schools denied the Trump administration’s allegations that it excludes students from clubs and other programming based on race…

District of Columbia: The D.C. State Chess Federation continues to help youth grow through the game of chess despite its revoked status...

Illinois: The “Other Washingtons” project honors everyone from Harold Washington, the city’s first Black mayor, to Denzel, Kerry and Dinah, as well as everyday Chicagoans…

Michigan: A new partnership in Detroit provides residents with resources designed to help them enter and complete college…

Mississippi: A lack of clear answers in the Nolan Wells’ case is fueling speculation, distrust and threats…

New York: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s went on a “two-week blitz of appearances” with Black journalists…

Pennsylvania: The music teacher who taught Questlove and Christian McBride is the subject of a new documentary…

Tennessee: High Democratic turnout for House primaries in Shelby County is the latest sign that redistricting may be energizing Black Southern voters…

Texas: The oldest African American Baptist church in Fort Worth is close to being purchased and transformed into a performance art center…

Wisconsin: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly won the Democratic primary race for Wisconsin governor, defeating progressive Francesca Hong…

Vermont: Miss Black Vermont Harmony Edosomwan was crowned Miss Black USA…

Virginia: Historians may have helped influence a judge’s ruling about overturning a school board’s decision to change the name of public schools that honored Confederate generals…

What’s Happening

Bryan Stevenson of Equal Justice Initiative went on Democracy Now to discuss the “enduring evil of slavery” and Trump’s attempt to rewrite history. Watch above.

Black adults have reported being in the worst financial position in nearly a decade, according to a new survey…

Authorities provided false information to federal judges while they tried to build a criminal case against Georgia Fort, her attorneys said...

An ex-officer accused of planning to kill Black people at a New Orleans festival was quietly released from custody after a grand jury found there was not enough evidence to charge him with a crime…

Dalton Eatherly, the racist ragebaiter charged in the shooting at a middle Tennessee courthouse, has bonded out after nearly three months in custody…

The Jackson Police Dept. has not yet received an official cause or manner of death in Tasia Fortune, a Black woman who was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, MS…

This past Sunday marked the 10-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s killing, and some protesters are still awaiting trial…

A free trade program at the University of the District of Columbia is giving Black students a different path...

published a rundown of the attorneys aiding Harmeet Dhillon in destroying the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division…

The city of Fort Worth, Texas, and the family of Atatiana Jefferson have agreed on a proposed $11.25M settlement 6 years after she was killed in her home by an officer…

A panel of journalists, researchers and educators recently came together to discuss how HBCUs are represented in the media and public discourse…

Connie Rice, a veteran civil rights attorney, is urging the importance of defending democracy—and has a plan on how to defeat Trump-era authoritarianism…

Meet 21 Black women who bounced back and are thriving after being pushed out of the workplace…

Steven Nelson, a former executive with the National Gallery of Art, said the Washington museum moved a symposium about race in art in an effort to “avoid political blowback”...

Entertainment News

Donell Jones says his Verzuz battle with Joe is taking place on August 20th…

The trial of Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, who is accused of ordering the decades-old killing of Tupac, began this week…

Jacqueline Woodson’s best-selling picture book, “The Day You Begin,” has debuted on PBS Kids...

Have you seen “Diarra From Detroit” yet? Colman Domingo wants to star on Diarra Kilpatrick’s hit show …

Congratulations to “Corporate Erin” Lisa Beasley and her husband on their second child...

The FADER is out with a list of 20 Black women pop artists who haven’t quite cracked the mainstream yet, but soon will…

Barack Obama is set to host a podcast exploring influential books from James Baldwin and Toni Morrison…

The Guardian talked with the Womack Sisters about their superstar family and how they finally broke into the family business…

Dinner Party, the jazz-R&B supergroup consisting of Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Terrance Martin and 9th Wonder, are out with a new project…

Rahquel Purcell has been named the chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officer of L’Oréal, North America…

Obituaries

Robert Mason, an unsung hero who helped hundreds of thousands of students apply for HBCUs nationwide, has died. He was 66…

Christy Knowings, best known for her role on the ‘90s Nickelodeon comedy series “All That,” has died. She was 46…

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 46 seconds…

Publishers Weekly reviewed “Strung Up,” ’s forthcoming book, and gave it a starred review…

Don’t Sell Grandma’s House explores Black interior design, media, culture, and memory by recreating a 1960s–1970s basement. Check it out on August 16 at NYC’s Gallery Sinclair…

The Atlanta Black Star is hiring for several positions...

The Brooklyn Museum is offering a paid internship for teens interested in art, art history and museum education...

Abbott Elementary is casting kids ages 6 to 14 to work as background actors for the show...

How one Black family has held onto their land for generations, URL Media

Elister Charleston has been farming for eight decades. His family’s farm, held together by faith and love, offers organic produce and events for the community. Kia Gregory explored how his family kept their land for decades.

Nolan Wells went to an island with friends and never came home. His death has renewed debate over race and justice in Mississippi, The Guardian

“Uncertainty around the investigation into the death of the 18-year-old, whose body was found after a July 4th boat trip with friends, has led some to question whether justice will be meted out equally,” Adria Walker reports.

He’s eligible for up to $480,000 after being wrongly imprisoned for 42 years. The state says no, ProPublica

Elvis Brooks was exonerated after spending 42 years in prison. And yet the Louisiana Attorney General maintains he is guilty, preventing him from qualifying for any compensation from the state.

Applications for Preserving Black Churches grants, a key initiative of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, are now open. Applications opened this week, and will close on September 11, at 5:00 p.m.

What’s In The News

Across America

Alabama: This week marked the three year anniversary of the Montgomery Brawl…

Arkansas: Librarians and booksellers could face up to a year in prison if they’re found to have “distributed” inappropriate material to those under the age of 18…

Colorado: Denver City Council may start meetings with a statement recognizing the atrocities of slavery under a new proposal…

California: An LAPD officer has been charged after he secretly recorded his colleagues making racist, homophobic and sexist comments…

Georgia: Capital B Atlanta asked Black male voters to share their questions for Sen. Jon Ossoff ahead of November…

Iowa: Black students in the state are arrested at nearly four times the rate of their peers, according to an ACLU report…

Indiana: Gov. Mike Braun announced he would end some contracting preferences for women and minority owned businesses…

Massachusetts: Black clergymen helped lower homicides in Boston, and want the city to remain one of the safest in the country....

Michigan: Donavan McKinney has toppled a Democratic congressman, virtually guaranteeing the return of Black representation in Congress to Detroit…

Mississippi: The Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services met 22 of 107 applicable safety measures, a court monitor found…

Missouri: Incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell ended a comeback bid by former Rep. Cori Bush in a hotly contested Missouri Democratic primary…

New York: Candace Miller-Brathwaite used her lived experience to elevate Harlem and tell her family’s story…

Tennessee: Fisk University President Dr. Agenia Walker Clark defended the university’s plan to build a data center at the HBCU...

Virginia: A new research center dedicated to Black American history in the Danville region will soon receive a permanent home…

Washington: Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes resigned following criticism about the city’s response to a recent fatal shooting at a food festival...

Wisconsin: Black babies in the state continue to die at far higher rates than babies of other races. The Cap Times wants to speak with those with lived experience who can provide insight into the ongoing Black infant mortality crisis...

What’s Happening

Black voters shaped the discourse in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, reports for the Michigan Chronicle…

Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus reportedly told Axios that the incoming Democrats who have declined to support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker may not be welcomed with open arms…

Jasper Smith expertly explored the debacle at Howard University, and also found out that the prominent HBCU is offering buyouts to 600 employees…

Tasia Fortune has been identified as the woman whose body was found hanging from a tree behind a Jackson, Mississippi, home…

For EBONY, Sherdell Baker wrote about the impact chronic stress has on Black business owners…

Dominique Dillon, a news anchor who went viral for falling asleep on air, is opening up about her “work nightmare”…

The Trump administration’s plans to stymie and defund bike lane plans in the US, on the unusual basis that they are DEI tools, will hurt efforts to improve roadway safety, non-motorized transportation advocates say…

Forbes’ Asia Alexander compiled America’s top 20 HBCUs that set their graduates up for success…

Laila AnnMarie Stevens documents her family’s move from New York City to North Carolina — a kind of reversal of the historic Great Migration of the early 20th century…

Investigators say Joniah Walker disappeared at age 15 and was held against her will until authorities located her roughly 730 miles from home…

A recent camp involving tech influencers, Black creatives and OpenAI is drawing swift backlash online…

Entertainment News

“When the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts unveiled its America250 Big Read program, Marita Golden and Gwen McKinney realized there were no Black women on the list of authors. So the literary activists created something of their own.” Watch above…

Morgan Freeman recently spoke with the New York Times about his latest work, his voice and how he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon…

Paramount+ has released first-look images of “The Varnell Hill Show,” the “Martin” spinoff premiering this September…

Serena Williams will reunite with Venus Williams in doubles at the Cincinnati Open…

Keke Palmer is set to handle hosting duties for Carson Daly on the upcoming celebrity-themed Season 31 of “The Voice”...

