Happy Juneteenth, Black museums need help, RIP Tay Keith
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What I’m Reading
Happy Juneteenth! The federal holiday celebrates when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were told that they were now free people.
For National Geographic, Samuel Collins III — a 7th-generation Texan with roots back to 1837 — wrote about the overlooked story of the U.S. Colored Troops, the Black Union soldiers who arrived in Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and make this holiday possible. Related: The Black soldiers who changed the meaning of the Civil War.
ICYMI: I curated a list of Juneteenth events taking place across the country.
More: Here are six books that explain the history and meaning of Juneteenth.
Young Black men are now dying by suicide at a historic rate, Capital B News
“For the first time since the U.S. government began collecting the data, young Black men are dying by suicide at a higher rate than young white men,” according to a new report from Capital B’s Adam Mahoney.
What happens when Black athletes stop playing along?, Playboy
For Playboy, Jameelah Nasheed wrote about the Supreme Court’s decision to weaken the power of Black voters in Louisiana and how it stands in sharp contrast to the state’s reliance on Black athletic talent.
Trump is completely rewriting Black history — with devastating consequences, HuffPost
A MAGA group released an 85-page document of “historical heroes.” Guess what’s not mentioned once? My colleague Nathalie Baptiste reported on how the Trump administration’s efforts to rewrite Black history could lead to a startling policy shift in the United States.
What’s In The News
Across America
California: Sacramento’s only Black museum is facing severe financial strain, but community groups are rallying to keep it open…
District of Columbia: Janeese Lewis George has won the Democratic primary in D.C.’s mayoral race…
Florida: The town of Royal is one of the two remaining Black homesteading communities in the nation. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places…
Indiana: The police officers for Eskenazi Health, a central Indiana hospital system, have made more than 800 arrests from 2020 to 2025. Most were for non-violent offenses…
Illinois: A person was charged with a hate crime in an investigation of a large cross set on fire in a Chicago park, authorities said…
Louisiana: Governor Jeff Landry signed one of the cruelest anti-homeless bills in the country into law…
Maryland: A $100M fund for Black-led nonprofits in Baltimore has stalled amid donor retreat and political pressure. Now its leader is betting on small contributors to fill the gap…
Michigan: The Ann Arbor City Council approved up to $200,000 for a reparations study exploring harms to Black residents…
New York: After 20 years in Harlem, Chef Melba Wilson is bringing her signature comfort food to the bustling Grand Central Dining Concourse…
Mississippi: The police officer in Senatobia who shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley has been placed on administrative leave. Police teargassed protesters outside of the Walmart where the shooting took place…
Ohio: Wilberforce University, the state’s oldest private HBCU, is making major changes to its campus amid growing demand for student housing…
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia students saw what it’s like to be mayor, councilmembers and cabinet officials during the Philadelphia City Government Youth Summit…
South Carolina: The International African American Museum in Charleston announced that all of its staff will be furloughed as the museum faces “financial pressure”...
Tennessee: Fisk University’s plan to build a local data center is facing pushback from Nashville community members, university alumni, and current students…
Texas: A portrait at the Houston Museum of African American Culture was intentionally defaced by visitors last month, the institution announced…
What’s Happening
ICYMI: Watch the full grand opening ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center with performances and remarks above.
Bud Light has so far remained silent about the vile slur against Michelle Obama that a fighter made on the beer’s sponsored stage at the White House…
Trump’s effort to rewrite Black history hit a snag after a federal judge ordered his administration to reinstall exhibits and signs about slavery. Part of the slavery exhibit at the President’s House in Philadelphia has been restored, but not all of it. NPR spoke with the activists who have been at the forefront of that fight…
The federal government has joined a lawsuit against a reparations program that offered Black people in Evanston, Illinois $25,000 to direct descendants of residents who faced housing discrimination in the city between 1919 and 1969…
50 years ago, Alex Haley published his magnum opus, “Roots: The Saga of an American Family”...
