College confusion, BLM mural removed, RIP Junior Bridgeman
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What I’m Reading
Colleges Have No Idea How to Comply With Trump’s Orders, The Atlantic
The Trump administration has effectively sowed chaos among America’s colleges and universities — and they have no idea how to respond outside of “panicked bewilderment,” according to The Atlantic.
Related: “Under pressure from the Trump administration, many universities are preemptively scaling back their DEI programs—even though no law requires them to,” David Cole writes for the New York Review.
For decades, a doctor refused to charge patients who couldn't pay. When he couldn't pay, his patients came to his aid, CBS News
Dr. Michael Zollicoffer has been serving one of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods for decades — and if his patients can’t pay, that’s OK with him. So when he was diagnosed with cancer, his community rallied to raise over $100,000 for his treatments.
Dredging Up the Ghostly Secrets of Slave Ships, The New Yorker
The New Yorker reported on the Slave Wrecks Project, which is “a global network of maritime archeologists working to excavate wrecks of slave ships and to reconnect Black communities to the deep.”
What’s In The News
Across America
Arkansas: Read about the doulas working to transform childbirth for women in the state…
California: Black lawmakers have introduced a package of reparations bills to start the new legislative session…
Colorado: A woman has pleaded guilty to her role in a hoax that involved setting a cross on fire in front of a campaign sign for a candidate who became Colorado Springs’ first Black mayor…
District of Columbia: Construction crews are removing a “Black Lives Matter” mural near the White House following GOP funding threats…
Georgia: An 11-year-old convicted of killing 8-year-old Noah Bush has been released after serving less than a year in a juvenile detention center…
Illinois: The Black-owned electrical contracting firm Spurlock and Son is celebrating decades of service and expansion, Corli Jay reports for the TRiiBE…
Louisiana: The Trump administration has formally agreed to drop a landmark environmental justice case in “Cancer Alley”...
Maryland: A hairstylist has been charged with assault after posting a now-viral video that showed her dragging a 15-year-old client following a dispute over payment…
Ohio: Ohio University has postponed its annual Black alumni reunion weekend as the crusade against DEI continues…
South Carolina: Charleston Black Lives Matter organizer Marcus McDonald shared the important role local histories play in shaping present freedom movements…
Washington: asks — When will Seattle reckon with its own racism?...
Wisconsin: A Milwaukee County Transit System driver is being recongized for her efforts in potentially saving the life of a driver in distress…
What’s Happening
Mass layoffs at the Department of Education will affect every division within the agency — and kids everywhere are at risk…Thousands of civil rights cases are in limbo following the mass layoffs at the Department of Education, reports…
The Trump administration is axing $660 million set for farmers to provide healthy food for kids in schools…
Read this opinion piece from Dr. Uché Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity: “The higher rates of infection and death weren’t the result of anything Black people had done to make ourselves sick; they were an example of how systemic racism plays out in our lives”...
Congrats! Averi Harper has been named political director for ABC News…
Shannen Dee Williams, author of “Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle,” talked about America’s real sister act…
NPR: More Black teens are in mental health crisis. This church tries to help them heal…
Eden Harris traveled to the Ivory Coast to see how artists are dealing with the Trump administration’s cuts to USAID…
For The Barbed Wire, columnist spoke to historians about the true legacy of Black cowboys…
Tia Hamilton, the owner of Urban Reads Bookstore in Baltimore, told WJZ’s Janay Reece that her shop has been facing racist attacks…
For Teen Vogue, Jameelah Nasheed wrote about the Freedmen’s Bureau and how racist lawmakers killed an early attempt at reparations…
Entertainment News
Have you heard of the Black Gospel Archive? For two decades, the curators have archived 60,000 gospel songs. It is one of the largest digital gospel collections in the world…
There goes “The Neighborhood.” The long-running CBS comedy series was renewed for its eighth and final season…
Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, are hosting a new weekly podcast series…
ABC News obtained a recording of the woman who said she was 13 when Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs sexually assaulted her. She can be heard agreeing Jay-Z did not assault her and blaming her lawyer for pursuing the lawsuit…
At South by Southwest, Issa Rae expressed her disappointment in Hollywood dropping its DEI efforts: “I think diversity needs a better publicist”... More: Kathleen Newman-Bremang wrote about how the war on diversity is ruining Hollywood for Refinery29…
Jay Rock was arrested by Los Angeles police, according to jail records…
You may know him as Paper Boi from “Atlanta.” But Brian Tyree Henry is ready to take on bigger roles…
Anika Noni Rose is “deeply disappointed” that Disney dropped its long-awaited “Princess and the Frog” TV series…
Dawn Robinson, a founding member of En Vogue, revealed that she has been living out of her car for years…
Normani and DK Metcalf are engaged!…
“Beyond the Gates,” the CBS daytime drama centered on a Black family, had a promising start during its premiere week…
IndieWire reviewed “The Makings of Curtis Mayfield,” H.E.R.'s directorial debut that explores the legacy of the soul legend....
Alexandra M. Thomas reviewed American Artist’s “much-needed love letter to Octavia Butler”...
Obituaries
Robert G. Clark Jr., the first Black person to sit in the Mississippi State Legislature since Reconstruction, has died. He was 96…
Junior Bridgeman, an NBA star and standout businessman who bought Ebony and Jet magazines, has died. He was 71…
Natalie Black, a sophomore track and field star at Mississippi’s Belhaven University, has died. She was 19…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 53 seconds!...
Dr. Mary Frances Berry, historian and author of “Slavery After Slavery,” went on PBS to discuss her latest book…
The deadline for the Mellon Scholars Summer internship, which aims to develop students and scholars interested in Black history, has been extended to March 15...
If you’re in the DC area, the Washington Association of Black Journalists has teamed up with the Washington Informer and the Afro for Black Press Sunday on March 16 at Metropolitan AME Church, starting at 10 am. We will be commemorating the 198th anniversary of the Black press…
Photographers: The Black Women Photographers x Nikon Inc. Grants are accepting applications for 2025! Apply by March 28…
Thanks for always doing an amazing job curating these articles!