Ice-T talked with Keith Murphy about his new album, podcast culture and why rap artists shouldn’t have an expiration date…

Mahershala Ali spoke with GQ about moving on from Blade—and re-teamed with writer/director Bassam Tariq for a “uniquely deep” action project instead…

The New York Times spent a day with actor Tramell Tillman as he shopped for furniture in Hell’s Kitchen and danced through Chelsea…

Apple TV has acquired the rights to Colson Whitehead‘s “Harlem” trilogy, Variety reports…

The New York Times reviewed “Jimmy,” a feature film that imagines the early life of a 24-year-old James Baldwin before he became a literary icon…

Obituaries

Mildred Pitts Walter, a schoolteacher who wrote award-winning children’s books focusing on Black characters, has died. She was 103…

Arlene Smith, one of the co-founders and lead vocalists of the pioneering 1950s girl group The Chantels, has died. She was 84…

James H. Patterson, a musician, educator and Clark Atlanta University legend, has died. He was 91...

Florence “Flo” Anthony, a pioneering celebrity journalist who was the first woman to work in the New York Post’s sports section, has died. She was 74…

Booker Rowe, the first Black musician to perform in The Philadelphia Orchestra, has died. He was 85…

Tony Hicks, who was convicted of murder at 14 before later dedicating his life to violence prevention alongside the family of the man he killed, has died. He was 45…

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 50 seconds!...

Design challenge for participating HBCU students: create an original wordmark, icon, or visual inspired by “Public Radio Meets HBCU Excellence.” The deadline is TODAY…

The Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative is “dedicated to supplying industry access and resources to preWGA Black screenwriters”…

Capital B News is hosting THE STORY WE’RE WRITING: Black Power, Politics & Possibility, a conversation on Black wealth, political power, and what’s at stake in the midterms, on August 13 on Martha’s Vineyard. RSVP at events@capitalbnews.org...

Applications for the Shondaland x SeriesFest Women Directing Mentorship are now open…

Save the date: In October, there will be an opening of a new exhibit in Columbus honoring Dr. Helen G. Edmonds, the first Black woman to earn a PhD in History from Ohio State University in 1946…

This story was originally published by The 19th.

Dr. Erica Schwartz will be the first Black woman to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, promising that she will show “radical transparency and unwavering scientific integrity” in the role. But she faces political headwinds and practical challenges as she starts the job.

Schwartz, who was confirmed Wednesday by the Senate to run the federal agency that primarily responds to infectious diseases, is expected to balance a public commitment to evidence-based policy and how that might clash with the requests of her new boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A CDC director has typically overseen coordination between the federal government and states during disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies. The job has also entailed approving vaccine policy changes and ensuring accurate health data collection.

But the role has been reshaped under an administration that has questioned trust in government institutions, particularly after a global pandemic that generated right-wing outrage over mask mandates and other COVID-related policies.

President Donald Trump nominated Schwartz — who has served in the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and as chief medical officer for the U.S. Coast Guard — but the CDC reports to HHS. Although Schwartz told senators during a July 15 confirmation hearing that she would “follow the science wherever it leads,” she deflected inquiries on whether she would stand up to Kennedy or Trump if she was asked to act in ways that countered scientific evidence.

“She’s trying to walk the tightrope of keeping all of her bonafides: tons of experience, all the background you would want, good relationship with the medical public health community — while also continuing to have the support of the person and people who nominated her,” said Diana Z. O’Brien, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis who studies women’s political representation.

Schwartz — who served as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term — said neither the president nor the secretary would put her in a problematic position, a response that some senators repeatedly challenged given the firing of Schwartz’s predecessor, Susan Monarez. Monarez said Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, terminated her after an August 2025 meeting in which she refused to prematurely approve vaccine policy changes. Kennedy has refuted Monarez’s claim.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor who was a key vote for Kennedy’s confirmation but has since criticized several of his policy actions, tried to get Schwartz to commit to standing firm.

“We need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization,” he said. “Are you the person? And I’m being very direct here, because obviously I feel like we’ve got thousands of kids hospitalized because people have promoted that immunization is bad, and now kids have died because of it. It is evil to do that, and people persist. You are the bulwark, so I’m asking: Will you have the ability and the firmness to stand up to that political meddling, to say, ‘No, that’s wrong, and this is right?’”

Schwartz responded: “You have my assurances that I will continue to lead by my integrity. I will never compromise on the science. I will always, always have the public’s health in mind.”

Cassidy later voted to advance Schwartz out of the health committee that he chairs, a key step for her nomination to reach a full Senate vote. Most Senate Democrats on the committee voted down her nomination.

Schwartz is taking over a beleaguered agency battling multiple public health emergencies, including a measles outbreak and climbing cases of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection which causes explosive diarrhea. That all comes amid proposed budget cuts to the CDC that have led to staff cuts and weakened some public health programs. Morale among employees is reportedly low, particularly after a deadly shooting at its Atlanta headquarters last year that officials say was driven by misinformation.

Nadia E. Brown is a government professor and director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University who studies Black women’s politics. She said Schwartz’s nomination reminds her of the glass cliff theory of organizational leadership — the idea that companies appoint underrepresented leaders at times when they are struggling or facing a crisis. Schwartz brings extensive experience to the job, having served as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term and more recently working at UnitedHealth Group along with board roles at several health-related companies. She committed to resigning from those roles if confirmed.

Still, Schwartz is Trump’s third nominee for CDC director. Trump withdrew his first pick, Dr. Dave Weldon, amid reports that senators were critical of his anti-vaccine views. His second nominee, Monarez, was approved by the Senate in July 2025 only to be fired a month later. The agency has not had a permanent leader for nearly a year.

“It’s become a polarized position when it wasn’t,” Brown said. “We know that the country is deeply racialized and gendered, and Black women face misogynoir. And so if she fails, there’s already a built-in trope into why she fails, right? But there’s also an already built-in trope about, ‘Well, try her. What else do we have to lose?’”

There may also be some opportunities for Schwartz. During her confirmation hearing she expressed support for the Make America Healthy Again platform that is credited with elevating Kennedy’s profile and later helping Trump return to the White House. Her public backing of healthy eating and tackling chronic disease could help Trump ahead of a midterm election year that is perceived as having limited policy wins.

But O’Brien said that, too, carries pitfalls.

“Black women have not had the opportunity to be the face of Make America Healthy Again, even though in the abstract we should be prioritizing Black women’s health,” she said. “But they’ve not gotten to be the face of that movement, and she may just face an uphill battle with the core MAHA people, even if she’s able to bolster support among CDC and among the broader polity.”

Schwartz is already facing criticism from some of Kennedy’s staunchest supporters. Aaron Siri, an anti-vaccine activist who has served as a personal attorney for Kennedy, reportedly called Schwartz “the queen of mandating vaccines” — a point highlighted during her hearing when Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland asked Schwartz how she would respond to people who do not support vaccine mandates. Schwartz has a history of supporting vaccine mandates for military servicemembers.

“I want to be the CDC director for all Americans. I don’t want to be the CDC director just for Americans that believe in vaccines. I want to be the CDC director for Aaron Siri and people that have concerns about vaccines,” she said.

Almost immediately, Siri responded on social media with a message for Schwartz to “contact my office with proposed dates and we will book a ballroom in DC for a full day ‘open and transparent debate.’”

Schwartz also told lawmakers that mRNA technology — which helped develop COVID-19 vaccines and could address a range of diseases — “is safe and effective.” Kennedy last year canceled federal funding for mRNA vaccine research, claiming the technology poses more risks than benefits for certain respiratory viruses. Public health experts have warned the move could harm the nation’s response to future pandemics.

Brown pointed out that Schwartz as a Black woman needed an impeccable resume — her education includes a medical degree, a master’s degree in public health and a law degree — to even be considered for the job while others in the Trump administration have a history of limited experience for key governmental roles. But those credentials can only get someone so far amid such distrust in science.

“In order to be a Black woman who gets this, she had to come in with an absolutely perfect pedigree,” she said. Normally that would help her, but this is just a very unusual situation where, for the MAHA people, it’s not a good pedigree because it’s too much in the conventional scientific community.”

Adia Wingfield is a sociology professor at Washington University in St. Louis who studies racial and gender inequality in the workplace. She said Schwartz’s goal of restoring trust and bringing transparency faces a high bar in this political climate since public trust in a variety of institutions — Congress, media, universities — is declining.

“Certainly the CDC is not immune from that. So taking on the task of restoring trust to an institution that has been besieged for quite some time is a pretty lofty goal. And that’s not to say that she couldn’t achieve it, but that’s just to say that I think the headwinds are probably against anybody taking on that role,” she said.

The challenge may be exacerbated by Schwarz’s race and gender.

“As a Black woman, I think failing or being unable to achieve those goals in the ways that she has set out would take on additional resonance because of how few Black women have held either that position or tend to hold these types of positions in society at large,” Wingfield said. “It becomes reflective of the group membership, not necessarily of the individual, and that allows for drawing attention away from the bigger structural factors that make it difficult to do the job in the first place.”

Between Tuskegee University’s ban on bonnets and durags and Howard University’s disenrollment of students, HBCUs have been at the top of the conversation this week. Here’s the latest.

