GOP redistricting rampage, new Obama profile, 20 years of 'B'Day'
Here's another full edition of news you can use. Please continue to share this newsletter with those who may find it interesting or helpful!
What I’m Reading
60 years after the Voting Rights Act, this 88-year-old Black man sees history repeating itself, The Root
Press Robinson, the first member of his family to vote, remembers having to prove he could read before being allowed to register. In an interview with The Washington Post, the 88-year-old says he sees “history is repeating itself” sixty years after he witnessed the Voting Rights Act signed into law.
“That law passed in 1965 was the bedrock of improvement of life in America for people of color,” he told the Post. “This is a Louisiana case, but the result is not going to be limited to Louisiana. It’s going to set the stage for redistricting in the entire country.”
And he’s correct — Tennessee enacted a new congressional map, breaking up the state’s only majority-Black congressional district. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis swiftly signed a new map into law — and was sued. Republicans in South Carolina and Alabama are also pushing toward redistricting.
Also this week, the FBI raided the office of L. Louise Lucas, one of Virginia’s most powerful lawmakers and a key figure in the state’s redistricting victory.
👀 The claims Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made about voter turnout in Louisiana in the Voting Rights Act case were based on a misleading data analysis, according to The Guardian.
The fight ahead: For Capital B News, Brandon Tensley explains what’s next for Black voting power…The WinWithBlackMen group is organizing a convening call this Sunday, May 10, to discuss ways to keep engaged and the latest political updates...
Opinion: Why Republicans still fear the Black vote, by Al.com columnist Roy S. Johnson…
Opinion: The Supreme Court trusts America not to be racist. I don’t, by The Guardian columnist Jamil Smith…
Doctors sound the alarm on ongoing Black maternal mortality crisis, HuffPost
My colleague Kimberley Richards talked to doctors about the Black maternal health crisis and broke down some of the major misconceptions surrounding it.
Related: In America, pregnancy is dangerous for Black women, regardless of privilege, anthropologist Khiara Bridges writes for The MIT Press…
‘Pick your hard’: Black independent journalism isn’t as simple as Substack, The Objective
“While it might be simple to suggest that reporters launch a newsletter or an independent newsroom when laid off from corporate media, those career pivots cost more than just money — particularly for Black independent journalists,” Fannon Brannon writes in The Objective.
Thanks to Fannon for reaching out to the Washington Association of Black Journalists for help with this story.
What’s In The News
Across America
Alabama: Magic Johnson is set to take the stage at Tuskegee University for the May 9 commencement ceremony…
California: Dominic Antoine Jr, an Oakland high school senior with a 4.3 GPA, has been accepted to all 31 colleges to which he applied...
Florida: Following the changes to the Voting Rights Act, Raisa Habersham explored what’s at stake for the state’s young Black voters…
Georgia: Lana Foster, one of the few Black teachers ever hired by a South Georgia school district, claims she was the victim of racial harassment…
Illinois: The tension between Chicago officials and a majority Black pro-Trump group is growing…
Maryland: High school students with a GPA of at least 3.0 will now be guaranteed admission to Bowie State University…
Mississippi: Lawmakers are set to convene for a special session to redraw the state’s supreme court districts at its Jim Crow-era Capitol building…
Nebraska: The city of Omaha renamed a street after Tessie Edwards, the first Black teacher in the Omaha Archdiocese…
New York: The Bronx School of Hip-Hop is set to open in the Claremont neighborhood of the Bronx…
North Carolina: Vi Lyles, Charlotte’s first Black female mayor, announced that she will resign on June 30…
Ohio: A former deputy has been found guilty of reckless homicide in the shooting of Casey Goodson Jr…
Pennsylvania: Nikole Hannah-Jones provided the keynote at the National Association of Black Journalists Region I Conference at Temple University…
Texas: Pearland voters have elected the city’s first Black mayor in Quentin Wiltz…
What’s Happening
The New Yorker published a profile of former President Barack Obama, and his reflections since leaving office a decade ago…
