Diddy gets raided, DEI is the new slur, Crystal Mason acquitted
Diddy gets raided, DEI is the new slur, Crystal Mason acquitted
Friday, March 29, 2024.
What I’m Reading
“The Sin Is Greed”: The Making and Unmaking of the Black American Mecca, The Ringer
For The Ringer, Lex Pryor spent several months writing about Harlem and the erasure of Black culture as it happens before our eyes. “A century after the Harlem Renaissance, the famed Upper Manhattan neighborhood as we once knew it is dying a strange but predictable death at the hands of gentrification,” he wrote.
Reparations in America aren’t rare. Why the holdout for Black Americans?, The Emancipator
As part of the podcast “What is Owed?” Saraya Wintersmith talked about reparations and why Black Americans receive so much pushback when the topic comes up, with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, founder of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University.
Fourth Black Female Harvard Scholar Accused of Plagiarism Amid Assault on DEI Initiatives, The Crimson
A fourth (!) Black woman scholar at Harvard has been targeted in a series of anonymous plagiarism complaints lodged specifically at Black women who study race and social justice at the institution.
What’s In The News
Across America
Alabama: Doreen St. Félix talked with civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson about the National Monument to Freedom, a museum, memorial and sculpture park he created in Montgomery…
Arkansas: A high school teacher and two students sued the state over the state’s ban on critical race theory and “indoctrination” in public schools…
California: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has cleared homeless encampments and moved thousands of people into motels. What happens next, however, is unclear...
Idaho: Authorities are investigating after the University of Utah women’s basketball team said they were harassed by racists while staying in Coeur d'Alene…
Illinois: Ayanna Woods — a composer who comes from a very musical Chicago family — is taking the classical world by storm…
Louisiana: The state Supreme Court has struck down a law that allows victims of child sex abuse to sue their abusers years after the crime occurred…
Maryland: Five Black House Democrats are endorsing Angela Alsobrooks in her Senate bid, days after her primary opponent apologized for using a slur…
Michigan: A recent study suggested Detroit is cheating lower-income residents by illegally and disproportionately overtaxing homes worth less than $35,000…
Missouri: A school bus company is terminating its contract with St. Louis Public Schools after a noose was found near the workstation of a Black mechanic…
Mississippi: 17-year-old Kadarius Smith died in a hospital after an officer ran him over in a police cruiser, his family alleges…
New Jersey: David Lewis spent most of his 20s incarcerated. Now, he’s focused on his health-conscious meal prep company, which focuses on wellness and nutrition in urban communities…
North Carolina: Residents in Durham are demanding a solution from the City Council to ensure safe play areas for children…
South Carolina: A federal court will allow South Carolina Republicans to use their congressional map for the 2024 election, despite earlier finding it discriminates against Black voters…
Tennessee: House Republicans have voted to vacate the entire Tennessee State University board, over the outcries of Democrats who pointed to the decades of underfunding of the HBCU…
Texas: Crystal Mason, a woman who was sentenced to 5 years in prison after she tried to cast a provisional ballot in 2016, has been acquitted…
What’s Happening
Horror in Baltimore: A ship crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in early Tuesday morning, causing the bridge to collapse. Six construction workers on the bridge when it collapsed are presumed to have died. This piece in The Atlantic details how the Mid-Atlantic city lost more than just a bridge that day…
The Baltimore bridge collapse, however, brought out the worst of the social media. Right-wing influencers on Twitter used the tragedy to share conspiracy theories and attack the city’s mayor, for no reason other than the fact that he’s Black. Like the terms “woke” and “CRT” before it, “DEI” has basically become a stand-in for the N-word and Mayor Brandon Scott is speaking out about the attacks…
Well, bye: Right-wing media outlet The Daily Wire said it has severed ties with Candace Owens…
The U.S. House Office of Diversity and Inclusion will be dissolved as part of the government spending bill that passed, the office’s director said in a statement…
Lee Berry, a member of the Black Panther Party and one of the Panther 21, has died. He was 78…
