CBC backs Biden, Essence Fest recaps, lost Margaret Walker book surfaces
Friday, July 12, 2024.
What I’m Reading
At 30, She Died in Childbirth. It Shredded Her Brooklyn Family, The New York Times
Christine Fields died in childbirth at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn, sparking public protests and renewed public attention to New York City’s maternal health crisis. But the 30-year-old’s death, the grief it caused, and the prospect of a multimillion-dollar settlement tore apart her tight-knit family.
The other Margaret Walker novel: Unfinished book surfaces at long last for publication, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Margaret Walker is perhaps most known for the only novel she ever published, “Jubilee.” But buried in the archives of Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center is a little-known novel Walker left unfinished. Seretha Williams, a professor at Georgia's Augusta University, is planning to bring it to life.
After Propelling Biden in 2020, Black Women Aren’t Eager to Abandon Him Now, The New York Times
For the New York Times, reporters Maya King and Jazmine Ulloa held conversations with Black women at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, a small organizer gathering in rural Georgia and in phone calls, who have affirmed their support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris moving forward.
More from Essence Fest: Holly Bailey and Amber Ferguson spoke with festivalgoers who shared their anxieties about the upcoming election and their fears that Trump will win again…85-year-old Rep. Maxine Waters talked about Joe Biden's age: “Hell, I’m older than Biden"...
What’s In The News
Across America
Alabama: The death of a man from Atlanta who disappeared on the Fourth of July while visiting his family in Alabama has been ruled a homicide, officials said…
Georgia: Morehouse College is catching heat for its apparent plans to utilize AI teaching assistants this fall…
Illinois: Chicago businesspeople were asked to imagine themselves in the shoes of formerly incarcerated job seekers and learn what their hurdles might be like…
Louisiana: The site of one of the largest slave revolts in U.S. history is now under Black ownership...
Maryland: The teacher who went viral for having his students remove his braids said that his school district cleared him of any wrongdoing…
Michigan: Young Black students were frequently called the N-word, “monkeys,” and “cotton pickers” at rural Michigan school, and administrators looked the other way, according to a lawsuit…
Mississippi: Jackson officials blame the city’s crime on youth and have imposed a nighttime curfew with plans to establish “youth engagement centers” to get kids off the streets. But teens say they have been left out of the conversation…
Missouri: Four prison cops have been charged with murder, and a fifth with involuntary manslaughter, in the December execution of Othel Moore Jr…
New Jersey: New Jersey public schools are suspending Black and Hispanic students at a higher rate than white students, according to a new state report…
New York: A group of locals attacked a man being taken into custody in the killing of 31-year-old Yazmeen Williams, who had been found wrapped in a blue sleeping bag…
North Carolina: Aallyah Wright wrote about how residents sued their city officials for destroying their properties due to alleged racial discrimination. In a rare win, the state Supreme Court ruled in the residents' favor…
Texas: The National Juneteenth Museum and the University of North Texas Libraries held their first community harvest to build a digital archive of African American history…
Wisconsin: Dvontaye Mitchell died after four security guards pinned him face down on the ground outside a hotel in Milwaukee. The family’s lawyer said it was “reminiscent of the killing of George Floyd”...
