RIP Nikki Giovanni, Daniel Penny acquitted, Jay-Z lawsuit
As we near 30,000 subscribers, I just wanted to say thank you again for your support!
What I’m Reading
For HuffPost, Shanita Hubbard wrote about what we owe Nikki Giovanni. The Guardian published some of her most prominent quotes, and The New York Times gave us a look at her life in pictures.
Other must-reads: When Nikki Giovanni was young, brilliant and unafraid…Nikki Giovanni’s wondrous celebrations of Black life…
A Mississippi Teacher Created a School in an Empty Storefront. Students Showed Up, The New York Times
In 2022, Leora Hooper, a public school teacher, founded the Abundance Educational Academy in an abandoned storefront in the Mississippi Delta. The desks for students came from a dumpster, and the computers are hand-me-downs. But today, there are some 50 students and a growing waiting list seeking a “haven from bullying and crowded classes.”
Gallery: New York City Debuts Nation’s First K-12 Black Studies Curriculum, The 74
New York City has introduced the nation's first K-12 Black Studies curriculum. For The 74, Marianna McMurdock published a photo gallery of the rollout across the city’s public schools.
What’s In The News
Across America
Alabama: A historic marker was erected in honor of Robert Mosley, who was 16 years old when he was lynched in Huntsville in 1890…
Florida: A Florida prosecutor is pushing to vacate convictions of those who bought crack cocaine produced by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office…
Georgia: A new study found that drivers in predominantly Black areas pay, on average, 32.4% more for auto insurance than in predominantly white areas...
Indiana: Two Indianapolis police officers have been acquitted of manslaughter and other charges in the death of Herman Whitfield III, whom they shocked with a Taser and restrained while handcuffing him…
Kentucky: The Justice Dept. and Louisville have come to an agreement to reform the city’s police after an investigation into Breonna Taylor’s killing…
Massachusetts: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the Office of Black Male Advancement have launched community empowerment grants for nonprofits supporting Black men…
Michigan: City Council President Mary Sheffield announced that she’s running for mayor of Detroit…
Mississippi: Ariel Woods, the fourth woman to help lead the Sonic Boom of the South, feels like she’s “standing on the shoulders of giants”…
Nevada: Attorney General Aaron Ford is planning to run for governor in 2026…
North Carolina: Saint Augustine's University had its accreditation membership revoked this week…
What’s Happening
Daniel Penny, the man who held Jordan Neely in a chokehold, was found not guilty in his death…Neely’s father condemned the acquittal…
Irvin Randle is a second-grade math teacher and granddad. But after school, he’s a social media fashion influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers…
For The Emancipator, Eden Harris spoke with experts on health, education, immigration, and more about the significant risks Trump’s Cabinet appointees pose to marginalized communities…
A century ago, the Louisiana State Museum borrowed art from a prominent Black art dealer. His descendants want them back…
Vice President Kamala Harris has signed a bill granting the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm a Congressional Gold Medal…
The New York Times published an interactive on the maternal mortality that is simply not discussed enough: The killings of young mothers…
Alden Loury explored what it means when movie theaters in Black neighborhoods close…
Before leaving the White House, President Joe Biden has appointed a record 40 Black women as judges and held the biggest single-day act of clemency in modern U.S. history…
talked with Cori Bush about Trump’s return to Washington, the war on Gaza, and her plans after Congress…A former Florida police officer who shot a man in the back of the head will spend five years on probation…
For TIME, Sade Green traced her roots back to a North Carolina plantation and attended a ceremony where the burial ground of her enslaved African ancestors became a historical landmark…
Entertainment News
Jay-Z has been accused in a lawsuit of raping a 13-year-old girl alongside Sean Combs in 2000 as an unnamed female celebrity watched. The rapper has denied the allegations…Meghann Cuniff has more details here…An anonymous John Doe spoke with CNN to share the alleged abuse he endured by Combs…
Speaking of Sean Combs, the conspiracy theories surrounding his cases aren’t going away anytime soon…
Jamie Foxx has opened up about the medical emergency he suffered last year, explaining he had a brain bleed that caused a stroke…
Writer Tshiamo Ramela explored Tyla’s rise as a global pop star, reaching even Black American audiences, and how she has been “transformed into an anthropological figure in the ongoing discourse on race”...
In the new book "Malcolm Before X," Patrick Parr writes about the civil rights leader’s earlier days as he found himself during his time in prison…
Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Armani Latimer, who has alopecia, performed without a wig for the first time…
Sharí Nycole talked with Sha’Carri Richardson for her first-ever ESSENCE cover shoot…
Native Son has released its annual list for 2024 honoring Black gay and queer men making a positive global impact…
The world’s best athletes tell Taylor Rooks everything. In a new profile for Esquire, she explains it all…
NPR’s Tonya Mosley interviewed Mickalene Thomas, who makes art that “gives Black women their flowers”...
J. Cole's popular Dreamville Festival will end after its fifth and final event in April, organizers said…
For Rolling Stone,
flew out to Los Angeles for a long conversation with Andre 3000…Read an excerpt from Orlando Reade's “What in Me Is Dark,” where the author describes teaching incarcerated students in New Jersey prisons…
The New Yorker raved about “Nickel Boys,” RaMell Ross’s first dramatic feature and an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel…
Obituaries
Robin Ayers, an entertainment reporter and radio host at KBLA 1580 Talk Radio, has died. She was 44…
Dominique Brown, a Disney influencer, died after reportedly experiencing a severe allergic reaction at an event in Los Angeles. She was 34…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 46 seconds!...
The Urban Journalism Workshop is back! We are currently accepting applications for 2025. We teach DMV-area high school students the fundamentals of print, broadcast and digital journalism. Tell your students or loved ones to apply!...
ProPublica is hiring its first Florida correspondent to join its South team…
The Global Situation Room will fund two annual scholarships for journalism students — who never traveled abroad — to participate in the CNN Academy in Ireland. Travel is also covered!...
The Chronicle of Higher Education is seeking two reporting fellows to join their newsroom…