HBCU threats, Kamala Harris book excerpt, EBONY Power 100
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I am excited to announce that I was selected for this year’s 2025 EBONY POWER 100 List. As EBONY celebrates 80 years, it is a tremendous honor to be recognized by the magazine that my grandparents, my parents, and I have read over the years.
Mara Brock Akil, Sterling K. Brown, Blue Ivy, Bubba Wallace and Carmelo Anthony are just a few of the talented names on this list.
Thank you all for reading this newsletter and supporting me over the years!
Read the full list here.
What I’m Reading
The army took their land. Decades later, this Black community still wants it back, Capital B News
Adam Mahoney spoke with Gullah Geechee descendants from Harris Neck, Georgia, who are still fighting for the return of their ancestral land 80 years after it was stolen from them by the U.S. government.
The mostly true story of America's first Black private detective, The Atavist Magazine
Read this incredible story about Sheridan Bruseaux, America’s first Black private detective. “He made his name in Chicago investigating racial violence, solving crimes, and exposing corruption. But America’s first Black private detective was hiding secrets of his own.”
How a tradition forged in slavery persists today, The Atlantic
Conjure — a spiritual practice created by Black enslaved people — is involved in nearly every corner of American life, according to Lindsey Stewart’s new book, “The Conjuring of America.” Danielle Amir Jackson explored the book for the Atlantic.
How Tulsa’s mayor pushed through racial justice compensation, Bloomberg
Monroe Nichols, the city’s first Black mayor, talked with Bloomberg’s Bretin Mock about his plans to compensate victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre over 100 years later.
What’s In The News
Across America
District of Columbia: DC Justice Lab has launched the ‘first-ever, all-in-one resource website’ for expungement and record sealing in the nation’s capital…
Florida: William McNeil filed a federal lawsuit against the officers who pulled him from his car and beat him during a traffic stop...
Georgia: A judge has tossed the racketeering charges against the 61 defendants accused of a conspiracy to stop the construction of “Cop City”...
Illinois: Black McDonald’s franchise owners are involved in a lawsuit against the fast food company, alleging discrimination against Black franchisees…
Louisiana: Geographer explores how the state became the most incarcerated place in the world in her recent book, "Prison Capital"...
Maryland: Gov. Wes Moore announced that he will run for reelection in 2026…
Mississippi: Aallyah Wright traveled back to her hometown for the first-ever Clarksdale Day Festival, which put the culture on display...
Missouri: Dorian Johnson, who was with Michael Brown when he was killed by an officer, was killed in a shooting, authorities said…
New York: NYC officials opened the doors of a first-of-its-kind HBCU preparatory high school…
North Carolina: A Newport man was arrested and charged after he allegedly threatened online to kill dozens of Black children at a preschool…
South Carolina: Jarvis McKenzie is calling for hate crime laws to be enacted in the state after he was targeted in a racist attack...
What’s Happening
Multiple HBCUs, including Hampton, Alabama State and Bethune-Cookman, went into lockdown after threats directed at the institutions were made, school officials announced… Related: Former Spelman College president Beverly Daniel Tatum recently talked with the Guardian about what's happening to HBCUs in the Trump era...
In her upcoming book, Kamala Harris admitted to "recklessness" by holding back from advising Joe Biden against pursuing reelection in 2024. Read the first excerpt from “107 Days”…
Unemployment for Black Americans is at its worst level since the pandemic, leading some economists to view this as the canary in the coal mine for the economy… Related: Rep. Ayanna Pressley is calling on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to address these figures…
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her position for now as she fends off Trump's efforts to fire her, a federal court ruled…
For Hello Beautiful, Samjah Iman examined how Black women in the South are rewriting the rules of philanthropy…
Yamiche Alcindor asked Trump about his threats to use the military in Chicago. He responded by berating her during an off-the-rails tirade…
Historians rediscovered several little-known letters from Frederick Douglass that revealed his interesting views on Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln…
Priscilla Williams-Till, a relative of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, is running for U.S. Senate in Mississippi…
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, in an op-ed for the New York Times, says sending in the National Guard is the wrong solution to a real problem…
Andale Gross has been appointed as The Kansas Star’s next executive editor, making him the first Black editor to lead the 145-year-old organization…
It has been three weeks into Trump’s military crackdown on homelessness and crime in D.C. Hundreds of people experiencing homelessness are still living outside in the District…
NBC BLK: “Dozens of students in Tuskegee University's new aviation program are earning their pilot’s licenses at the site that trained the country’s first Black military pilots”…
Atlanta’s strip clubs make millions. But advocates warn they may also fuel human trafficking, Bethonie Butler reports for Capital B News…
A group of Black Americans recently traveled to Angola to learn more about their ancestry. They said it was life-changing…
Sen. Raphael Warnock called Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "a hazard to public health" during a fiery three-hour meeting…
"I have zero regrets." General Charles Brown Jr gave a rare public comment about his firing at the hands of Trump...
It’s not just museums: Trump’s review at the Smithsonian could influence how history is taught in classrooms nationwide…
Inquest: “Revolutionary Black anarchist Martin Sostre spent much of his life as a political prisoner. A vivid new biography reintroduces him to a new generation of decarceral activists”…
The Harlem Hellfighters of the New York National Guard's 369th Infantry Regiment were recently posthumously honored with a Congressional Gold Medal…
Entertainment News
I recently attended an inspiring conversation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Hosted by Kelsey Nicole Nelson, the trailblazing Jayne Kennedy talked about her new memoir, “Plain Jayne.” Cool note: Kennedy said she holds the record for appearing on more JET Magazine covers than anyone else…
Amy Sherald's exhibit, “American Sublime,” will now open at the Baltimore Museum of Art on November 3 instead of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery…
After appearing to eat lipstick on the 2025 VMAs Red Carpet, Doja Cat is MAC’s newest global ambassador…
In his new book “A Thousand Ways to Die,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee examines the impacts of gun violence on Black America…
For The Cut, Allison P. Davis scored the refreshingly open (and rare) celebrity profile that allowed her to really dig into her subject: Lizzo is starting over: Can she capture the zeitgeist again?...
Randy Moss completed his cancer treatment, marking the milestone by ringing the bell in celebration…
For Capital B News, Alecia Taylor wrote about how HBCUs are keeping Black baseball’s legacy alive despite their limited resources…
Spike Lee talked with USA TODAY about his new movie “Highest 2 Lowest,” and why he believes AI “has no soul”...
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has acquired the archives of the late jazz great, Wayne Shorter...
Obituaries
Olivia Matthews, an award-winning playwright whose work appeared across the country, was killed in a fire someone intentionally set, authorities said. She was 32...
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 2 minutes, 10 seconds…
“Seen and Heard: This History of Black Television” is now available on Max. Executive producer Issa Rae talked with CBS Mornings about the two-part series…
Missy Lane's Block Party, an all-day street festival featuring jazz and R&B stars, will take place on October 4 in Durham. Read about its founder, Cicely Mitchell...
Applications for the American Library Association’s 2026 Jason Reynolds/Simon & Schuster Travel Grant are open…