RIP Jesse Jackson, Philly slavery exhibit restored, Jill Scott Tiny Desk
Thank you for reading. Share this newsletter with a friend or a family member!
What I’m Reading
Read WBEZ Chicago reporter Natalie Moore’s obituary of Jackson, whom she called a symbol of Black politics and Black America.
For The TRiiBE, Tonia Hill wrote about how Rev. Jackson’s legacy paved the way for Kamala Harris’s historic Democratic nomination, and the 19th’s Editor-at-Large Errin Haines explored the ways he opened doors for Black women in politics. Matt Brown wrote about how Jackson inspired generations for the Associated Press.
Dr Stacey Patton wrote about the time Rev. Jesse Jackson “smacked her on her forehead,” and Kirstin Garriss explained how Jackson was shaped by Southern segregation and went on to reshape American political life.
For the New York Times, Robin Givhan explored Jackson’s fashion and why he chose the clothes he wore. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer implores us to ignore the caricature his critics created.
Figures in the United Kingdom were also affected by Jesse Jackson’s life, with writers reflecting on the late civil rights leader in The Guardian.
For details on his celebration of life services in Chicago, please visit this website.
Josh Charow, a documentary filmmaker and photographer, filmed “The Last Cowboys in New York City,” a short doc about the Federation of Black Cowboys and their stables in Jamaica, Queens. Check out his work on Instagram.
No cocktail history is complete without Tom Bullock, Wine Enthusiast
Ashia Aubourg is shedding light on the hidden story of Tom Bullock, who, in the 1900s, self-published one of America’s first acclaimed cocktail recipe books.
A West Side mailman went viral for singing to a widowed grandmother. It changed his life, Block Club Chicago
Lavonte Harvey was caught on camera singing on his mail route, and a woman shared the video with her granddaughter. The viral video inspired neighbors to help Harvey purchase a car.
What’s In The News
Across America
Arizona: The state’s Black population has grown 24% over the past decade, according to new data analysis…
District of Columbia: For The 51st, Nayion Perkins asks, is D.C. still Chocolate City?...
Florida: Florida A&M University has drawn criticism for restructuring its African American Studies and Studio Fine Arts programs…
Georgia: Dr. Linda Davis, a K-8 teacher in Savannah, Georgia, was killed in a car crash by a man fleeing ICE…
Illinois: The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center is celebrating its 65th anniversary as the nation’s first and oldest museum of Black history and culture…
Louisiana: A civil rights lawsuit on behalf of residents in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” can proceed, a federal court ruled…
Maryland: Five Black surgical residents have made history at Johns Hopkins Hospital as the first all-Black team of residents to lead the trauma center…
Michigan: Black-owned legacy media giants are still teaching important lessons from the past…
New York: Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that New Rochelle will receive $16 million for a historically Black neighborhood…
North Carolina: There’s a new exhibit at N.C. Central University showcasing the Black men and women who built and designed some of the state’s iconic buildings…
Ohio: Cleveland Heights showed out for Laila Edwards, who became the first Black woman to win an Olympic hockey title…
Pennsylvania: Black enrollment has shifted sharply at Philadelphia-area colleges since the end of affirmative action, according to a new report…
South Carolina: Reel South covered a Gullah Geechee family that gathered in the Lowcountry to reflect on their Civil War–era heirs’ property…
What’s Happening
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore the slavery exhibit that the National Park Service removed in Philadelphia, and workers were spotted restoring it…
The NAACP and other civil rights organizations have sued to protect voter information that was seized by the FBI…
Alex Pretti and Philando Castile were both lawful gun owners killed by law enforcement. But pro-gun groups were largely silent on the latter’s killing, Abené Clayton reports…
“The same chemicals found in pipes, pesticides and floor tiles are also present in some wigs, braiding hair and hair extensions,” a new study found. Related: Jeorgi Golden, a former hairstylist and nail tech, was diagnosed with lung cancer after decades of chemical exposure…
Capital B’s Adam Mahoney traveled to Louisiana to report on the Black Masking Indians of New Orleans…Related: Riders who were allegedly dangling Black dolls by the neck using beads have been terminated from the Krewe of Tucks…
Over 1,200 swimmers from nearly 40 states came to the nation’s capital to participate in the Black History Invitational Swim Meet…
Forty Acres Fresh Market, a Black woman-owned grocery store, “is tackling food inequity and reshaping economic access in one of Chicago’s long-overlooked neighborhoods”...
Level: America’s most overlooked civil rights tragedy recently marked its 58th anniversary. Only one state mentions it in its official K-12 curriculum…
Washington Post staffers say their newspaper gave up on diverse coverage well before the recently catastrophic layoffs…
The University of Texas at Austin will fold its African and African Diaspora Studies department into a newly created academic unit, amid pressure from the right…
Entertainment News
WATCH: Jill Scott’s long-awaited NPR Tiny Desk concert has premiered…
Baltimore is in the midst of a Black arts renaissance, Abdu Ali writes…
Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell announces plans to run for Congress…
Do you know Sylvia Moy? She’s the songwriter who saved Stevie Wonder’s career…
A stunning 1942 photo of a Black couple inspired Jasmine Vaughn-Hall’s search for a Baltimore love story…
Viola Davis is making her literary debut in March with her new courtroom drama novel, ‘Judge Stone’...
For Andscape, Clinton Yates wrote about Tony Clark’s resignation as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association as a setback for Black Americans in baseball…
Did you watch the “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” docuseries? Read Taryn Finley’s latest: Tyra Banks needs to be held accountable. She’s also the perfect scapegoat…
Nick Cave’s “Mammoth” is the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s largest ever single-artist commission. Their decision to showcase a queer Black artist isn’t lost on him...
Donovan X. Ramsey: “Toni Morrison quietly mapped the fraught interior lives of Black men, revealing survival strategies shaped by society, silence, and the longing to be whole”...
Unpaid convention and vendor costs for last year’s Essence Fest are raising questions about transparency…
You know about Spike Lee’s legendary film career, but what about his documentaries?...
A biopic about the legendary jazz and blues vocalist Dinah Washington is reportedly in the works…
Obituaries
Norman C. Francis, the New Orleans civil rights, business and education leader who led Xavier University for nearly half a century, has died. He was 94 years old…
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, a longtime Washington, D.C. pastor, theologian and fearless advocate for social justice, has died. He was 71…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 54 seconds…
If you’re in Atlanta on February 25th, RICE is hosting an exclusive screening of Andrew Young: The Dirty Work…
Julia Craven created “A Comprehensive Guide to Heart Health for Black Americans” to focus on what we can do within our power to improve our health and well-being…
Thank you for all that you do, Phil! 🙏🏾❤️