Attack on Voting Rights Act, Saint Aug's bankruptcy, Allyson Felix comeback
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What I’m Reading
Supreme Court paves the way for largest ever drop in Black representation in Congress, NPR
A steep drop in representation by Black members of Congress may be coming after the Supreme Court’s decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act. Read the full ruling here.
Immediate impact: Louisiana’s congressional primaries have been suspended. The voting rights advocates who fought across the South are organizing in response.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais completes the decimation of the Voting Rights Act, civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill writes.
The Supreme Court decision is the latest example of how Black progress triggers white rage, Keith Boykin writes.
The Health Divide: Racist language gets under the skin and erodes health, USC Annenberg
In a column for the Center for Health Journalism, James Causey examined the health-related impacts of the N-word. He shared his personal experience with the word and reflected on how it affected him throughout his life.
Every John Singleton movie, ranked, Vulture
Several years after his death, the legacy of films John Singleton left behind endures. For Vulture, Robert Daniels revisited a director who shook American cinema. What’s your favorite Singleton film?
Speedy Morman’s Complex exit represents a larger trend in media, The Grio
I offered some thoughts on the growing trending of journalists who are choosing to bet on themselves, rather than staying within mainstream news outlets. Happy to be featured alongside the incredible Kayla Greaves and Gia Peppers!
What’s In The News
Across America
District of Columbia: Spike Lee spoke with Darryl C. Murphy about his ties to Washington ahead of his visit to the Lincoln Theater later today…
Georgia: Morris Brown College has earned a five year extension on its accreditation…
Illinois: Legendary musician Herbie Hancock brought an international jazz concert to Chicago this week…
Kentucky: Black women are rushing to get their hair done for the Kentucky Derby...
Louisiana: A mass shooting in Shreveport’s Cedar Grove neighborhood reveals how poverty, policing, and guns combine to trap Black families with abusers…
Maryland: A Baltimore County man who performed in blackface for years is running for the Maryland House of Delegates…
Michigan: The University of Michigan is facing pressure to rebuild its diversity programs following its decision to end DEI programming last year…
New York: A group of high school students launched the Carter G. Woodson Society, which is dedicated to Black intellectualism. They wrote an op-ed in the New York Amsterdam News...
North Carolina: Saint Augustine’s University has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and its interim president has resigned…
Oregon: Thousands of Oregonians charged with crimes have been forced to wait long-term for a public defender due to an attorney shortage…
Tennessee: 400 hours of historic audio from Fisk University’s campus radio station will be digitized…
South Carolina: Following student protest, Lt. Gov Pamela Evette will no longer speak at South Carolina State University’s commencement…
Virginia: Taylor Hodge, a third-year student, called out Virginia Commonwealth University’s fashion department for denying her request for a Black model…
What’s Happening
Tia and Jasmin Criss are seniors at Cheyney University, the oldest HBCU in the country, and will soon graduate as valedictorian (Tia) and salutatorian (Jasmin). Watch above…
Marketplace: Black unemployment is trending up. Policy is likely driving it…
15 HBCUs have come together to pursue the nation’s top research status in partnership with leading research universities…
All four Black House Republicans are retiring after this year, a fact that Texas GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt doesn’t care about at all…
Stress from racism may help explain why Black women are more likely to die in childbirth, according to a study…
A historic Black community in Baltimore County is fighting to keep their neighborhood above water…
A New Orleans-based program is providing crucial postpartum support to mothers through free home-based nurse visits…
Black farmers aren’t waiting on Washington to save them, Aallyah Wright reports for Capital B News…
Daniel Cressy, Louisiana’s first sickle cell gene therapy patient, is home after a historic treatment…
In 2019, a state trooper killed Brandon Webster, claiming self-defense. Evidence contradicted that account but wasn’t made public — until now…
Emory Law is facing criticism for its slow response after one of its students sent a series of racist, transphobic and threatening emails…
As Black mayors, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb have developed a tight friendship…
Virginia Commonwealth University will create a memorial for dozens of Black people, whose bodies were stolen from their graves, dissected and then dumped…
Ahead of her memoir, Kimberle Crenshaw spoke with The Guardian about the backlash to critical race theory, which she helped develop…
Entertainment News
11-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix has announced her comeback, and is aiming for the 2028 L.A. Olympics…
Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson have ended their relationship, but she isn’t letting the breakup stop her from community work…
Niles Rogers, Missy Elliott, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z are just some of the names on the New York Times’ “Greatest Living American Songwriters” list…
For ELLE, DeAsia Paige wrote about the 10 year anniversary of Beyoncé’s “Lemonade”...
Prosecutors used rap lyrics to help send James Broadnax to death row in Texas. It’s not an uncommon tactic…
Five-time NBA All-Star John Wall has become the president of basketball operations at Howard University, according to school officials…
Tressie McMillan Cottom’s new documentary short examines the legacy of the first Black Panther Party chapter to be established in the South…
Can’t wait! Kirk A. Moore is creating a Black Texan Rodeo drama series for Starz…
Tyler Perry, Misty Copeland, and more attended the opening of the August Wilson play “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” on Broadway...
For the TRiiBE, Danyel Smith wrote about Quincy Jones and how he built more than hits — he built the culture…
EBONY: BookCon 2026 “highlighted the growing demand for diversity in Black romance stories and a call for stronger support of Black authors in the genre”…
KJ Moody styled Beyoncé for years. Now he’s a culinary intern, chopping onions...
Kara Young is on the verge of setting a new Tony record as the first actor nominated 5 years in a row…
Jay Bryant told a federal judge that he helped other people enter Jam Master Jay’s studio in a planned ambush in 2002…
A former University of Alabama football player pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of millions of dollars by putting on makeup and wigs to impersonate NFL players…
Obituaries
Ruby Duncan, a legendary Las Vegas civil rights activist who advocated for poor families, has died. She was 93…
John Lyon, one of the first Black firefighters hired in Durham, North Carolina, in 1958, has died. He was 92…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 34 seconds…
Sociologist Aya M. Waller-Bey went on NPR Code Switch to discuss how Black students are encouraged to write about trauma in their college admissions essays…
Mark Anthony Neal is a professor at Duke University who studies Black masculinity. He went on NPR Code Switch to discuss the recent horrific incidents of violence caused by Black men…
Diverse Representation is currently accepting internship applications for its 2026 celebration of Black Women In Sports Day. Deadline is May 8…
On May 11, National Black Theatre will present a one-day event featuring “six multidisciplinary micro-commissions that uplift the voices and legacies of Black women theatermakers”…
For students in the Baltimore area or in the DMV, check out this HBCU college fair on May 16…
On May 27, Black Storytelling Week is hosting Community Jam: a Black Kin Keepers convening, aimed at helping Black folk connect with their family history...