Happy holidays, 'We Ain't Buying It!' campaign, RIP Mother Fletcher
Happy holidays! As a gift, share this newsletter with others and introduce them to the talented writers and journalists featured.
What I’m Reading
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died, What I’m Reading
Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 white supremacist massacre that leveled the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has died. She was 111. I had a chance to meet Mother Fletcher at the 100th commemoration of the race massacre in 2021, and it was incredible to talk to a person who has seen so much.
Read the New York Times obituary on her extraordinary life.
Nehemiah D. Frank, a descendant of families who survived the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, wrote about what he witnessed beside Mother Fletcher in her final fight for justice.
The exit economy is here. Black women are paying the highest price, Fortune
According to Katica Roy’s latest analysis, nearly 600,000 Black women have been economically sidelined since February. “This is not a cyclical slowdown. It is a structural divide. The labor market is being carved up with precision: Women, and especially Black women, are being cut out,” she writes for Fortune.
Related: As Black women face unemployment challenges, a roundtable of policymakers is searching for solutions.
A group of PR professionals is helping Black women in the DMV amplify their new ventures if they’ve had to make a recent pivot. Learn more here...
Solange Knowles wants to lend you a book, The New York Times
For the New York Times, Gina Cherelus spoke with Solange Knowles about her efforts to make Black literature accessible through her Saint Heron Library, a growing collection of rare and out-of-print books.
What’s In The News
Across America
California: The Santa Monica City Council said it will pay a $350K settlement to the family of a Black entrepreneur whose land was seized through eminent domain in the 1950s…
District of Columbia: Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that she will not seek a fourth term…
Illinois: A new exhibit featuring works by Black American artists who lived in Europe from the 1890s onward is on display at the DuSable Museum until early 2027…
Indiana: The Ku Klux Klan once ruled Indiana. Is its rhetoric returning? Historians and theologians believe it is…
Louisiana: The Southern University system, the only HBCU system in the United States, is reportedly moving on from its current leadership…
Massachusetts: Retired journalist Phillip Martin was refused service at a Cambridge cafe after he was mistaken for another Black man…
Michigan: Bernadette Atuahene penned an op-ed for the Boston Globe that called out the lack of attention on the ongoing theft of Black homes in Detroit through inflated property tax bills and mass foreclosures…
Mississippi: A mother of three has become the first squatter in Jackson exiled under a new “squatters law,” but she said she believed she was living in a state-owned, tax-forfeited property…
New York: The abusive treatment of prisoners is rising and becoming more vicious, the New York Times reports…
North Carolina: New policies have helped keep Wake County public libraries resilient against censorship, but book challenges continue to have a chilling effect in classrooms and other community spaces, Indy Week reports…
Ohio: A police officer was found not guilty of murder in the death of Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting…
Pennsylvania: This week, the state became the 28th to adopt the CROWN Act…
Tennessee: In west Tennessee this year, Black residents won a new county map. But the Supreme Court may soon have something to say about that …
Wisconsin: The Black Business Hub in Madison, run by the Urban League of Greater Madison, is working to cultivate a “Black Renaissance” in the area...
What’s Happening
LaTosha Brown, the cofounder of Black Voters Matter, is asking people to support the “We Ain’t Buying It!” campaign, which urges buyers to avoid corporations “enabling the Trump administration’s abuse of power”...Black-owned businesses are hoping to see a boost in sales as a result of the economic boycotts…
A federal judge dismissed criminal charges filed against Letitia James, stating that the handpicked appointment of the prosecutor assigned to the case was unconstitutional…
Since the United States’ inception as a nation in the 18th century, white people have deployed monuments to territorialize their power through representations of famous men, writes Mabel O. Wilson for Hammer and Hope…
The Mississippi Delta barn where Emmett Till was tortured and killed in 1955 will soon become a “sacred” memorial site…
Historian and professor Annette Gordon-Reed penned an essay on Thomas Jefferson’s “prescient and paradoxical views of slavery”...
Mercedes Wells, the mother who gave birth on the side of the road minutes after she was discharged from a hospital, has been hospitalized with post-birth health issues…Related: A new bill seeks to stop Black women’s suffering during and after childbirth and hold hospitals accountable.
For Capital B News, Aallyah Wright wrote about the farmers, churchgoers and volunteers across the nation who are working together to provide free food for those in need this holiday season...
A free neighborhood vending machine filled with healthy groceries is now available in the Bronx...
A delivery driver posted a TikTok alleging a customer had sexually assaulted her. Black content creators were shocked to find AI-generated versions of themselves defending the customer on TikTok, raising fears of “digital blackface”...
25 years after publication, New York University professor Deborah Willis unveiled a new edition of “Reflections in Black”, which has 130 new images. NPR’s Michel Martin spoke with Willis about the book…
After four years, the Fulton County Reparations Task Force in Georgia delivered its Harm Report. You can read it in full here…
Ava DuVernay penned an essay about the stories she tried to write, but couldn’t…
Years ago, Larry Summers got into a very public spat with Cornel West. Now that Summers is back in the spotlight for his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, here’s what West has to say…
Entertainment News
Lupita Nyong’o said that winning an Oscar for her supporting performance in “12 Years a Slave” only led to more acting offers as an enslaved person…
Angelica Jade Bastién, one of the top film critics working today, wrote an essay about “One Battle After Another” and its Black women characters: Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, and Regina Hall…
For Complex, Kia Turner pulled together a list of the late Chadwick Boseman’s best roles, ranked…
Donald Glover recently revealed he had a stroke while on tour in 2024, highlighting a troubling trend among younger people…
There’s no verdict yet in Megan Thee Stallion’s defamation trial as the jury has recessed for Thanksgiving. The jury will return on Monday. Keep up with Meghann Cuniff for updates…
At 72, menswear designer Jeffrey Banks is having a breakout year. And he’s not done yet…
Music journalist Marcus J. Moore wrote about Erykah Badu’s sophomore album, “Mama’s Gun,” released 25 years ago…
The New Yorker profiled the foundational rapper Kurtis Blow, who is preparing for a “Legends of Hip-Hop” concert…
For Andscape, Keith Murphy wrote about Mass Appeal’s seven-album series “Legend Has It,” which features rap icons like Slick Rick, De La Soul, Big L and more…
Obituaries
Imam Jamil Al Amin, the political prisoner and Black power activist formally known as H Rap Brown, has died. He was 82…
George Altman, one of just three people ever to play in the Negro Leagues, AL/NL and Nippon Professional Baseball, has died. He was 92…
Garry “Jellybean” Johnson, a funk rock musician best known as a founding member of The Time, has died. He was 69…
Marquay Collins, a hugely popular social media influencer from Georgia, has died. He was 24...
The framework for Black men to be candid about body-based vulnerabilities had many architects. D’Angelo was one of them, Damon Young writes for Hammer and Hope...
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 22 seconds…
Please send your thoughts and best wishes to Jerry McCormick, who recently found out he has prostate cancer…
Author Dana A. Williams will discuss her new book, “Toni at Random,” with Jonquilyn Hill on Nov. 30 at 3 pm in Alexandria, Virginia…
Patti LaBelle went on the popular video series “Live From the Front Porch”...
Great round-up of stories this week Phil!
Just pure excellence bro! Thank you for this labor of love!