Cop who killed Tamir Rice resigns, Bryson Muir found, BET for sale again
Cop who killed Tamir Rice resigns, Bryson Muir found, BET for sale again
Friday, July 5, 2024.
What I’m Reading
Woman with sickle cell disease celebrates 80th birthday, defying life expectancy odds by decades, NBC News
Patricia McGill is among the oldest people in the U.S. with sickle cell disease, and she attributes her longevity to optimism, faith, a supportive community and good nutrition.
She took on a small Mississippi town’s police. Then they arrested her, The Washington Post
Civil rights attorney Jill Collen Jefferson took on the police force in the small town of Lexington, Miss., collecting evidence of abuse, falsifying evidence and assault. Then they arrested her.
NYC landmarks 2 of the last fully intact blocks of Bed-Stuy brownstones, Gothamist
“New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the creation of the Willoughby-Hart Historic District, which residents and historians say comprises two of the last remaining full rows of intact brownstones in the northwestern corner of Bed-Stuy.”
The Georgia Voters Biden Really, Really Needs, The Atlantic
Long before the debate, there were troubling signs for Biden in the strongest of Democratic strongholds, where loyalties are fraying, and right-wing propaganda is seeping into the social media feeds of young Black voters, Stephanie McCrummen writes for The Atlantic.
What’s In The News
Across America
California: California’s reparations movement reached a new milestone after state lawmakers recently set aside $12 million in its next budget to provide recompense to Black residents…
District of Columbia: The city council approved a budget for next year that includes funds for a reparations task force scheduled to study restitution and to develop proposals to address the harms of slavery…
Florida: Marvin Dunn, one of Florida’s most esteemed historians, will broaden the scope of his Black history after receiving a $1.5 million grant…
Georgia: The owner of the Black barbershop where Rep. Byron Donalds, Rep. Wesley Hunt and Ben Carson hosted a Trump campaign surrogate roundtable says he wasn’t told it was a political event beforehand…
Indiana: 14-year-old Bryson Muir has been found more than two weeks after his reported abuse and disappearance. His father, an ex-Colts player, and mother are in custody…
Maryland: A Maryland school district rejected an AP African American Studies course, with some school board members calling it divisive and having too much focus on racism…
Michigan: The city of Detroit has agreed to pay $300,000 to a man who was wrongly accused of shoplifting and also change how police use facial recognition technology to solve crimes…
Minnesota: Pernessa C. Seele founded The Balm in Gilead in 1992. The organization, dedicated to helping Black faith communities combat health inequities, went to Minnesota to inform and empower Black people as part of its 2024 Roadmap Tour…
Mississippi: Sixty years after the Freedom Summer Project in Sunflower County, Charles McLaurin spent two days recounting his time as its director at the Freedom Summer 60 conference…
Missouri: Four prison guards were charged with murder, and a fifth with accessory to involuntary manslaughter, in the killing of Othel Moore Jr., who was left in a spit hood and suffocated while in custody, according to a complaint.
New York: After months of public outcry, New York City libraries will get budget funding back — and will reopen on Sundays…
North Carolina: The North Carolina House passed a constitutional amendment that would remove the Jim Crow era literacy test for voting from the state constitution…
Ohio: Jason Betts, who weighed more than 300 pounds when he started running in 2018, is hoping to inspire other Black men to pick up running…
Oklahoma: Attorneys for the last two remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre called on the Biden administration to help the two seek justice…
Pennsylvania: Cheyney University’s accreditation has been reaffirmed, meaning the historically Black state school is no longer on probation…
Texas: Two Tarrant County jailers have been indicted on murder charges in the death of Anthony Johnson Jr., officials announced. Officers kneeled on Johnson’s back while he shouted that he couldn’t breathe…
Virginia: Virginia’s Department of Education proposed swapping terms such as “racism” with “discriminatory practices” for a high school-level African American history elective course offered at 89 schools, documents show…
What’s Happening
SCOTUS horror: The Supreme Court effectively overturned decisions that granted significant protections to homeless people from punishment for sleeping outdoors…
CNN: Biden and Trump touted what they’ve done for HBCUs at CNN’s debate. Here’s what their records show…
New York City's Police Commissioner Edward Caban has repeatedly used a little-known authority called “retention” to prevent officers accused of misconduct from facing public disciplinary trials. Victims are never told their cases have been buried…
Three federal judges are telling Mississippi to redraw some of its legislative districts, saying the current ones dilute the power of Black voters in three parts of the state…
Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon opened a new bookstore and said she intentionally included books challenged and banned under Florida law…
Timothy Loehmann, the police officer who killed Tamir Rice, resigned after it was discovered he had been working for a police department in West Virginia…
HBCU Alumni Alliance hosted its 17th annual HBCU 5K Run/Walk, which is used to fund scholarships for students…
