Five years after George Floyd, new Clipse coming, RIP Charles Rangel
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What I’m Reading
Harvard Relents After Protracted Fight Over Slave Photos, The New York Times
Harvard University will hand over two 175-year-old photographs of an enslaved father and his daughter to the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina after a yearslong legal fight with a woman who said she is a descendant of the photographed.
“I have been at odds with Harvard over the custody and care of my enslaved ancestors, and now I can rest assured that my enslaved ancestors will be traveling to a new home,” Tamara Lanier told Clyde McGrady of the New York Times. “They will be returning to their home state where this all began, and they will be placed in an institution that can celebrate their humanity.”
In 9 minutes and 29 seconds, George Floyd was killed, forever changing this neighborhood, NBC News
5 years ago this week, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. For NBC News, Curtis Bunn traveled to the neighborhood where Floyd was killed to speak with residents about what has changed since that moment.
More: Never forget Darnella Frazier, the teen who filmed the murder of George Floyd, Andscape
A Black 18-year-old college student was lynched on a playground 95 years ago. His nephew just accepted his posthumous degree, CNN
Dennis Hubert, an 18-year-old divinity student at Morehouse College, was lynched in 1930 by a mob of seven White men. The HBCU just awared him a posthumous Bachelor of Arts degree in religion, and his nephew, Imam Plemon El-Amin, accepted it on his behalf.
What’s In The News
Across America
California: A coalition of Black architects, engineers, and other industry professionals are coming together to rebuild Altadena following January’s fires…
Georgia: A grand jury has decided a woman will not face charges in connection with the killing of her boyfriend in Burke County…
Louisiana: Residents were warning their neighbors about polluted air. Now the state could fine them $1 million for doing it…
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is shutting down its diversity, equity and inclusion office…
Maryland: Joni Holifield established HeartSmiles, an organization to help youth in Baltimore develop leadership skills and make better choices...
Mississippi: Jayme Anderson of Forest High School in Jackson has been accepted to over 50 colleges across the country and earned more than $10 million in scholarships…
Pennsylvania: “What does it open?” Quinta Brunson received a key to the city from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker at her alma mater, Andrew Hamilton School…
South Carolina: Linwood Riddick spent the last six years studying at South Carolina State University to honor the victims of the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre…
What’s Happening
I interviewed Lauren Hood, founder of the Detroit-based Institute for AfroUrbanism, for …
Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” cuts $700 billion from Medicaid and shuts off tax dollars to Planned Parenthood of America — “both of which are critical to the reproductive health of Black women,” Jennifer Porter Gore explains for Word In Black…
For the 19th News, Candice Norwood talked to the Mothers Against Police Brutality, who are “bringing their individual experiences of tragedy together to empower police reform”...
Prince George’s County Council found a way to preserve funding for PGCTV! Thank you for sharing the news and signing the petition…
The Trump administration is looking to end a $37B program designed to help minority-owned businesses, calling it “unconstitutional”…
The Digital Equity Act aimed to close the digital divide. Trump called it “racist” and “illegal” as he plans to end it…
For Capital B, Jonathan Forney compiled a list of the seven Supreme Court cases that Black Americans should pay attention to this summer…
An ex-Georgia police officer who shot and killed an unarmed, naked Black Air Force veteran man pleaded guilty and won't serve any additional time behind bars…
NFL legend Jerome Bettis penned an op-ed in Word in Black about his new mission to raise awareness about heart health in the Black community…
Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart revealed in his new book that he quit the paper’s editorial board “after his colleague ran an editorial that claimed Joe Biden’s decision to call Georgia’s voting laws ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ was ‘hyperbolic’”...
Entertainment News
The Clipse have announced “Let God Sort Em Out,” their first new album since 2009, will be out July 11…
Hundreds of people attended a special screening of “Sinners” in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the film was set. Ryan Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson, and actor Miles Canton were also there…
Jasmine Arielle Barnes and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton have written a new opera about the unrecognized women of the Civil Rights era. Opening June 3 in Chicago, it is believed to be the first opera created by two Black women...
Janet Jackson performed live on TV for the first time in seven years during the American Music Awards this week…
Beyoncé paused her Cowboy Carter Tour performance in New Jersey to assist a couple in announcing the sex of their baby…
Jaheim was arrested and charged with six counts of animal abuse after officials said they found several abused dogs in his RV…
If you’ve been wondering why people have been showing Broadway star Audra McDonald extra love recently, it all started with a Patti LuPone interview…
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is set to pen an upcoming biopic about Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock and Roll…
, the founder of The Reading Room, talked with Colossal about her hopes for her library with more than 700 books dedicated to Black art and history…
“The Chi” has been renewed for an eighth season…
For Autostraddle, says Beyoncé may have shifted country music, but she cannot save the industry…
Priah Ferguson, who plays Erica Sinclair on "Stranger Things," is celebrating her graduation from high school...
NPR: Read why the Sean Combs trial is about more than the framing of 'Diddy vs. Cassie'...
Eddie Murphy revealed that his son, Eric, recently married Martin Lawrence’s daughter, Jasmin, in an small church ceremony…
Afrika Bambaataa lost a civil case suing him for child sexual abuse and trafficking after he failed to show up in court…
Smokey Robinson has filed a $500 million defamation lawsuit against the four former housekeepers who accused him of sexual assault…
Obituaries
Charles Rangel, the former congressman from Harlem and the last remaining founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, has died. He was 94…
Sacha Jenkins, the hip-hop journalist and filmmaker who co-founded Ego Trip magazine, has died. He was 54…
Michael Sumler, a longtime member of Kool & the Gang known as “Chicago Mike,” has died. He was 71…
Lillian Boutte, a renowned New Orleans vocalist who traveled the world, has died. She was 75…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 43 seconds…
A group of college friends from New York City are going viral for videos on "Black boy joy." For NBC News, Marquise Francis talked with them about the inspiration…
Black ASL is the unique dialect of American Sign Language (ASL). Learn more here…
curated a list of twenty Blaxploitation films to get you into the genre…
Roddy Rich has teamed up with Marathon Burger to hand out free burgers to the Los Angeles community this Sunday, June 1st from 11:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m…
Applications for the Detroit Black Farmer Land fund will open on June 19th…