Recently, the institution canceled the enrollment of nearly 500 incoming freshmen. “A considerable number of students have been reinstated after meeting the payment and documentation requirements,” Howard University said. Still, not every student who was disenrolled will be able to attend this upcoming school year. Read Capital B’s latest.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that any New Yorkers impacted can seek admission at the City University of New York and the State University of New York for the fall 2026 semester. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore followed up with support as well.

tried to make sense of the crisis, and Saida Grundy wrote an op-ed in The Guardian about the impact this has had on the students…

Over in Alabama, Tuskegee University President Mark A. Brown has sparked an online conversation with a letter sent to students regarding expectations on student attire, cellphone use and attendance. There’s been a ton of discourse, but very little of it focused on the students. So I talked with several of them to hear their perspectives.

Meanwhile, Coppin State University President Anthony Jenkins is getting props for his Maryland HBCU implementing a program offering in-state tuition to students from states with no HBCUs. Gov. Moore responded to my post about this story…

A Jim Crow voter suppression tool is back, Brennan Center for Justice

Until recently, mass voter challenges have just come from outsider activists. But now, with election deniers joining the Trump administration, these baseless challenges may get federal support, Sean Morales-Doyle explains for the .

How a network of pink-slime news sites and conservative activists went after campus DEI, CJR

A host of right-wing activists pretending to be news sites filed thousands of FOIA requests and used hidden-camera videos to target universities, leading to the firing of faculty and staff. Read the latest in the Columbia Journalism Review.

What’s In The News

Across America

California: Sacramento’s historic Hackett House site has been added to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom list of significant sites…

Colorado: The “Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History: Aurora” exhibit will be on display at the Aurora History Museum through Nov. 7…

District of Columbia: The American Black Film Festival is coming to the District from September 25th to the 27th…

Florida: Community members recently gathered to discuss the future of Eatonville, one of the country’s first self-governing, all-Black towns…

Georgia: A nonprofit is working to protect a historic Black cemetery located near a massive data center project under construction in Henry County…

Illinois: Southern Illinois University Carbondale is pushing to permanently establish the African American Heritage Center to preserve Black history in the region…

Kentucky: Da’Jon Anthony Hayes-Burr, who was lauded for defending a young girl from sexual harassment earlier this year, was shot and killed....

Massachusetts: The sale of a Martha’s Vineyard home associated with Uncle Nearest has hit a snag as the whiskey brand company faces legal troubles...

Michigan: State Rep. Donavan McKinney is hoping to restore Black representation to Detroit by unseating Congressman Shri Thanedar…

Mississippi: Gov. Tate Reeves is blaming Ben Crump and Al Sharpton for “stoking division” in the Nolan Wells case…

New York: Wu-Tang Clan icon Ol’ Dirty Bastard was honored with a street named after him in Brooklyn…

Pennsylvania: Mayor Cherelle Parker’s former DEI chief is suing the city for discrimination in a tell-all lawsuit…

Rhode Island: Viola Davis and her husband Julius Tennon have donated $1.2M to a community center named after the actor’s mother…

South Carolina: Community members gathered in remembrance of the Hamburg massacre, which took place 150 years ago…

Tennessee: Between 1995 and 2019, 163 children were sentenced to die in prison by the state. Most were prosecuted under a little-known aspect of state law, known as “the felony murder rule”...

Texas: Protesters marched through downtown Austin this week demanding justice for Anthoneil Williams II, the unarmed 17-year-old killed by police…

Wisconsin: Mandela Barnes, the former lieutenant governor, has dropped out of the Democratic primary for governor…

What’s Happening

Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson sat down with Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for a wide-ranging conversation on their podcast. Watch above…

Ben Crump gave an update on the Nolan Wells case at the National Urban League’s annual conference…

Republican attempts to dilute Black political power in the South are driving Black Americans to the polls in larger numbers, according to a new analysis…

The TRiiBE published “Out West: In search of my ancestral home,” a work of literary nonfiction by Tiffany Walden that follows her journey to her grandmother’s birthplace in the Mississippi Delta…

31 colleges recently became “Black-serving institutions.” But what does that mean?...

The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum is celebrating more than four decades of culture and service in Baltimore…

The legal team of Mumia Abu-Jamal is appealing to the United Nations for support…

For the Mississippi Free Press, wrote about Nolan Wells and why Black Americans may be skeptical of the ongoing investigation…

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has a feature in The Atlantic that is getting a lot of buzz on social media…

The National Urban League has released its annual “State of Black America” report…

A Secret Service agent and two others have been charged after severely hazing a new fraternity member…

A mural honoring beloved television anchor Jovita Moore has returned to a Georgia coffee shop following community outcry…

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Ashley L. Jackson remembered her father, the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, discussed her conversion to Judaism and explored the relationship between Black and Jewish Americans…

A bipartisan bill would create a permanent memorial honoring the Tuskegee Airmen in the D.C. area…

A judge ruled that the recording of an interview the man accused of killing Tupac Shakur gave to police in 2008 may be used at his upcoming trial…

The outpouring of sympathy for Marie Marseille, whose dog was shot by LAPD, stands out at a time when even indisputable victimhood doesn’t guarantee universal support, Erin Aubry Kaplan explains…

Entertainment News

CBS Sunday Morning ran a feature on Derrick Adams, who is widely considered one of the most important artists of his generation. Watch above…

“Black Panther 3” is set to premiere on December 15th, 2028, Ryan Coogler announced. David Jonsson will take on the mantle of the titular character…

“Purple Rain,” a new musical based on Prince’s hit 1984 film, is coming to Broadway next spring…

ESSENCE Ventures has announced “a strategic investment” in Offscript Worldwide, the parent brand of REVOLT…

Phylicia Rashad received a standing ovation at the kickoff for the International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem…

The trailer teaser “The Thomas Crown Affair,” starring and directed by Michael B. Jordan, is out...

ESPN has an inside look at how LeBron James decided to choose the Philadelphia 76ers…

Willow Smith talked with The New York Times about her desire to be known as more than just the daughter of a Hollywood power couple, and her new album, “The Thread”...

Shelby Stewart spoke with the iconic Mara Brock Akil about her literary debut, growing up with ESSENCE, and her career…

Whoopi Goldberg, Jenifer Lewis, Vanessa Williams and Vivica A. Fox are set to star in the Netflix comedy “Women Like Us”...

Alice Coltrane’s ashram tapes, which have long been unavailable to the public, will finally be released…

A judge ruled rap lyrics can be used as evidence in the high-profile murder-for-hire case the rapper known as Yella Beezy…

The wife of a Kansas City Chiefs coach was allegedly shot by the couple’s son at the family’s home…

Obituaries

Betye Saar, the pioneering California artist who confronted stereotypes about Black women with a variety of tools, has died. She was 99…

William Clair Turner Jr., a pastor and theological educator who shaped Duke Divinity School, has died. He was 78…

Hope Clarke, the actress, singer, and dancer who choreographed the 1990s musical “Jelly’s Last Jam,” has died. She was 85…

Mary J. Armstrong, an educator and longtime president of the American Federation of Teachers St. Louis (Local 420), has died. She was 73…

Carl Yelder, a Louisville legend best known as DJ Lil Carl, has died. He was 46...

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 50 seconds…

Authorities are asking the public’s help in locating Syncere Pshyra Evans, a missing teenager who was last seen in South Los Angeles…

Support the New Eyes Collective, a phenomenal group of Black cultural workers committed to impactful work…

If you’re in upstate New York, check out the 16th Annual Emancipation Day on August 1st at the Smithville Community Center in Peterboro…

More than 50 of your favorite Black authors will appear at Mahogany Books’ third annual Black Books Matter Fest on August 1 in Maryland...

A powerful play about the legacy of Black suffragists in Boston is running from July 18 to August 8 at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester…

It’s summertime.

Many college students are enjoying the last vestiges of summer break before worrying about textbooks and class schedules. Some are spending their days lounging on a beach or partying with friends.

Tuskegee University junior Aiden Bass is currently at a conference for his internship — and he’s wearing a suit.

“Most of the people I know at Tuskegee right now are at internships,” said Bass, who is studying aerospace engineering at the Alabama HBCU. “And we’re all saying the way that we dress wasn’t stopping us from gaining these internships.”

Earlier this week, Tuskegee President Dr. Mark A. Brown sent a message to parents of incoming students informing them about a “new policy for student attire on campus, classroom attendance, and cell phone use in classrooms.” The university is set to welcome its largest freshman class in over three decades.

“The Student Handbook requires students to arrive on campus with a business suit and proper shoes for a business meeting,” the letter read. “Students are prohibited from wearing revealing clothing in class, to the cafeteria or in official settings like Convocation. They are also not able to wear bedroom shoes, bonnets, or du-rags to class or the cafeteria.”

“The goal here is not meant to restrict students from enjoying the Tuskegee Experience, but to prepare them with a solid foundation for the workforce they will enter once they leave Tuskegee,” Brown, a Tuskegee alumnus who became president in 2024, explained in the letter.

The letter also states that faculty members are authorized to address students who don’t abide by these guidelines.

The bonnets-and-durags-to-class portion of the letter quickly went viral on social media, igniting an online firestorm. Many shared their opinions on young college students and HBCU culture more broadly.

“It’s sad that young adults have to be told this. Good for this updated rule! How can you be taken seriously if you don’t dress seriously,” one person wrote on Facebook.

“Glad for it! Setting an expectation for students to start dressing like professional adults,” another wrote.

But Bass, who also serves as the junior class vice president, thinks the entire discourse is a non-issue.

