Black women workforce exodus, Target CEO out, RIP Vivian Ayers Allen
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What I’m Reading
I covered the “Defend the District” Go-Go concert and protest against President Donald Trump’s takeover in Washington. Here’s a small clip below. DC News Now’s Ya-Marie Sesay has a full report about the rally.
Black women are being pushed out of the workforce en masse, The Week
Hundreds of thousands of Black women have left the labor market over the past several months, according to employment data. The Week tried to get to the bottom of this mass exodus.
Trump's tariffs are leaving Black beauty businesses in peril, Reuters
Black beauty salons and wholesalers have been feeling the pinch as the prices of hair extensions and hair glues continue to rise following Trump's tariffs.
The Storm that Blew Us Apart, Oxford American
Monica Sanders, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina, reflected on what the storm taught Southerners twenty years later for the Oxford American.
“Climate change reshaped our city and will continue to reshape others. But from the ruins and relocation, we have also learned how to rebuild—not just structures, but community and memory,” she wrote.
What’s In The News
Across America
California: Pastors LaKeith and Jerice Kenebrew are working to rebuild their church and community after the Eaton fire in Altadena…
District of Columbia: has the latest on everything you need to know about the thousands of National Guardsmen in the nation's capital…
Florida: No further action will be taken against a Florida sheriff’s deputy in the arrest of William McNeil, a Black college student pulled from his car and punched by officers on video…
Georgia: The Tabernacle and Ebenezer Baptist churches “have been sister congregations with a storied legacy that includes Martin Luther King Jr,” Ken Makin writes for the Christian Science Monitor…
Kentucky: A federal judge tossed the most serious felony charge against the Louisville officers involved in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor’s home…
Louisiana: New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been indicted in what prosecutors called a “years-long scheme to hide a romantic relationship with her bodyguard”...
Maine: Richard Ward, a far-right activist who has shared neo-Nazi and white supremacist posts, is a candidate for city council in Bangor, according to …
New Jersey: A new court filing is shedding more light on Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s arrest outside an immigration facility…
New York: Attorney Ben Crump announced a lawsuit against two construction companies over a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak…
Oklahoma: Tyesha Long was sentenced to 27 years for killing her alleged abuser. The Oklahoma Survivors Act could free her, Christina Carrega reports for Capital B News...
Tennessee: The man accused of orchestrating the killing of Young Dolph has been found not guilty on all charges…
Texas: Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier sued over "illegal confinement" after Republicans locked her in the state Capitol for refusing police surveillance…
What’s Happening
Trump aide leading Smithsonian overhaul says museum 'overemphasizes' slavery
New story from me: The White House official leading Trump’s review of the Smithsonian Institution believes the museum focuses too much on slavery...
Target's CEO is stepping down after 11 years at the retailer as sales continue to plunge and a boycott continues…
Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve board, said she will not be bullied to resign over accusations of mortgage fraud from a Trump official…
In an op-ed for The Nation, Stacey Abrams writes that they’re not just coming for DEI. They’re coming for Democracy…
From Boston to San Francisco to San Diego, HBCU satellite campuses are expanding nationwide…
Multiple major philanthropic foundations are pledging a combined $37 million to help public media organizations like PBS and NPR…
The New York Times: “A statue in Florida has prompted complaints about its shoes, arm and head but also a discussion about art and representations of historic figures”...
For Capital B News, Brandon Tensley examined the history of National Guard deployments in Black cities, and why the current takeover in D.C. is different…
National Park visitors are insulted by Trump’s efforts to sanitize history…
NewsOne: Alfred “Shivy” Brooks, a teacher in Georgia, went viral for joyfully greeting and dapping up his fellow Black male teachers…
The Getty Foundation has awarded $1.5 million in grants to seven libraries, museums, and universities across the country, including Clark Atlanta and Lincoln Universities…
Entertainment News
The new CEO of Paramount said BET Networks is no longer for sale…
Spike Lee told Reuters that his multi-part docuseries about Colin Kaepernick for ESPN Films will not be released…Tom Jones is curious about why…
Grab your folding hand fans: The line dance “Boots on the Ground” has become a highly anticipated moment at Black gatherings across the country… Deirdre Jonese Austin wrote about the popular dance, the church and Black joy for Sojourners…
End of an era: Robin Givhan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion journalist, has decided to take a buyout at the Washington Post…
Questlove is ready to get to work on his next big documentary, and it will focus on the iconic Earth, Wind & Fire…
The New York Times interviewed Dallas rapper BigXthaPlug, and discussed how he went from solitary confinement to Nashville’s favorite rapper…
“For rappers — household names and aspiring stars alike — strip clubs can be more than dens of debauchery, according to a new docuseries on Atlanta's famed Magic City,” James R. Sanders writes for NBC BLK…
Wendell Pierce explained to Collider that the hit HBO drama "The Wire" doesn't need a reboot…
“Beautiful Girls” singer Sean Kingston has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison over his wire fraud scheme…
Obituaries
Vivian Ayers Allen, Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet and mother to Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad, has died. She was 102…
Calvin Woods Sr., a famed civil rights leader in Birmingham and longtime pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, has died. He was 91…
Clyde Austin, a former Harlem Globetrotter nicknamed “The Glide,” has died. He was 67…
Malik Taylor, a popular TikTok star, has died. He was 28…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 8 seconds…
This thread about Detroit’s Ron Miller, one of “the most prolific storefront sign painters” in the country, is really, really worth your time!…
Tickets for former Vice President Kamala Harris’s book tour will go live at 10 am…
The Institute for Common Power is hosting an online discussion ahead of the 70th anniversary of Emmett Till's murder on August 27th at 8:00 pm EDT...
“Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City,” by historian Bench Ansfield, was reviewed by the New York Times. The book “recounts how the wave of urban arson in the 1970s devastated poor communities while enriching building owners”…