A new study from economists Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Emma Rackstraw makes a powerful case for more Black supervisors in the workplace…
Cynthia Garris, a city commissioner, is set to become St. Augustine, Florida’s first Black mayor…
94-year-old James Dorsey, born on Ellerbe Plantation in Louisiana, is hoping to get a birth certificate…
Alecia Taylor attended this year’s Equity Ball in Washington and wrote about how D.C.’s Ballroom culture is pushing back against anti-Black and LGBTQ+ attacks…
In a column for the Chicago Sun-Times, Alden Loury wrote about the importance of Black male role models…
Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson has received the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary for the 9th U.S. Congressional District…
Trump has further gutted the Education Department by shifting oversight of special education and civil rights to other federal agencies…
A man was charged with a hate crime after allegedly yelling the N-word at a 9-year-old boy and shoving him in Naperville, Illinois, authorities say…
Entertainment News
Black Music Month continues with Eve’s and 8Ball & MJG’s NPR Tiny Desk concert. Watch Eve’s concert above and 8Ball & MJG’s here…
Silk White, a former drug dealer, is now an independent filmmaker and his projects make millions without Hollywood’s backing…
Serena Williams will play Wimbledon for the first time in four years, reuniting with Venus, in the women’s doubles event…
HBCU FC is hoping to use the World Cup action to “amplify HBCU culture” through the global game of soccer…
A.D. Carson, associate professor of hip-hop and the global South at the University of Virginia, spoke with VPM about his latest book: “Being Dope: Hip-Hop and Theory Through Mixtape Memoir”...
Ruth Etiesit Samuel interviewed Black Girls Tennis Club Coach Miranda Gibson about her journey to tennis—and how it became a conduit for self-discovery…
A “Matlock” writer is suing CBS Television Studios over alleged racist and sexual comments directed at him and other Black crew members…
UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report found that “as the number of streaming films decreased, so did minority employment across directors, writers, leads and overall cast”...
Baltimore Beat published this cool photo essay of the early years of the Afro-American (AFRAM) Exposition, taking place this weekend!…
Olandria spoke to Cosmopolitan about her newfound fame, her now-private relationship, and her ambitions for the future…
Christopher Jackson, one of the original cast members of “Hamilton,” is reprising his role as George Washington…
Earth, Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey initially thought the hit track ‘September’ was ‘kinda corny’…
BET has revived its stand-up series “ComicView,” and it will appear on June 30…
Laila Edwards has become the highest drafted Black woman in Professional Women’s Hockey League history…
Tyra Banks has filed a lawsuit against Netflix regarding her portrayal in the docuseries “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model”...
Mystikal has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to raping a woman at his home…
Former CEO of Essence Ventures Caroline Wanga claimed in a lawsuit that Essence Festival leaders failed to defend her against criticism for last year’s event…
For EBONY, Wongo Okon wrote about 30 Black men who are dominating the airwaves for its STAMPED: Gentlemen of Sound feature…
The New Yorker interviewed Laverne Cox about her new memoir and anti-trans backlash…
“Diarra From Detroit” will return for a season 2 on July 29...
Obituaries
Tay Keith, a noted Grammy-nominated record producer behind hits with Travis Scott, Beyoncé and Drake, has died. He was 29…
Danny Simmons, the founder of a Philadelphia arts community that provided space and motivation for local artists to be discovered and show their work, has died. He was 72…
Rev. Robert Lee Abrams, the father of Stacey Abrams, has died. He was 77...
Gregory Williams, an academic who discovered his father had been passing as a white man, died in 2025 but his death was not widely reported. He was 77…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 38 seconds!...
I answered 20 questions from Lawrence Ross about my hometown of Detroit, my career, and more. Watch here…
Ph.D. candidate Cierra McLaurin is seeking Black women who currently have or formerly had a professional connection to math education to participate in her dissertation research study…
The NAACP is accepting nominations for its inaugural “Advancement List,” honoring trailblazers across industries who are advancing Black communities…
The International African American Museum furloughing its entire staff in the same roundup where Sacramento's only Black museum is fighting to stay open. We keep building the rooms that hold our history and keep underfunding the people who keep the lights on in them. I needed the Obama Presidential Center news today as a counterweight. Thank you for holding both in the same newsletter, the strain and the opening, because that's closer to the truth of where we are