What’s Happening
ICYMI: Read my scoop on CNN’s disbanding of its Race and Equality team…
Meanwhile, some on social media appear to be taking a second look at Kamala Harris. The New Yorker explores a wider energy and enthusiasm for the Vice President as of late…The vice president also addressed her more than 20,000 sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at their convention in Dallas. CNN national politics correspondent Eva McKend spent the day at the convention, and here’s what Black voters told her…
Trump’s pledge to reinstate “stop and frisk” has put some of the Black voters he’s courting on edge. “I will insist that local jurisdictions return to proven common sense policing measures, such as stop and frisk,” Trump has said. “Very simple”... Astead Herndon broke down the conservative blueprint Project 2025 on a new episode of “The Run-Up”…
Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders resigned from WURD Radio after she said her post-debate interview with Biden included questions that were pre-selected by his campaign team…A Milwaukee radio station said it agreed to edit an interview with Biden…
From Capital B: Texas energy companies plan to build new fossil fuel power plants in historically Black communities to meet energy demand created by supercomputers…
They tried Dwight one: A Black man got a job interview after he changed the name on his resume from "Dwight Jackson" to "John Jebrowski." Now, he’s suing for discrimination…
Alabama A&M University’s proposal to buy the shuttered Birmingham-Southern College campus has failed…
The end of affirmative action and the threats to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs appear to be giving HBCUs a new boost as applications surge…
In NPR: Federal money is being used to try to undo the damage done by highway projects that destroyed Black communities, in an attempt to knit neighborhoods back together. But figuring out what that reconnection looks like isn’t always easy…
For Teen Vogue, Zoe Watkins wrote about her father's recent passing and interviewed attorneys who are leading efforts to change the way minorities approach estate planning discussions…
A suburban homeowner in Illinois had his property tax bill skyrocket from $1,800 to over $30,000. It was called an error, but some fear ulterior motives…
Chicago business leaders, wealthy families and philanthropic organizations have raised $100 million for an initiative to reduce gun violence, following a July 4th weekend that saw more than 100 people shot…
Tatjana Rebelle, a Black Indianapolis organizer, was surveilled in secret by the ADL for years because of her work opposing international police exchanges between the United States and Israel…
In The New York Times: New York’s first Black librarians changed the way we read…
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is hosting a two-week institute to teach educators about the Wilmington Massacre, a little-known attack by white supremacists on a thriving Black community…
Lonnie G. Bunch III, the head of the Smithsonian, is quite busy. He’s dredging up slave ships, fending off culture warriors in Congress, and building two new museums on the National Mall…
Entertainment News
Some Essence Fest recaps: Keisha Knight Pulliam, Dreka Gates, Farmer Cee, and Bill Releford held a panel at Essence Fest about the benefits of farming for the Black community…Frankie Beverly was given a fond farewell to stage performance in a star-studded tribute… Hulu's "How to Die Alone" creator Natasha Rothwell sat with my colleague Taryn Finley for a fireside chat…
A federal grand jury in New York is reportedly weighing evidence in a possible criminal case against Sean “Diddy” Combs…
Vogue profiled Sha'Carri Richardson for its August digital cover issue…
A "Young Martin" series is reportedly in the works…
Saturday Night Live writer and veteran stand-up comedian (and fellow Detroiter) Alex English believes platforms like TikTok have changed the comic's relationship to their audience—in the worst ways possible…
Megan Thee Stallion and Ne-Yo faced off on “Celebrity Family Feud,” and one of Meg’s answers left Steve Harvey speechless…
New trailers: Denzel Washington stars in the new trailer for “Gladiator II,” set for release on November 22…The trailer for “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat,” starring Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Sanaa Lathan, is out…
Kiese Laymon and Deesha Philyaw’s new podcast, “Reckon True Stories,” will focus on new and classic nonfiction and the authors that bring those stories to life…
Legendary model Bethann Hardison, who began her career in the 1960s and hasn't slowed down since, shared her insight into the art of aging gracefully…
In Curbed’s Look Book: Brooklyn Prep’s senior class (and one precious junior) celebrated prom at Russo’s on the Bay in Queens with steak dinners and dancing…
Obituaries
Maryland high school state champion football teammates Khyree Jackson, Anthony Lytton Jr. and Isaiah Hazel were killed in a car crash…
Kervy Brown, bishop, gospel singer and leader of the Love Fellowship Crusade choir, has died. He was 65…
Clinton Yates paid homage to the late baseball legend Willie Mays, who was celebrated at Oracle Park in San Francisco…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 42 seconds…
On this week’s Consider This, NPR’s race and identity correspondent Sandhya Dirks discussed the latest on California's attempts to lead the way on reparations…
Writing opportunity: “Southern Cultures” is accepting submissions from scholars, writers, and artists for a special issue, “The Hip-Hop South.” The deadline is August 19, 2024…
Sirius XM/Pandora is hiring a hip-hop music analyst…
Check out BURN Cycling, a Black owned/woman owned cycling studio in Inglewood, California…
The Institute for Common Power’s Truth and Purpose Learning Experience invites educators to travel with them, expenses paid, through Georgia and Alabama to explore the long history of civil rights…