“Tuskegee has always had a dress code. Let’s start there,” said Bass, voicing frustration with how his peers have been portrayed online. “It should have never been publicized like this because it’s bringing this false interpretation that we don’t care about how we’re presenting ourselves in public and in professional environments.”

“That’s just completely false. That’s never been Tuskegee’s image. That’s never been the way that we’ve carried ourselves,” he said, pointing to the various career development events that the students themselves host on campus.

Aliya Purnell believes that while the university should always strive to teach its students about professionalism, the institution should follow its own mandate.

“Right now, we are in a housing crisis. We are in a financial crisis. We just got done dealing with students having bats in their dorms,” said Purnell, who is studying political science at the university and serves as the junior class president. “Students were placed in hotels off campus our freshman year. And instead of focusing on the issues, people are focused on a dress code policy that’s not only hindering bonnets and durags but scarves, crop tops, leggings and sweats.”

“What’s stopping them from banning piercings? It’s a slippery slope. We are in Alabama. President Mark Brown just gave an honorary degree to [GOP Sen.] Katie Britt,” she continued. “It feels like a slippery slope of us devolving into conservatism. It’s worrying as a student.”

Other students voiced their concerns that the dress code uproar is drowning out other issues.

“Nobody is upset about a dress code or advancing professionalism. But when over 1000 students were moved 30 minutes away from campus and receive an email about possibly having financial aid removed for tardiness to class, or students having to rent houses their second year of college just to continue their education, that’s not a headline?,” a biology student wrote on Facebook.

What I’m Reading reached out to Tuskegee University but did not receive a response prior to publication.

Even still, it’s extremely rare to see students walking around the private HBCU in sleepwear, Purnell said.

“I have rarely seen, in my experience going into my junior year, students walking around campus with durags and bonnets,” she explained. “The only time you will ever see that is maybe on a Sunday, where one to two people go to the cafeteria for a quick brunch and go right back to their dorms. But going to class, everybody is dressed professionally and adequately.”

Tuskegee has helped students obtain professional attire. Launched in 2023, the Golden Tigers Community Closet provides students with new or gently used business attire.

“If you’re so worried about what students on campus are wearing, we have a donation center where you can donate professional wear to students,” Purnell said. “Please give back to our community and don’t just bash us online. A lot of people [at the university] can’t afford to get their hair done.”

Another student, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, said they find the discourse “frustrating.”

“A lot of us really do try our best, even in the worst financial situations, to still look presentable, because I personally don’t come from a rich family,” the student explained. “We try our best to look business casual, whether it’s Walmart, Target, or whatever it is.”

“Hearing these negative narratives being pushed about us, it’s like, wow, you know? With the housing crisis going on, and a lot of people don’t have financial aid … It’s a lot of stuff going on at one time, and it can really be overwhelming.”

The dress code is the least of the student’s concerns. “I was a little confused myself on the whole dress code thing because you barely ever see anyone really in a bonnet.”

“When I first got to Tuskegee my freshman year, I already knew it was gonna be business casual all the time. I’m hardly ever in casual wear,” they said.

The student currently lives in Auburn, which is about a 30-minute drive from Tuskegee if you have a car. If not, you have to wait on a shuttle.

“My family had to purchase an apartment with our own finances, and I’ve had to come out of my own pocket,” the student said. They said they were forced to take a gap year when housing costs rose. “I had a $2,600 balance that I’ve been working all summer to get paid off.”

“I’ve had an up-and-down rollercoaster with Tuskegee, to say the least.”

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters.

Schools that discipline students of color at higher rates than white students won’t be in violation of federal civil rights law for that disparity alone, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday.

The Education Department’s regulatory changes prohibit the agency’s civil rights investigators from using broad demographic statistics — such as data about discipline, Advanced Placement class enrollment, and school admissions — to demonstrate discrimination.

“A child is so much more than a number in a data set,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey wrote in a press release. “The left’s notion of ‘equity’ should never prevent teachers from keeping their classrooms and students safe.”

The change is part of a wider effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to eliminate what’s called disparate impact regulations across federal agencies. The Trump administration says President Barack Obama’s administration wielded such data improperly in discrimination investigations.

Experts and civil rights advocates decried the agency’s decision to abandon what they described as an important tool in civil rights investigations, one that they said can help illustrate more subtle and even unintentional systemic discrimination on the basis of race or national origin. Critics of the move also said the department’s announcement exaggerated the impact of data on such investigations.

“This kind of severs the guardrails that protect from those scenarios in which unjust, unnecessary burdens literally cause kids to face discrimination at school,” said Michael Pillera of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and a former civil rights attorney for the Education Department.

Civil rights advocates also rebuked the Education Department’s lack of process in making the regulatory change. The agency bypassed some rulemaking procedures, which let the public weigh in before adopting a rule, said Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights, which investigates civil rights complaints about federally funded schools, has been at the center of a lot of upheaval. The office has been decimated by layoffs — some of which were then rescinded — and the agency announced earlier this summer that the Justice Department would play a role in some aspects of civil rights enforcement in schools.

Experts said civil rights investigations have often looked for unlawful discrimination through two lenses, either differential treatment or disparate impact. Differential treatment occurs if a student is intentionally subject to different treatment based on their race. Disparate impact applies to policies that may seem neutral, but impacts certain groups disproportionately.

“It helps us kind of shine a light on what are the hidden inequities in our systems that our public policy or our practices writ large might have inadvertently perpetuated,” said Amy Loyd, CEO at All4Ed, a nonprofit education advocacy group.

Discipline has often been central to arguments around disparate impact. In a 2014 letter to schools, the Obama administration laid out guidance that called statistical analysis of disciplinary data “an important indicator of potential violations.” The first Trump administration rescinded that letter in 2018.

Conservatives have argued the practice of linking disparate impact to civil rights violations or discrimination is flawed. In 2018, Michael Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute said that in addition to legal questions, the approach outlined in the 2014 letter “will tie the hands of teachers and school administrators when it comes to maintaining discipline, possibly leading to greater disorder and even violence.”

Jonathan Butcher of the Heritage Foundation said just because statistics may show a certain policy disproportionately affects one group doesn’t make the policy wrong.

“I don’t think the answer to that is adjusting policies so that we get the numbers we want,” he said.

But civil rights investigations don’t solely hinge on data, said Robert Kim, an attorney and the executive director of the Education Law Center. The numbers often represented a starting point in an investigation, and schools had the opportunity to explain statistical differences.

“You would never lurch to a conclusion of discrimination subject to government-imposed remedy without looking further at all,” he said.

Discipline isn’t the only area where officials have used statistics to look for possible discrimination in education. The Office for Civil Rights, in previous administrations, had also cited disparate impact in the following investigations:

• Advanced class access: In 2016, the Education Department cited a significant disparity between the proportion of white students and Black and Hispanic students identified as advanced learners in the Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, Wisconsin. Nearly 40% of white middle school students were considered advanced, compared with 9% of Hispanic and 6% of Black middle schoolers. The district agreed to a settlement to review its advanced programs, among other changes.

• Special education placement: A 2013 investigation letter noted that Black students were overrepresented in special education in the Iowa City Community School District. About 29% of students in special education programs were Black, even though they made up 17% of the district’s overall population in the 2012-13 school year. The district agreed to review its screening processes and get assistance from experts.

• Admissions policies: A 2014 letter noted that some schools in a Texas charter school network enrolled a significantly lower proportion of English learners than local public schools. The charter school network, Harmony Public Schools, agreed to review and modify its enrollment processes.

Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org. Lily is on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

“Black Panther 3” is set to premiere on December 15th, 2028, Ryan Coogler announced Saturday.

The Oscar-winning director made the announcement at San Diego Comic-Con. It was also revealed that David Jonsson will take on the mantle as the new Black Panther — the son of the late Chadwick Boseman’s character, T’Challa.

Fans were introduced to the infant version of Jonsson’s character at the end of 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Video credit: Marvel Studios/X

“The last time we were together, we got to make a movie; we introduced a character who was the son of the character, played by the great Chadwick Boseman, our T’Challa in that film,” Coogler said, standing next to Letitia Wright and Winston Duke, who are set to reprise their roles as Shuri and M’Baku in the upcoming film.

“Today I want to tell you guys in this next film, he grows up, comes of age, and we had to find an incredible actor,” he continued. “You might know some of his work. He was great in a movie called “The Long Walk.” He was great in “Alien: Romulus.”

“Give a warm welcome to our new Black Panther. Mr. David Jonsson.”

Jonsson walked out onto the Comic-Con stage to roaring applause.

“I want to say thank you so much. Thank you Ryan, thank you Kevin, thank you to this amazing family that I have the honor and the privilege and the blessing to join,” the “Industry” actor said. “I actually don’t want to say too much because I want to let the screen do the talking. But believe me, the honor is entirely mine.”

A new poster for the film was also unveiled, and Coogler said it will be shot on 70mm.

Jonsson will presumably be joined by the legendary Denzel Washington in the upcoming film. Coogler said he wrote a role for the actor during a podcast appearance in 2025.

In case you missed it, released the second autopsy for Nolan Wells during a press conference at the NAACP National Convention. The independent autopsy, performed by Dr. Roger Mitchell, found that the cause and manner of death are both undetermined, pending investigation. For the Grio, Haniyah Philogene broke down 7 key findings from the report — including why the medical examiner did not receive Wells’ throat with the rest of his body.

