Black gymnastics team asks for help, Chris Smalls release, Destiny's Child reunion
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What I’m Reading
An All-Black Boys Gymnastics Team Is Fighting To Keep Its Program Alive, HuffPost
I talked with James Jones, who is fighting to find a new location for his all-Black boys' gymnastics team so the program can continue changing lives. Viola Davis and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles have offered their support.
It Has Never Been Easy to Be Both Black and American, The Nation
An important essay for The Nation from author Keenan Norris: “The administration knows that subduing history as it is doing works to keep people of color in this country disunited and at odds with each other.”
If you don’t understand Oklahoma, you can’t understand America, The Guardian
“A Black man like me is not supposed to love Oklahoma. But in studying my home state’s history of violence, theft and wild ambitions, I learned to reckon with its legacy,” Caleb Gayle writes for The Guardian.
Gas Station Food Is Southern Black Resilience, TASTE
For TASTE, writer Yolanda Evans explores the legacy of gas stations, their roots in Black resilience and resourcefulness and how Southern gas stations of today “reflect the diverse culinary traditions of the region.”
What’s In The News
Across America
Alabama: 3-year-old Ke’Torrius “K.J.” Starkes Jr. died trapped in a hot car while in state custody...
California: In the 1960s, the white city of Hayward forcibly removed residents of Russell City, citing eminent domain. Today, a $1 million reparations fund has been approved…
District of Columbia: 15 students received their diplomas from the Maya Angelou Academy inside the D.C. jail's Correctional Treatment Facility…
Florida: Black residents of Brownsville and other neighborhoods of Miami are deciding on cityhood…
Illinois: Zora's Place is set to become Evanston’s first Black woman-owned bookstore…
Maryland: A Baltimore-based nonprofit is guiding women as they purchase homes “by connecting them to funding, resources, DIY skills and community”…
Michigan: A teacher and her husband adopted a young girl to ensure she can stay in school in her community…
Missouri: Samuel Hayes Jr. died at the St. Louis City Justice Center, less than two hours after he was strapped to a restraint chair. His family is demanding justice…
North Carolina: A Raleigh Black-owned children’s bookstore plans to reopen in 2026 after closing its doors due to racist threats…
Ohio: For VIBE, Demicia Inman traveled to Cincinnati to cover the longest-running Black music festival in the country…
Pennsylvania: A Pittsburgh man couldn't free a driver from a crash, so he sat in the street and held the stranger's hand through the car window…
Rhode Island: Best known for its Gilded Age architecture, Newport is also home to a rich legacy of Black history…
Tennessee: The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is showcasing Bayard Rustin's key role in the civil rights movement…
South Carolina: Adria R. Walker profiled the Lowcountry Food Bank, which has provided culturally relevant foods to the Gullah Geechee people for two decades…
Virginia: Writer Erin Moore is exploring the environmental challenges facing the Hampton Roads region and what can be done about it…
What’s Happening
The Muscogee Nation's supreme court has ruled that descendants of people who were once enslaved by the tribe are entitled to tribal citizenship…
Emmanuel Felton for the Washington Post: The Amistad Research Center, a 60-year-old repository of Black history and artifacts, cut half its staff after the Trump administration ended four federal grants…
Sen. Raphael Warnock introduced legislation to combat appraisal bias, hoping to increase transparency and fairness in home valuations…
A day after ruling herself out of California's gubernatorial race, Kamala Harris announced her forthcoming book, “107 Days”…
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones was denied entry into an event announcing a transportation project with Elon Musk’s Boring Company, which he said will be built through his district…
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is expected to release the bodycam footage of the police killing of 18-year-old Jabari Peoples today…
The Louisiana-born Tommy Curry is the first Black philosophy professor in the 440-year history of the University of Edinburgh...
In 1999, pioneering activist Phill Wilson founded the Black AIDS Institute to educate Black Americans about HIV/AIDS treatment and care. They are still doing the work today…
For Scalawag Magazine, Justin Davis wrote about the political battle brewing in Memphis between Elon Musk’s new xAI facility and the low-income, historically Black neighborhoods living near the toxic data center…
A rising sophomore at North Carolina A&T State University aims to build more green space in underserved communities, starting with her own…
Mama Dip’s Kitchen, a legendary restaurant known for its soul food in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has shut its doors after 50 years…
Dominick Lewis raised $40,000 on GoFundMe to open one of the few Black-owned camera stores in New York City. Just last year, Photodom nabbed over $1 million in total sales…
Entertainment News
Bubba Wallace made history as the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval…
Deion Sanders' medical team announced the football coach was diagnosed with a cancerous bladder tumor and had surgery for it…
GloRilla’s house was broken into while she was away. But she was the only one arrested…
From author Santi Elijah Holley in the New York Times: I don’t know if I believe in God, but I believe in gospel music…
Tyler Perry said he has completed the script for the third movie in the “Why Did I Get Married?” franchise, and teased the return of the original cast…
Beyoncé popped out with Destiny’s Child for a surprise reunion during the final “Cowboy Carter” show in Las Vegas… The “Cowboy Carter” tour is now the highest-grossing country music tour ever…
"Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time," a powerful five-part docuseries produced by Ryan Coogler, examines the lives impacted by the storm 20 years later...
Nas made history as the first internationally renowned rapper to share the stage with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in its 109-year existence…
Clipse’s “The Birds Don’t Sing” is a masterclass in artistic vulnerability, Justin Tinsley writes for Andscape…
The trailer for “Love, Brooklyn,” starring Andre Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise and Roy Wood Jr, is now out…
Shannon Sharpe will not return to ESPN after he settled a case that accused him of sexual assault, according to the AP…
An old-school record store on the South Side of Chicago offers a cultural experience that big-box stores can't, Natalie Y. Moore writes for the Chicago Sun Times...
Obituaries
Thomas Sayers Ellis, a poet, photographer and founder of the Dark Room Collective, has died. He was 61…
Dwight Muhammad Qawi, a Hall of Fame boxer who took up the sport during his time in prison, has died. He was 72…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 49 seconds…
I will be in Cleveland for the National Association of Black Journalists’ 50th anniversary convention next week! Please say hello if you see me…
I thoroughly enjoyed this Substack, am now a subscriber, and look forward to future adventures with you Phil. Thank you!!
Thank you so much for including Zora’s Place! 🫶🏾