Kwaneta Harris is an incarcerated journalist. For the Marshall Project, she wrote about what Mother’s Day is like for her…
Organizations have found success challenging the Trump administration’s anti-DEI policies in court…
The first Black women hired as flight attendants by the now-defunct Pan American Airways recently gathered for a reunion…
For the Guardian, Adria Walker reported on the HBCU Radio Preservation Project, an initiative working to preserve the archival material from radio stations created at HBCUs in the 60s and 70s…
Demetria Coley has made history as the youngest graduate of the Florida State University College of Nursing at 18 years old…
Shamira Ibrahim penned an essay unpacking the disconnect at the center of New York City’s cost-of-living debate…
A new report shows that living wage gaps by race and gender are widening…
A historian is retracing a 750-mile Underground Railroad route from Maryland to Canada, 30 years after first making the walk…
Precious Brady-Davis, a water reclamation commissioner in Illinois and the only Black trans person holding public office in the country, isn’t ruling out a run for Congress…
75-year-old Peggy Moore has worked at Temple University for 44 years. She graduated this week…
Black Enterprise magazine has laid off all of its 15 freelancers, according to Richard Prince…
Three men conspired to rob students at Lincoln University (PA) during homecoming, prosecutors said…
The Howard University community is grieving after two students, Sollomon Buckhanon Crowder and Jimisha Relerford, died days before graduation…
An Atlanta coffee shop has pledged to commission another mural honoring the life of beloved news anchor Jovita Moore after it was painted over…
Entertainment News
Colman Domingo has received an honorary degree from Temple University decades after he left school to pursue acting. Watch his speech above…
End of an era: Paramount announced it will end the “Love & Hip Hop” franchise after 15 years…
For Billboard, Kyle Denis spoke to over 15 collaborators — including Darkchild, Ne-Yo, Swizz Beatz, and more — as Beyoncé’s “B’DAY” album turns 20 years old…
Megan Thee Stallion was the May/June 2026 cover star of Entrepreneur Magazine, and spoke to the magazine about how she views success…
Founding Fugees member Pras Michel turned himself in to begin serving a 14-year prison sentence, which he vows to fight…
29 years after leaving college to pursue music, legendary producer 9th Wonder is set to graduate from North Carolina Central University…
Slick Rick, Trina and Tierra Whack chose the five albums that defined every decade of hip hop…
Nile Rodgers spoke with the New York Times about how he wrote “We Are Family, “Le Freak,” and more…
Longtime Oakland resident Delroy Lindo was presented with the key to the city this weekend…
Food writer Korsha Wilson wrote about Edna Lewis’ seminal cookbook, “Taste of Country Cooking,” as it turns 50 this year and how it continues to inspire…
Obituaries
Ronald Smothers, a longtime reporter with the New York Times who covered Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1984 presidential run and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, has died. He was 79…
Castell Vaughn Bryant, the first woman in FAMU history to serve as the HBCU’s interim president, has died. She was 88…
Don Ross, a former Oklahoma state representative and champion of civil rights, has died. He was 85…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 50 seconds…
“The Best Man” filmmaker Malcolm D. Lee has teamed up with Universal and Tribeca to create Love and Laughs, a short-film development and production initiative for filmmakers who tell comedic and romantic stories. Apply by May 20…
Marc Lamont Hill will be in conversation with Ilyasah Shabazz at the African American Museum in Philadelphia for her new book, “Malcolm in the Desert,” her latest book about her father’s life. The talk will take place on May 23…
Bed-Stuy Forever is collecting archival photos for a local exhibition. Send submissions to bedstuyforever2021@gmail.com…
The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is seeking a part-time social media and digital content contractor…
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is hiring a public affairs specialist…
BridgeDetroit, a community-first nonprofit newsroom, is seeking a reporter to cover issues that shape life in Detroit. The deadline to apply is June 1…
Excellent work. Check out all the information at the bottom!