Related: The deaths of Nolan Wells and Kohen Wiley are symptoms of a nation retreating from any pretense of equal rights, Alain Stephens writes for The Intercept.

went to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, for Nolan Wells’ funeral, where she heard his grieving parents tell his friends and supporters to continue to speak his name.

Black lands, Mexican bands: how a southern rural family built a Latino cultural hub | North Carolina, The Guardian

The land owned by Donal Gooch and his daughter, Caitlin, has been in their family since 1944, and they refuse to turn it into cul-de-sacs. Instead, they have built the area into a cultural landmark for the growing Hispanic community in Eagle Rock, North Carolina.

In North Carolina, a shooting victim pleads for his shooter’s release after 30 years, Bolts

Ramulus Mason shot Ricky Wilson three decades ago, and was sentenced to life in prison due to the state’s then-new three strikes law. Now, Wilson has become Mason’s loudest advocate for his release from prison.

What’s In The News

Across America

District of Columbia: Dozens of incoming Howard University students say they have been unenrolled from the school just weeks before the fall semester is set to begin. The school said it repeatedly informed students and their families of payment deadlines…

Illinois: 87-year-old Buritt Bulloch is still making doughnuts at Old Fashioned Donuts in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood…

Iowa: Toxic chemicals used in synthetic braiding hair are raising health concerns for Black Iowans…

Louisiana: Calvin Duncan held office for only 3 hours before a court allowed a hastily passed law to eliminate his role…

Massachusetts: Former state trooper Michael Proctor’s racist texts were revealed during the Karen Read murder case. The Boston Globe editorial board is asking who in leadership knew about them…

Michigan: Lawmakers are pushing a commission to study how discriminatory housing policies have contributed to racial disparities…

North Carolina: Karrie Dixon, the chancellor of NC Central University, did a Q&A with The News & Observer about what it takes to lead an HBCU…

South Carolina: Benedict College President knows being a killjoy isn’t popular. She’s OK with that…

Tennessee: When Joseph Williams refused to leave the public park where he has lived for years, he was charged with a felony for camping and spent nine days in jail…

Texas: The family of Daniel Erving is continuing to raise questions about his death, which a medical examiner says was caused by an accidental drowning…

Wisconsin: Cellphone videos recorded the moment a police officer shot and killed a man near the state capitol this week…

What’s Happening

NPR: Trump’s redistricting efforts notably impact predominantly Black congressional districts in GOP-led states. Check out this map…

Black women who feel dismissed while seeking out healthcare options in the U.S. are traveling thousands of miles to South Korea…

The Trump administration has moved to end collection of demographic data on U.S. workers after six decades…

The late Lindsey Graham occupied the most racist Senate seat in U.S. history, according to a new analysis from The Emancipator…

wrote about a developer pushing to build a data center on a burial site with enslaved people’s graves, and the never-ending cycle of violence…

Louisiana has some of the highest toxic air pollution in the country — and the petrochemical industry fought efforts to expand air monitoring…

Black residents say construction projects are flooding their land and stripping protections as the Trump administration calls for more highways, Adam Mahoney reports for Capital B…

For the Boston Globe, economist Opoku-Agyeman teamed up with for an op-ed about how the attack on workers begins and ends with Black women…

The National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists are at odds over conflicting convention dates…

Erica Schwartz may soon become the first Black woman to lead the CDC. But she has “repeatedly dodged questions about how she would do so when facing pressure” from the Trump administration…

The Smithsonian is too focused on “oppressors and the oppressed,” according to House Republicans…

weighed in on the online discourse surrounding Detroit schools and where parents should send their children…

North Carolina’s oldest Black-owned bank is merging with a South Carolina bank, creating the largest Black-owned bank in the country…

After more than two decades, Michael Lomax will step down as president of the United Negro College Fund. He spoke with Danielle Douglas-Gabriel about the challenges ahead…

A historic Black school in a small North Carolina town is being reimagined as a “thriving community education and culture hub”...

An excerpt from “Black Crip Modern” invites you to study the work Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and other figures of the Harlem Renaissance through the lens of disability…

Louisiana Rep. Cleo Fields has announced he will not seek reelection following the Supreme Court’s ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act…

said he’s “totally serious” about considering a run for president in 2028…

Entertainment News

Oprah sat down with Keke Palmer for a wide-ranging conversation about her life and career. Watch above...

Colman Domingo is reportedly considering writing an original live-action feature about Princess Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog”...

The War and Treaty, a talented husband-and-wife singing duo, has a new NPR Tiny Desk concert out....

ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark was laid off from the sports network as Disney trims jobs across the company…

For Variety, Angelique Jackson sat down with Travis Scott to talk about his appearance in “The Odyssey,” his new Paramount deal, and more...

Malcolm Jamal Warner and Chadwick Boseman’s families are entangled in legal battles over their respective estates…

Steve Lacy and his new album, “Oh Yeah?” are the subject of a new music review in the New Yorker…

“Love Island” season 7 couple Olandria Carthen and Nic Vansteenberghe have broken up…

has revealed the cover of her children’s book debut, “Hope in a Classroom”...

A biopic about Snoop Dogg is set for the summer of 2027...

wrote about Julius Eastman and how he challenged classical music’s conventions to become one of the 20th century’s most essential voices…

Racial and class diversity in TV and films can help children challenge biases, according to a new study…

Kerry Washington and Whitney White are heading up “The Whoopi Monologues,” a revival of Whoopi Goldberg’s 1984 solo show…

Obituaries

Johnny Brown, a longtime attorney and father of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, has died. He was 80…

Plas Johnson, a saxophonist known for his solo on “The Pink Panther” and for recording with Frank Sinatra, B.B. King, and other legends, has died. He was 94...

Clara Ester, a civil rights activist who was one of the last remaining witnesses to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, has died. She was 78…

Bigga Rankin, a notable Florida DJ, longtime community advocate, and godfather of Southern hip-hop, has died. He was 50…

Sylvia Bugg, a chief executive at PBS who shaped programming at the network for years, has died. She was 55…

John Baines, a singer and longtime community advocate in North Texas, has died. He was 73...

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 36 seconds!...

The New York Amsterdam News, New York City’s oldest Black newspaper, is seeking interns for the fall...

If you have an ambitious 18-24 year old in your life, tell them to apply for Aspen Ideas: Rising Generations, a fully-funded summit that brings together 350 of the most curious young people in the country. The application deadline is July 31…

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore is seeking a president...

More than 50 of your favorite Black authors will appear at Mahogany Books’ third annual Black Books Matter Fest on August 1 in Maryland...

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, Thelma’s Cafe and John Brown Farm State Historic Site are just a few of the historic sites that will receive grant funding from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund...

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — As Earl Williams drove through a historic Black neighborhood known as Dewey City in his hometown, he hardly recognized what he saw.

Homes that once belonged to friends, family, and neighbors had siding covered in mold. Some were boarded up. Others had holes in their roofs.

Black churches once used Oquina Creek, which runs along the border of the neighborhood, to baptize their congregants. Today, fecal bacteria and other contaminants have made the water unsafe due to an aging wastewater system.

“Sometimes you get the feeling like you’re in a Third World country,” Williams said. After three decades in Washington, D.C., he returned four years ago with a mission to revitalize communities such as Dewey City, which he said are “part of what makes Thomasville, Thomasville.”

A $19.8 million Community Change Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to shift the tides of the neighborhood Williams grew up in.

The city and the Thomasville Community Development Corp., where Williams served as community development director, applied for the grant in 2024. It was part of a $2 billion effort initiated under the Biden administration to help disadvantaged communities address environmental health risks and create clean energy and climate resiliency projects.

But three months after winning the grant, Thomasville became one of 80 communities across the country — from Hawai‘i to Alabama to Massachusetts — to see the funding stripped as priorities shifted in Donald Trump’s second presidency.

On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” It stated that the Biden administration “forced illegal and immoral discrimination” through diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

In an emailed statement, EPA spokesperson Mike Bastasch said the administration is “fully committed to being a great steward of taxpayer dollars.” He added that the “radical agenda” of DEI and environmental justice “preferencing” is not within the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

Environmental health advocates argue, though, that the decision to cut the grants was not rooted in science. They say that equating environmental justice to DEI is an act of bad faith and that withholding the money forces disenfranchised communities to delay long-overdue updates needed to protect public health for marginalized populations.

“I unfortunately believe we’re going to see a reversal in the health profile of this country,” said Jalonne White-Newsome, an associate professor at the University of Michigan who served in the Biden administration as the first federal chief environmental justice officer.

“This current federal regime has decided that humanity and public health and justice don’t mean anything,” she said.

‘Why Us?’

Thomasville, near Georgia’s southwestern border, is home to just over 18,600 people.

The city had hoped to improve health outcomes in neighborhoods on its southern and western sides where, according to the grant proposal, “historical redlining created a legacy of disinvestment.”

Those areas have a deep history: Dewey City, for example, was the first neighborhood in the city where Blacks could build homes after the Civil War. It’s also home to the closed Douglass High School — the first public school for Blacks in Thomasville, established in 1902.

“This place has been neglected,” said Williams, who occasionally hosts historical walks through the community. “But it’s worth bringing it back online.”

The proposed “Restoring Resiliency” project featured a plan to remove toxic substances such as mold, lead paint, and asbestos from homes, repair a nearly 82-year-old wastewater system, and convert part of a shuttered high school band room into a health clinic.

