Black History Month, missing organs in Alabama, big Byron Allen offer
Black History Month, missing organs in Alabama, big Byron Allen offer
Friday, February 2nd, 2024. Happy Black History Month!
What I’m Reading
Prisoners in the US are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands, AP News
A must-read: A two-year investigation by the Associated Press found that prison labor is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods, much of which is sold by some of the largest food companies. Prisoners are largely uncompensated and are often excluded from protections. “You can’t call it anything else. It’s just slavery,” said Calvin Thomas, who spent more than 17 years at Angola.
Black Pastors Pressure Biden to Call for a Cease-Fire in Gaza, The New York Times
More than 1,000 Black pastors representing hundreds of thousands of congregants nationwide have issued the demand for a cease-fire in Gaza. “We see them as a part of us,” said the Rev. Cynthia Hale. “They are oppressed people. We are oppressed people.”
Fake news YouTube creators target Black celebrities with AI-generated misinformation, NBC News
YouTube Videos using a mix of AI-generated and manipulated media to create fake content are pumping out salacious disinformation about a variety of Black celebrities — and are being viewed by millions of people.
What’s In The News
Across America
Alabama: Kelvin Moore, who was incarcerated in Alabama, was returned to his family missing most of his organs. His family plans to sue. He’s the latest deceased prisoner to be returned without his organs…
California: Black lawmakers have shared a reparations plan that includes potential compensation for property seized from Black owners but doesn't call for widespread direct cash payments to descendants of enslaved Black people…
Colorado: Many of the 100,000 Americans with sickle cell disease are trying to figure out how to get the gene therapies that can cure it. Here are the stories of two in Colorado…
Florida: The abhorrent state of a historic Black cemetery in Pompano Beach is at the center of a legal battle over who is in charge of its operation, upkeep and land…
Kansas: Fire crews have found the burned remnants of a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that was stolen from a Wichita public park, authorities said…
Maine: The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion coordinator of public schools in South Portland has resigned and left the state, saying he fears for his family’s safety after receiving a threatening letter from a white supremacist…
Mississippi: An employee says she was fired after she filmed a toddler wearing only a diaper at Walmart while it was freezing cold outside…
New York: Councilmember Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated “Central Park Five,” said he was recently stopped by members of the NYPD…
North Carolina: The oldest Black-chartered town in the United States hoped to be saved by an expanded levee. Now that plan is dead — and the historic town’s future is uncertain…
Pennsylvania: These older women are feeding Philadelphians in poverty. What happens when they’re gone?...
Utah: Utah has become the latest state to pass a bill prohibiting diversity training, hiring and inclusion programs at universities and in state government…
Virginia: A new task force that has been created in the wake of ProPublica’s reporting will reexamine decades of records shedding light on a Black neighborhood’s destruction…
What’s Happening
Joe Madison, a longtime national talk radio host and activist, has died following a battle with cancer…
Brittany Watts, the Black Ohio woman who was charged after having a miscarriage in her bathroom toilet, says a nurse called the police on her…
Shelby Lattimore, a math teacher, uses a classroom system that requires her students to "pay rent" for their classroom essentials, including their own desks…
Wanda James is on a mission to empower entrepreneurs from communities harmed by racial disparities in marijuana arrests…
Three citizen-soldiers from Georgia have died in a drone strike on a U.S. base in Jordan near the Syrian border…
The Biden-Harris campaign has selected Jasmine Harris, a former staffer for Sen. Chuck Schumer, to lead its Black media operations…
21 bodycam videos caught the NYPD wrongly arresting Black kids on Halloween. Why can’t the public see the footage?...
Michael Braham, the “jailhouse lawyer” who spent 25 years in prison, is set to attend law school in the fall…
A new lawsuit alleges that the city of Lexington, a predominantly Black rural town, and its police department have harassed and abused Black residents for years…
A plaque commemorating the Black family who owned a patch of California beach that was seized in 1924 by segregationist government officials has been stolen, authorities said…
A new pilot program at the Duke Cancer Institute is reaching out to Black men at risk for prostate cancer to help them get the care they need…
Get some rest! Americans don't sleep enough. The long-term effects are dire, especially for Black people…
The Fearless Fund, a small venture capital firm, is fighting to defend a grant program for Black women-owned businesses …
Jason Parham for WIRED: Many Black users who stayed amid the chaos and change on Black Twitter (now X) have found a renewed sense of what originally fascinated them: the mundanity in connection…
Lloyd Austin’s prostate cancer diagnosis was a ‘missed opportunity’ for the Pentagon chief to lead and spread awareness, survivors say…
From Bloomberg’s Jarrell Dillard and Jonnelle Marte: “After years of mostly steady decline, the Black homeownership rate in the US saw its largest jump on record in the early days of the pandemic. Now, soaring borrowing costs and home prices threaten to erode those gains”…
Entertainment
Byron Allen, who made a bid for BET a while back, has made a $14.3 billion offer to buy Paramount Global…
Roc Nation addressed a rumor that Jay-Z is allegedly dropping an album sometime this year…
Following the cancellation of "Rap Sh!t," Issa Rae says she is developing two new shows for HBO, including the first show she will create, write, and star in since her hit series "Insecure.”
Tracy Chapman, who has not performed in public in years, will reportedly perform a duet of “Fast Car” with Luke Combs at the Grammys on Sunday night…
Hinton Battle, three-time Tony Award-winning actor, has died. He was 67…
In Variety, Victoria Monét talks about how she nearly gave up on music, how she worked while giving birth and how it feels to finally seize the Grammy spotlight…
Usher recently announced the tracklist for his forthcoming album “Coming Home”...
Marlena Shaw, a singer perhaps best known for her hit track “California Soul,” has died. She was 81…
DJ Cuzzin B gave us a little preview of some future NPR Tiny Desk concerts…
Highly acclaimed civil rights attorney Ben Crump takes on a new role as a producer for the impactful documentary “How to Sue the Klan”...
Nicki Minaj has been going after Megan Thee Stallion for about 5 business days. Here’s how it started. For her part, Megan announced that she’s getting ready to hit the road for a full-on solo summer tour…
WATCH: Garrett Morris has received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame…
Jemele Hill for The Atlantic: Three recent hires show that NFL owners are finally extending a level of trust that seems to have been reserved mostly for white coaches…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 2 minutes, 40 seconds…
“The Greatest Night in Pop,” a Netflix doc that tells the untold story of how the biggest stars in music came together to record “We Are The World,” is now streaming…
Antonia Hylton spent more than a decade piecing together the history of Maryland's first segregated asylum, where Black patients were forced into manual labor. Her new book is “Madness”...
Spike Lee's production company is seeking interns from Morgan State University…
The Ida B. Wells Society Investigative Reporting Internship Program is back! We desperately need more Black investigative journalists. Students and recent graduates, apply by Feb. 18…
The Black Women Photographers and Nikon $50K Grant Fund is now open for applications…
The NAACP Image Awards nominees have been announced. Cast your votes here…