Karen Mapp, a nationally known scholar with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, worries about the numerous plagiarism allegations raised against Black women colleagues at the institution…
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity kicked off its 84th international grand conclave in Tampa by giving away books banned in Florida schools…
Capital B spoke with civil rights scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw about “Project 2025” and the legacy media’s failure to meet the moment…
Detroit artist and muralist Olayami Dabls, known for the African Bead Museum, has lost hope the building serving as an exhibition of his work will be saved from city-ordered demolition…
Dave Chappelle will headline a fundraiser for Senate hopeful Hill Harper in Detroit next week…
A Kansas City father who became a doula is now inspiring other dads to “step up” during childbirth…
The Atlanta City Council approved a settlement for two college students who were pulled from their car and tased during 2020 protests in downtown Atlanta…
Cory Ulmer became the first detainee to die at Cook County Jail in 2024 last week — and records Injustice Watch obtained show correctional officers body-slammed and beat him just minutes before he died…
Abyssinian Baptist has been one of the most influential Black churches in the country, but its members have questions about the unclear process that just selected its new pastor…
The National Black Farmers Association called on Tractor Supply’s president and CEO to step down after it announced that it would drop most of its corporate diversity and climate advocacy efforts…
Thousands of clergy, union members, and activists rallied on behalf of the poor near the U.S. Capitol, "with faith leaders calling for lawmakers to embrace a slate of policies and for low-wealth Americans to make their voices heard in November as the nation’s “largest potential swing vote”...
With Florida A&M University’s licensure exam pass rates remaining lower than benchmarks and goals, Florida’s Board of Governors is threatening to get rid of programs if there is no turnaround…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would lessen restrictions for formerly incarcerated people who are interested in applying for a cosmetology or barber license…
A prosecutor reviewed Marcellus Williams's case and found “clear and convincing evidence” of his innocence. The Missouri Supreme Court still set an execution date. A circuit court has scheduled an August 21 hearing to assess the evidence…
Entertainment News
Kendrick Lamar dropped the video to “Not Like Us” on July 4th…
From an…interesting Usher tribute to Will Smith’s somewhat odd gospel rap performance to Taraji confusing Keith Lee and Jordan Howlett, here’s everything you may have missed from this year’s BET Awards…
Jamie Foxx has offered the first extended insight into the mystery health condition that hospitalized him last year…
Terence Samuel, the editor in chief of USA Today, is leaving the role after a year, the newsroom was told…
Miranda Turner and her siblings surprised their mom, Pamela Martin-Turner, with the cap and gown she never got to wear when she graduated from law school over 40 years ago…
With the release of “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” Eddie Murphy recently held a must-read interview with The New York Times…
Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” was a 1999 hit that brought twerking and New Orleans bounce into the mainstream. Here’s the story of how it became a sensation…
Simone Biles stole the show on the first night of Gymnastic U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Minneapolis with a dazzling floor routine…
Laci Mosley‘s hit podcast “Scam Goddess” is set for a TV adaptation at ABC News Studios, Variety reports...
BG, best known for the 1999 rap classic “Bling Bling,” must provide the government with copies of any songs he writes, ahead of their production or promotion…
Here we go again: Paramount reportedly in talks to sell BET for $1.6 billion…
CBS News: It’s been 35 years since "Do the Right Thing" was released, and Brooklyn came out to celebrate Spike Lee's iconic film in style…
Harvard-educated Gabby Thomas balances training as a U.S. track and field athlete for Paris while also working at a Texas health clinic…
Quincy Wilson, the high school phenom who was one of the breakout stars of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials, will head to Paris, he and his coach announced on social media…
Reggie Jackson and Emmitt Smith have refused to stick to sports, using their voices to speak about the ties between athletics, race and power, Ja’han Jones writes for MSNBC…
Obituaries
Renauld White, a trailblazing model and soap actor known for his work in Guiding Light, has died. He was 80…
Shay Youngblood, a novelist and playwright whose works inspired a generation of young Black women, has died. She was 64…
KeKe Jabbar, a cast member of the OWN reality show “Love & Marriage: Huntsville,” has died. She was 42…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 12 seconds…
Slate is hiring a co-host for its internet culture podcast “ICYMI.” The role pays between $100,000 - $115,000 a year and can be based in either NYC or DC…
NPR’s “It’s Been a Minute” host Brittany Luse spoke with former Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson about “Appalachian food culture, turning oral recipes into written ones, and the emotional relationship between food, family and memory”...
Vice President Kamala Harris will be traveling throughout the month of July for targeted outreach to Black women voters…
The Legally BLK fund is offering a $1,000 scholarship for Black women applying to law school. Apply here...