“This was a long and storied attempt to bend the arc of justice closer,” said Jeremy Rich, a Thomas County commissioner and the pastor at First Missionary Baptist Church. “Justice in healthcare. Justice in environmental impact.”

Having a clinic in the community would be a “game changer,” Rich said. During the COVID pandemic, he said, older residents who rely on public transit were reluctant to go to the nearby hospital or the county health department to get vaccinated. When his church offered shots from Black nurses, he said, vaccination rates improved.

Many residents don’t have the financial means to remove mold, lead paint, and other toxic materials, said Thomasville Mayor Pro Tem Lucinda Brown. “They just have money to live with every day. That’s it,” she said. “If they can make that happen.”

The grant meant hope, and its reversal left many asking, “Why us?” Williams said.

In the EPA’s May 2025 letter announcing the grant termination, it said Thomasville’s project promoted “initiatives that conflict with the Agency’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence.” The grant was “inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, Agency priorities,” the letter said.

Environmental justice projects are rooted in science, not DEI, said Jillian Blanchard, the senior vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, a national nonprofit that provides pro bono legal assistance in focus areas such as health equity, immigration, and environmental health.

“Where is the water dirty? Where is the air unclean?” she said. “That is where the money should go.”

In June of last year, nearly two dozen communities and organizations around the country filed a class-action lawsuit to get the Community Change Grants reinstated. The lawsuit argued that the projects — such as efforts to create energy-efficient housing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and empower Houston residents in the pollution permitting process — were vital.

The case was dismissed by a federal district judge in 2025 but is being appealed.

Thomasville was not named in that lawsuit. But the city did appeal the EPA’s decision on its project with the support of Blanchard’s group. The city and the EPA continue to dispute the issue.

This March, the EPA’s deputy inspector general, which serves as an independent watchdog for the agency, released a report concluding that the process for determining the awardees was fair.

Such federal funding is needed because large-scale change is difficult for small municipalities to achieve without getting stuck with high-interest loans, Blanchard said.

“It’s next to impossible,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons the things haven’t been done.”

‘It’s Not Over’

The city of Thomasville has found other ways to make some improvements in the meantime. With the help of a nearly $3 million federal Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it made repairs to portions of Dewey City’s sewer, water, and drainage systems.

The Thomasville Community Development Corp. has begun building affordable housing in Dewey City and intends to convert a portion of the closed Douglass school into apartments for seniors.

The corporation has also applied for $764,000 in congressional funds through the office of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) that it hopes to use to construct a community health clinic in Dewey City. Decisions on these funding requests will be made this fall.

“It’s not over,” said Williams, whose legacy in Thomasville runs deep. At the center of what locals call The Bottom — a two-block stretch of downtown where independent Black and other minority-owned businesses once thrived — is a plaque honoring his father, Earl Williams Jr., the city’s first Black mayor.

As he peered at his father’s memorial on a muggy afternoon, he reaffirmed his intentions.

“There’s more work to be done, and I’m able,” he said. “I like pouring into the community.”

But he has little hope the initial grant will be restored under the current administration.

“That was our shot. We didn’t do anything to miss it,” he said. “We just did it during the wrong period of time.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and other civil rights leaders have announced plans for “March on Washington 2026: Defend the Vote,” set to take place in Washington, D.C., on Friday, August 28.

“Defending the vote means defending the foundation of our democracy,” Martin Luther King III said in a statement. “Sixty-three years after my father stood at the Lincoln Memorial, we are called to march again, not only in remembrance, but in action.”

National Park Service replaces President’s House slavery exhibit in Philly, WHYY

While the public slept overnight, the Trump administration replaced panels about the brutality of slavery at the Philadelphia President’s House memorial.

“It was allowed to do this by the decision of the federal court, but that it did so at night shows it understands this action is shameful, that it violates community trust,” Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement.

To Detroiters, Motown is more than just music, NPR

I can’t miss an opportunity to share a story about my hometown. NPR traveled to the Motor City to chat with Jamon Jordan, Detroit’s official historian, about Motown Records and its deep connection to the city.

We must support Black media!

Please get your tickets for the Baltimore Beat’s signature Summer Jam event, which now includes the inaugural Legacy Gala. This awards ceremony will honor W. Paul Coates (whom I interviewed in the early years of my newsletter), Dr. Leslie King Hammond, and Afro Charities for their work in preserving Black media.

Read the latest on the Baltimore Beat here.

What’s In The News

Across America

California: A new statewide dashboard is tracking Black student success across California’s 31 Black-serving institutions…

District of Columbia: The iconic Cathy Hughes, media mogul and founder of Urban One Inc, has received a key to the city…

Florida: profiled the controversial Florida A&M University President Marva B. Johnson…

Illinois: 37-year-old Mary Alice Love was experiencing a mental health crisis when she was shot and killed by Mundelein police. Supporters of her family refuse to let her story go untold…

Iowa: My latest for ’s Contraband Camp — Book bans are surging in Iowa. So Nikole Hannah-Jones is bringing banned authors to the state for a free Read-In…

Maryland: The Harriet Tubman Museum was forced to close its doors after thieves broke in over the weekend and stole its donation box…

Mississippi: This state “leads the nation in rates of high blood pressure, a leading contributor to maternal deaths and a growing concern for young women”...

North Carolina: In some parts of the state, majority-Black public schools are the first on the chopping block…

Ohio: A Toledo woman says a fast-spreading parasite left her “camped out in the bathroom” and she’s still experiencing nausea more than two weeks later…

Pennsylvania: Longtime anchor Ukee Washington is celebrating 40 years with CBS News Philadelphia…

Tennessee: Progressives need to pay attention to Tennessee and Justin Pearson, according to historian …

Virginia: The Virginia Beach City Council voted to honor the R&B group Blackstreet by dedicating a road to them…

What’s Happening

Uncle Nearest CEO Fawn Weaver and her husband, Keith, have been fired from the Tennessee whiskey brand…

Nolan Wells’ mother announced funeral services for the 18-year-old student athlete, as the family continues seeking answers…

I spoke with about the viral photo of the Black woman who was surrounded by white supremacists on a train…

Scholars have begun scrutinizing Kerri K. Greenidge’s 2022 book, “The Grimkes,” and now she appears to have lost her professorship at Tufts University. Greenidge has denied any claims of plagiarism, and told the New York Times that “the attack on Black women academics is real.”

A Reuters analysis found that pollution from Elon Musk’s xAI power project is hitting predominantly Black neighborhoods the hardest…

A judge authorized the FBI to secretly monitor state Sen. Louise Lucas’ phone…

NAACP has announced its largest get-out-the-vote campaign for a midterm election in the organization’s 117-year history…

explained what you need to know about the congressional race to replace longtime South Florida congresswoman Frederica Wilson…

The Guardian’s Adria Walker reported on a program that gives Black single moms $1,000 a month for a year. The results are undeniable…

Kecia Ellick told she sees her vote as a way to prove people wrong and send a message about who Black women are and what they can accomplish…

The mothers of Black babies are more likely to be flagged to police over allegations of substance use during pregnancy, according to The Marshall Project…

The Black Star Line Literacy Bus is heading directly into neighborhoods across Baltimore to encourage children to read...

Jahaura Michelle compiled a list of 10 Black-owned summer camps that help kids learn new skills and celebrate culture throughout the summer…

Take a look at some rare photos that have been tucked away in HBCU archives, but are being widely shared for the first time thanks to the Getty Images photo archive grants program…

Entertainment News

Boosie Badazz hired Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, two well-known right-wing scammers, to help him secure clemency from Trump. The rapper is now fighting to retrieve $300,000 from them…

has created a documentary for Netflix about the 14th Amendment, and is set to launch sometime this year…

Are HBCUs making a comeback in scripted programming? Nathan Lately explored the latest projects from Netflix, aspireTV and Oprah Winfrey in his latest for EBONY…

A man broke into the “Today” show’s studio in New York City looking for Al Roker, confronting Craig Melvin and yelling racist slurs…

Morehouse’s Boxing Club offers a supportive space for members to train their bodies and combat stress, Joshua Bass writes for Andscape…

Big Daddy Kane spoke with VIBE about “Curtain Call,” his first solo album in nearly three decades...

chatted with the popular romance novelist Kennedy Ryan about her work…

Tracee Ellis Ross got an apartment in New York City for the summer as she makes her Broadway debut…

R. Kelly has appealed to Trump for a reduction of his three-decade prison sentence…

Obituaries

Hal Williams, who starred in the sitcom “227” and was a series regular on “Sanford and Son,” has died. He was 91…

Denise Oliver-Velez, an activist, member of The Young Lords and Black Panthers, and professor, has died. She was 78…

Don’t Miss

Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 3 seconds…

Students across the Detroit area are encouraged to apply for the Freedom Tour, which promotes “activism, racial justice, and nonviolence by taking participants across important historical landmarks.” The tour runs from July 30 to August 2. Apply here…

The Chisholm Legacy Project is looking to place Organizers-in-Training throughout the U.S. to participate in its Black Rural Organizing Institute…

has curated this amazing list of Black books that are set in every state…

The South Arts organization is offering a $5,000 fellowship for Black Appalachian storytellers. Find out more details here…

The Department of African and African American Studies at Stanford University is seeking an Assistant Professor in African American History…

The Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center on Maryland’s Eastern Shore was forced to close its doors after thieves broke in over the weekend and stole its donation box.

