College Board caves, Tyre’s friends speak out, Beyoncé announces tour
Friday, February 2, 2023
What I’m Reading
The Yale School of Public Health held a ceremony to recognize 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson’s efforts to rid her hometown of Caldwell, New Jersey, of the spotted lanternfly. While she was working to kill spotted lanternflies feeding on trees near her home in October, a neighbor called the police on her.
Yale Honors Black Girl, Nine, Wrongly Reported To Police Over Insect Project, The Guardian
The College Board caved to the whims of Florida Gov. Ron Desantis. The organization stripped down its Advanced Placement curriculum for African American Studies, removing many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience, and Black feminism. It also dropped Black Lives Matter from the formal curriculum.
The College Board Strips Down Its A.P. Curriculum for African American Studies, The New York Times
BuzzFeed News reporter Albert Samaha spent an evening with Tyre Nichols's childhood skate crew in Sacramento as they reunited to grieve his death.
“I can’t even tell you how many people are reaching out to me, old friends I’ve missed so freaking dearly,” Ryan Wilson, one of Tyre’s friends, said. “I think this unfortunate tragedy has kind of helped rekindle some friendships that I should have taken more care of in the past.”
They Used To Skate With Tyre Nichols In Middle School. They Gathered Together To Grieve Him, BuzzFeed News
Kerby Jean-Raymond was one of the most celebrated young names in fashion. Then what happened? Some readers call it a hit piece. Some call it a fantastic piece of journalism. Read it for yourself and decide. Tahirah Hairston reports.
The Promise of Pyer Moss, The Cut
New York City’s Black population has declined by nearly 200,000 people, or about 9 percent, in the past two decades. While there are a variety of reasons Black folk are leaving, most point to one primary cause: the ever-increasing cost of raising a family in New York.
Why Black Families Are Leaving New York, and What It Means for the City, The New York Times
What’s In The News
Harold H. Brown, a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen who faced a lynch mob of vengeful villagers in Austria, has died. He was 98…
NBC News Reporter Curtis Bunn slept overnight where his ancestors were enslaved in America. He detailed his experience here…
An award-winning children’s author was supposed to speak at elementary schools in Alabama during Black History Month. That is … until the plans were abruptly canceled after a parent complained about the author’s “controversial ideas”...
The Guardian: In recent months, patients have reported problems filling nearly every type of ADHD medication prescription – and no one seems to know why…
The family of a New York City lawyer who was shot and killed while traveling in South America is searching for answers…
A jury awarded an Oregon woman $1 million in damages after finding she was discriminated against by a gas station employee who told her, “I don’t serve Black people”...
A New York City law student has been missing for nearly two weeks, and his brother said his last known location was a gay bar in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood…
Black taxpayers are over three times more likely to be audited by the IRS, according to a new report…
Nearly half of Louisiana sheriffs are in violation of a state law regulating the preservation and destruction of public records, according to documents…
An antiquated kidney function test that can overestimate kidney function in Black patients kept us from getting transplants. But now that’s changing…
To help close the racial wealth gap, the U.S. government should pay $14 trillion in reparations to Black Americans, according to authors William A. Darity and A. Kirsten Mullen…
Activists are demanding justice after Anthony Lowe Jr., a 36-year-old double amputee, was shot multiple times and killed by police. He was undergoing a mental health crisis when he was shot, his family said…
What’s Happening
Willie and Geraldine Chambers, a couple in Baltimore County, celebrated 80 years of marriage last Saturday…
For Black History Month, the Black Film Archive built a list of 28 selections for the 28 days of February…
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is the latest celeb to say no to a new mixed-income housing project near his house…
Figure skater Starr Andrews is the second Black woman to earn a medal at the U.S. Nationals in 35 years…
The iconic Missy Elliott is a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…
I’m nominated for “Best Black Journalist” for the It's LIT! Literary Awards 2022 by the Black Girls Who Write community…
“You People” director Kenya Barris defends his brand of comedy in a must-read interview with Hanna Phifer in Rolling Stone…
For Complex, Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo spoke with Jazmine Sullivan about love, the state of R&B, mentorship and friendship in the field, and more…
I discussed my story about Tubi and independent Black filmmakers on Michigan Radio’s Stateside podcast…
Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s 26-year-old nephew, is set to play the pop icon in an upcoming biopic…
Legendary sprinter Allyson Felix talks with MadameNoire about what she’s been up to after retiring…
From Forbes: Wall Street’s most connected Black woman has an ingenious idea to narrow the wealth gap…
WATCH: A 22-year-old assistant coach on a junior varsity girls' basketball team in Virginia impersonated a 13-year-old player that was out of town…
Nicole Lynn, the agent of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, is now the first Black woman to represent an NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl…
Spike Lee has launched a film fellowship for HBCU students in Atlanta…
What I’m Watching
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is hosting genealogist Bernice A. Bennett for a virtual program about her new book, Black Homesteaders of the South. You can watch it at this link on February 4 at noon EST…
Tyre Nichols' parents will attend the State of the Union address on February 7…
Beyoncé finally announced the Renaissance World Tour, and the details are here. Start saving up those coins now…
The women's gymnastics team at Fisk University, the first HBCU gymnastics program to compete at the NCAA level, is getting a docuseries…
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? Thursday’s crossword took me 1 minute and 2 seconds…
Black History You Didn’t Learn In School
For each edition I publish in February, I’ll link to or write some Black history you may not have learned in school.
Did you know Charlene Mitchell was the first Black woman to run for president?
Thanks for the mention, icon 🫶