A new study finds that Black male elementary school students with Black teachers are less likely to be identified for special education…
Ramona Edelin, an academic-turned-activist who helped popularize the term “African American,” has died. She was 78…
Krystal "Krissy" Anderson, a former cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs, died of sepsis following the stillbirth of her daughter. She was 40…
85 years after a racist mob drove Opal Lee’s family away, the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” is getting a new home on the same spot in Fort Worth, Texas…
A Black couple who claimed an appraisal company undervalued their Baltimore home based on their race have settled their lawsuit against their mortgage lender. The lender also agreed to several policy changes to discourage discrimination…
Andrew Caldwell, most known for his viral “I'm Delivert” video, said he is running for committeeman of the 9th ward of St. Louis…
After declaring bankruptcy this week, the popular Houston restaurant Turkey Leg Hut is seeking to “reposition itself,” according to its owner…
For HuffPost, Courtney Williams wrote about her postpartum crisis and the ways Black women can better protect themselves during childbirth…
Entertainment
Two Los Angeles and Miami properties connected to Sean "Diddy" Combs were raided by Homeland Security this week in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation, officials said. A new statement from the lawyer representing the media mogul called the searches “a gross overuse of military-level force” and “nothing more than a witch hunt.” More coverage: Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, NBC News, Rolling Stone…
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win the Oscar for best supporting actor, has died. He was 87…
Ryan Coogler is set to produce an untitled jukebox musical of Prince songs for Universal Pictures…
KevOnStage and That Chick Angel have become a wildly popular comedy duo — through church humor…
Candiace Dillard Bassett exits “Real Housewives of Potomac” after 6 seasons…
The trailer for “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, is out. (Bad Boys 4 Life was right there!)...
Beyoncé’s newest album, “Act 2: Cowboy Carter,” is now available on streaming services. She got her fans excited for today’s release by teasing the tracklist earlier this week, modeled after the design of posters from the era of the Chitlin Circuit. Related: Taylor Crumpton wrote an op-ed on why Beyoncé's album cover makes complete sense to Black Texans, and Alicia Randall explained how she fits into the storied legacy of Black country…
For Andscape, David Dennis Jr. wrote about “American Fiction,” “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” and the endless debate over what a “good” Black movie should look like…
Quinta Brunson will address the Temple University graduates and be awarded an honorary degree during their commencement in May, the university announced…
Fans of the rapper Keith Murray are concerned for his wellbeing after a fan recorded herself harassing him…
“Power Book III: Raising Kanan,” the best series in the Power Universe right now (in my opinion), has been renewed for a fifth season…
The man who went viral for pairing light blue New Balances with a blue and white striped Ralph Lauren polo connected with LRG for a new ad…
The upcoming Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” is adding Larenz Tate as Berry Gordy, Kat Graham as Diana Ross and Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones…
Famed ballet dancer Misty Copeland talked to CNN about the discrimination she’s faced in her career, including fielding questions about lightening her skin…
More tours are on the way: Xscape and SWV are combining their talents for “The Queens of R&B Tour,” while Maxwell has announced “The Serenade Tour”...
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 1 second…
Alexis Johnson’s final project with VICE, “When Black Women Go Missing,” is now available to watch on Tubi…
Not only is Big Sean’s Tiny Desk concert now online, but the mastermind behind its latest string of exciting performances, Bobby Carter, is now the new host and series producer for the Tiny Desk Concerts…
From April 6 to 7, scholars and activists will discuss The Black Scholar journal, and touch on issues of radicalism, gender, internationalism, and media. The panels are free and will be hosted online…
Prism, an award-winning nonprofit independent newsroom led by journalists of color, is hiring a News Editor…
Welcome. Just wanted to share.
When the Two State Solution Sought is Michigan and Minnesota, and not Israel and Palestine https://tinyurl.com/2kcsw27j
Neo-Racism in The Twenty-First Century https://shorturl.at/adJNS