The tiny community museum, located in the county where the famed abolitionist was born into slavery, reported damage to its back door and the famous “Take My Hand” mural of Tubman painted by the artist Michael Rosato.

“The weekend of July 11, we were the unfortunate victims of vandalism. Our back door was broken and our donation box was stolen,” the museum announced. “We will be closed until further notice as we [assess] the damage and work to repair it. We would greatly appreciate any donations to make up for what was lost and remedy the [effects] of this disheartening crime.”

It’s unclear how much was in the donation box when it was stolen. Visitors are asked to donate because admission to the volunteer-run museum is free. Authorities believe the culprit may have been someone who had visited the center before.

The robbery is another setback for the beloved museum, which only recently reopened its doors after disastrous flooding last year forced it to close. The museum recently held a grand reopening in June.

“We weren’t planning for this,” Linda Harris, director of events and programming for the museum, told WBOC-TV. “We just raised money to redo our museum. Now we’ve got to raise more money. So, I’m very sad. This place has been here since 1992. It’s an institution. It conveys the story of a person born here in Cambridge. And for someone to vandalize it, it’s pretty sad.”

It will cost thousands of dollars to replace the museum’s back door and fix the damage to the mural. The museum is accepting donations on its website.

Several days have passed since 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells was found dead in the water near Mississippi’s Horn Island. Wells’ mother contacted authorities last Saturday to report that her son had not returned from a gathering on the island for Independence Day. Here’s a timeline of what we know so far.

Notably, Ashlee Cole — parent to one of the teens who was on the island with Wells — made a statement on Facebook about the tragedy.

Later today, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Al Sharpton will hold a press conference alongside the family. The attorney said the family is urging “a full, transparent, and urgent investigation into the death of Nolan Xavier Wells, and for the timely release of all investigative records and findings.” That press conference will take place at noon ET.

As of now, there is only one official GoFundMe fundraiser for the family. There’s a LOT of misinformation about this case floating across social media, including an AI video that used his mother's likeness. Please be responsible with the posts you are sharing.

The Black suburban dream is now leading to a new wave of gentrification, Capital B News

Capital B’s Adam Mahoney reported on a new study examining how the wealth gap is rapidly widening within Black communities. Researchers found that wealthier Black people are displacing low-income ones in the suburbs.

At Trump’s direction, federal agencies are abandoning discrimination cases, New York Times

The Trump administration has directed federal agencies to deprioritize civil rights cases focused on discrimination, according to a new report.

A Neighbor’s Tale examined the legacy of Black cartoons and why, even with so many examples of success, they still struggle to land on your screens. Watch above and subscribe to him!

What’s In The News

Across America

California: 19-year-old nursing student Meah Bordenave-Jenkins and 37-year-old community activist Eric Washington were killed in a July 4th shooting in Compton…

Florida: The media is villainizing a Black woman who stood her ground in a Walmart parking lot, writes for NewsOne…

Georgia: Several months after apologizing, an Atlanta coffee shop has yet to repaint the mural of the late journalist Jovita Moore…

Illinois: Emmett Till would have been 85 this year. A Bronzeville exhibit reflects on his legacy, Darcel Rockett reports…

Massachusetts: Conservators appear to have found what is believed to be one of the oldest headstones belonging to a free Black man in America…

Michigan: Detroit enabled a concrete company to take over an entire community. Now residents say they are battling air pollution so thick they can “taste the dust”…

Mississippi: Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the former mayor of Jackson, pleaded guilty to bribery, wire fraud and money laundering…

New Jersey: The Lawnside Historical Society kicked off its summer camp centered on the Underground Railroad…

North Carolina: The Upperman family is pulling a scholarship from the University of North Carolina Wilmington because the school wants to rewrite the language around the application…

Ohio: Slutty Vegan is expanding after signing agreements to open in Columbus and Cleveland…

Tennessee: The grandfather of a man shot and killed by two members of the National Guard in Memphis is demanding video of the incident …

Texas: Attorneys representing Karmelo Anthony filed two legal motions this week as they attempt to overturn his murder conviction…

Virginia: The family of Allan Tucker II, who died in Alexandria Police Department custody, is demanding accountability…

What’s Happening

ICYMI: Thousands of Black folk infiltrated a “White and Proud” group on Facebook and turned it into a massive digital family reunion. The Facebook group has since been deleted, but my story was featured in above…

As soon as the photo of a Black woman surrounded by white supremacists in Washington went viral, a surge of racist posts followed. Jasmine Golden found the woman’s family and humanized her story for the Washington Post…

The New York Times spoke with 13 Black Democratic voters about Trump, the state of the country and where the Democratic Party is headed…

The number of diversity-focused scholarships has dropped to 11 percent, down from 15 percent in 2023, following pressure from the Trump admin…

Advocates are pushing for Black English to be taught in preschools and early education…

The CEO of the popular Chicago-based Harold’s Chicken Shack, Kristen Pierce-Sherrod, died several months ago. Her family is in a fight over who actually owns it…

The Museum of Black Women Innovators will open in Portsmouth, Virginia, this coming fall...

Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter will likely be the next chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He recently spoke with POLITICO about the CBC’s path forward…

For MS NOW, Hayes Brown penned an op-ed about the White House’s recent report attacking the National Museum of American History…

Andrew Gillum, the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, is reportedly facing drug charges after being arrested in Alabama…

The Trump administration has dropped long-discussed plans to put Harriet Tubman’s face on the $20 bill…

Two women discovered they are the first confirmed living descendants of an enslaved person who helped build the White House…

A judge ruled to restore millions of dollars in grants for Black farmers after the Trump administration cut USDA funding…

A racist takeover in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, has reverberated across generations as a reminder of American democracy’s terrifying vulnerability…

Entertainment News

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week. Watch the full ceremony above…

The Guardian spoke with musicians about the 50th anniversary of Rotterdam’s North Sea Jazz Festival, which has hosted Miles Davis, Count Basie, Etta James, and Prince…

weighed in on the controversy surrounding Yung Miami’s “Spend Dat” track for Hello Beautiful…

Salli Richardson-Whitfield has made Emmy history as the first Black woman to receive two drama series directing nominations…

“The Cheetah Girls” are coming back with a reboot, with most of its original cast members set to make appearances…

Mystikal was transferred to Angola, and will spend the next 20 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary…

For Rolling Stone, explained that the “Reasonable Doubt” anniversary rollout is a case study in turning old albums into merch drops, live-event spectacles and more…

Jermaine Dupri has filed an $18 million lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment…

Essence Fest’s seven-year agreement with the city of New Orleans expires in September…

Obituaries

George E. Johnson, the pioneering Black hair care entrepreneur who created Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen, has died. He was 99. Here’s a deeper obituary about Johnson’s life in the New York Times…

Rev. Annie Chambers, a civil rights icon who served the Baltimore area for decades, has died. She was 84…

Larry Selders, a Louisiana State senator who represented Baton Rouge, has died. He was 44…

Doreen C. Broadnax, a pioneering MC who was one of hip-hop’s earliest trailblazers, has died. She was 61…

Rodney Franklin, an R&B and jazz singer best known for the hit track “In the Groove,” has died. He was 67...

Top music producer Tay Keith was laid to rest following a homegoing service in his hometown of Memphis…

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The New Eyes Collective is set to discuss Greg Tate’s “Flyboy in the Buttermilk” in Brooklyn on July 25. RSVP here…

Flickr is teaming up with to provide a $10,000 grant, along with memberships…

The hit Black history series Melanin Mythbusters is forming a team. See which roles might be a good fit for you…

Dee Phunk curated this awesome playlist for Black folks who love being on yachts. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music…

George E. Johnson, a pioneering entrepreneur who revolutionized Black hair care, has died. He was 99.

Born in the small town of Richton, Mississippi, on June 16th, 1927, in a sharecropper’s shack, Johnson moved to Chicago with his mother at a young age.

After working odd jobs as a teen and dropping out of high school, he would go on to find his niche working under S.B. Fuller, a prolific Black entrepreneur who had started a door-to-door cosmetics and household goods firm called the Fuller Products Company.

“Working for Mr. Fuller was like getting a degree in psychology and business and business administration,” Johnson told the Christian Broadcasting Network earlier this year.

This opportunity provided the young entrepreneur with the skills to eventually launch his own company, Johnson Products, alongside his wife, Joan Johnson, and barber Orville Nelson, in 1954.

Thanks to a $500 loan, Johnson Products’ very first product was a men's relaxer called Ultra Wave. From there, Johnson grew the company by launching household products such as Ultra Sheen, Classy Curl, Afro Sheen, and more.

“Our success has been a beacon for a lot of Blacks who had the ambition to try to do something and were encouraged by the fact that we were successful,” Johnson said.

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Johnson used his wealth to advance Black economic ownership and support civil rights leaders. In the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Johnson’s Chicago facility and, impressed, told Johnson: “Now this is Black power.”

“When Dr. King visited us in 1966, Black Power was a phrase that described a new way of thinking about ourselves,” Johnson told The AFRO in 2025.

“But Dr. King used the phrase as a real compliment as he assessed our several floors that were jumping with activity – salesmen, chemists, secretaries – a mostly-Black group of employees who were finding their way into America’s middle class,” he explained.

In the 1970s, Johnson Products became the first Black advertiser to sponsor a nationally syndicated TV program with the iconic musical variety series, “Soul Train.” Commercials for Johnson’s products were often seen during the hit TV show.

“We started in October 1971 when Johnson Products Co.’s sales were reported at $11.2 million,” Johnson told The AFRO. “In five years, our sales had increased to $37 million. ‘Soul Train’ proved to be an answer to my prayers.”

Johnson Products was also the first Black-owned company to go public on the American Stock Exchange.

Thousands of Black folk infiltrated a “White and Proud” group on Facebook and turned it into a massive digital family reunion.

The group, created in 2023, surfaced on the timelines of Black Facebook users across the country, who quickly realized it was open to anyone.

The takeover was made possible due to a purported oversight by the group’s administrator. Users can set privacy settings for Facebook groups; something the administrator didn’t do. The “White and Proud” group is still public and visible to all users.

Although the moderators of the group have since limited who can comment within the group, thousands of Black Facebookers have made their voices heard with hilarious responses to racist posts, with one user writing, “first time colonizing, kinda nervous,” and another stating, “now that this page has gone Black, it can’t go back.”

The group initially had about 15,000 users before the takeover and billed itself as “white people enjoying conversation with other white people and enjoying accomplishments of our ancestors.”

Even though the Facebook group is now restricted, it is still growing rapidly. The group averaged more than 90 posts a day before a moderator limited comments.

The takeover appears to have begun with a post from a “Glenn Mallais” — most, if not all, of the accounts making the racist posts are likely posting under pseudonyms and are trolling.

See some of the comments below:

Capital B’s For The Record Archive

There are very few Black news outlets at the national level that publish the type of stories as Capital B News. It’s why I’m a paid subscriber to their work. And now, the digital news outlet’s most ambitious project has been unveiled.

Capital B has launched “For the Record,” an oral history archive that aims to feature at least 250 firsthand accounts of Black American life. The archive is how Capital B has chosen to commemorate of America’s 250th birthday. Within the archive, you will find stories from Emmett Till’s cousin, Michael Jackson’s music teacher, the first Black graduate of the University of Georgia, and much more.

The revolutionary imprisonments of Paul Cuffe, The New Bedford Light

You may have never heard of Paul Cuffe before. That’s because his story has largely been snubbed from the country’s list of historical figures. He was a son of a slave, a mischievous smuggler and ship captain, and later the wealthiest Black entrepreneur before the Civil War.

The forgotten history of the Civil Rights Movement’s fight for economic justice, Hammer & Hope

In her latest for Hammer & Hope, historian Nancy Maclean explained that, “by turning DEI into a slur, Trump wants to erase the radical promise of the movement that won equal rights.”

The party we built, the bill has come due, ESSENCE

Ashley Etienne, a former advisor to Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, penned an op-ed for ESSENCE on what the future of Black political power can look like.

“The Democratic Party cannot win the most competitive state and national elections without Black voters. But Black voters can no longer afford a relationship built on loyalty without investment, representation without authority, and promises without accountability,” she wrote.

What’s In The News

Across America

California: Workday lost a bid to toss a lawsuit alleging its AI-powered job screening tools unlawfully filter out applicants based on race, age, and disability…

Colorado: Melat Kiros beat a 15-term congresswoman in a House primary, a stunning victory for the first-time candidate…

District of Columbia: Hana Sharif, the artistic director of Arena Stage, abruptly resigned hours before the opening of “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Musical.” She says she was forced out the door...

Florida: The sister of To’Nea Nicole Miller publicly rejected authorities conclusion that the 27-year-old’s death was consistent with suicide…

Georgia: A campaign to stop a railroad company’s land grab and protect Black ancestral sites shows just what the Voting Rights Act has been protecting all along, Lisa Armstrong writes for Hammer & Hope…

Illinois: Organizers on the South Side of Chicago gathered to discuss next steps to prevent displacement following the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, reports…

Louisiana: Southern University Law Center is set to offer an accelerated law program for Grambling State students in an HBCU team up…

Michigan: A federal jury has awarded more than $6.25 million to ex-employees of the Detroit Club who alleged they faced retaliation after reporting racial discrimination against Black patrons and staff…

Mississippi: Mourners gathered in Pope to say goodbye to Baby Kohen, but looming questions surrounding his shooting remain. Ben Crump announced the results of a preliminary autopsy…

Minnesota: Police overtime in Minneapolis is dragging down the entire city budget…

New Jersey: A historical marker signifying the inclusion of Chicken Bone Beach into the state’s Black Heritage Trail was recently unveiled…

New York: Gov. Kathy Hochul sat down with homeowners and elected officials to find ways to prevent deed theft in Black communities…

Oklahoma: Amid lingering disparities, Tulsa business leaders are exploring how to increase diversity throughout their employee ranks…

Oregon: Racism is a public health crisis in Oregon. A new report outlines what the state should do about it…

South Carolina: Plans are underway to build the Darlington African American Museum, but organizers need more funds to get the project to the finish line...

Tennessee: A heated town hall took place this week as Fisk University leaders answered questions from the public for the first time about a proposed data center…

Virginia: Trump axed a Black history exhibit highlighting enslaved people’s ties to Harpers Ferry. Former park rangers are teaching it anyway…

What’s Happening

A viral video of 11-year-old Jamel Josiah Johnson is making the rounds after the boy hailed an Uber and got dropped off at JFK Airport alone…

From Memphis to Newark, Black communities are bracing for dangerous heat that scientists say will become more common...

Zandria F. Robinson wrote about the afterlife of Black representation in Memphis…

Newsone: HBCUs are especially vulnerable to Trump’s student loan overhaul because they enroll large numbers of students whose families depend on particular types of federal aid…

Hammer & Hope: The right-wing attacks on Black studies have devastating consequences, but they won’t stop people from telling our history…

: Dear Barack Obama, how can you “admire” a founding father who was a racist monster and a human trafficker?…

For Brookings, wrote about Black women and their legacies of civil and human rights activism…

There’s a problem Black men cannot ignore. Plastics are the culprit behind everything from hormone disruption to increased rates of cancer…

For the New York Times, historian tells the story of Elizabeth Freeman, the enslaved woman who sued for freedom and emancipated herself…

Shannon LaNier, Thomas Jefferson’s sixth great-grandson, told the Guardian he wished “he would have done more to free the enslaved people”…

A group comprising 15 public radio stations in the United States has launched the Black Public Radio Network…

The Associated Press: Families of those who died to enact voting rights see America turning backward…

Black Catholic history is “both inseparable from and essential to the history of Catholicism in the United States”…

Community members, elected officials, clergy, and historians gathered in Tennessee to dedicate historical markers recognizing victims of lynching in Williamson County…

The family of Qaadir and Naazir Lewis have accepted authorities determination that the twins died by suicide…

After a civil rights complaint, Chicago built the nation’s largest air monitoring network…

14-year-old Aamina Bradley is being hailed as a hero after jumping in the Detroit River to save her 9-year-old cousin who fell in. Aamina’s body was recovered over the weekend…

Entertainment News

To wrap up Black Music Month, Bow Wow performed a litany of his classics for his NPR Tiny Desk concert. Watch above…

Legendary actor Danny Glover revealed on TODAY that he’s been living with Alzheimer’s disease…

“X-Men ‘97” showrunner Beau DeMayo was fired from the animated series for alleged misconduct. Vanity Fair’s Chris Murphy spoke with Beau for months about what happened…

Former NFL star Chris Johnson revealed earlier in the week that he was diagnosed with ALS at 39…

Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married Again?” will premiere on Netflix on September 9…

Forest Whitaker’s MGM+ crime drama “Godfather of Harlem” is coming to an end…

My colleague Raj Punjabi-Johnson writes for HuffPost: What will it take to disrupt the perceived whiteness of Pilates?…

Here’s everything you may have missed from the BET Awards. You can watch all of the performances here…

For the New York Times, sat down with Mara Brock Akil, who is debuting her first novel: “The Revelation of Dionne Daphne”...

Serena Williams lost in her first pro singles match in nearly four years during the opening round of Wimbledon. She still “enjoyed the moment”....

Lisa Respers France did a deep dive into what really happened with Lizzo’s career…

Martha Reeves, now 84, spoke with the Guardian about her time with Motown Records, how Marvin Gaye convinced her to sing “Dancing in the Street” and more...

Patti LaBelle and Nona Hendryx reunited as Labelle for one night in New York City this week to honor their classic album, “Nightbirds”…

Obituaries

Tony Brown, a groundbreaking journalist, author, educator, and host of the iconic talk show “Tony Brown’s Journal,” has died. He was 93…

Victor Willis, the lead singer of the 1970’s disco group Village People and co-writer of “Y.M.C.A” and “Macho Man,” has died. He was 74…

Prezell Robinson, the transformative former president of St. Augustine’s University whose relationship with the HBCU spanned eight decades, has died. He was 105…

Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, the wife of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, has died. She was 90…

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Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 8…

The Clotilda Descendants Association are hosting their annual landing event & ancestor festival in Mobile, Alabama next weekend...

The Root is building a show network and is holding casting calls for their show concepts. More details here…

Sacramento students can now fulfill their U.S. History graduation requirement by taking African American U.S. History…