What I’m Reading
Against the odds, Black political power rises on Capitol Hill, MS NOW
Washington was preparing to take a hit to Black representation in Congress. Instead, the Congressional Black Caucus is welcoming its biggest — and perhaps most influential — class ever, Akayla Gardner writes for MS NOW.
Other election-related reads:
Years of organizing helped U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures overcome Alabama’s redrawn map, but activists warn that this success doesn’t make the map any less discriminatory, Brandon Tensley explains for Capital B.
👀 Democrats spent millions to win, just not in these Southern states, Adam Mahoney writes.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes that these Democrat breakthroughs in the South show the viability of class politics in every corner of the country.
For Capital B, Alecia Taylor pulled together a list of the HBCU alumni who posted big wins this election season.
Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke with The New York Times about her background, historic win, and what she plans to do when in office.
Stacey Abrams offered a playbook for how Democrats should operate following their historic victories.
Ibram X. Kendi for The Emancipator: Where’s the post-election narrative on Black and Latino economic anxiety?
Democrat Scott Colom will be Mississippi’s next U.S. senator and the first Black senator to represent the state in the U.S. Capitol since the 1800s. Here’s how it all came together. His victory speech at Tougaloo College is worth watching in full above.
Related in POLITICO: Colom just pulled off an almost unimaginable win in Mississippi. He has a message for his fellow Democrats.
The big business of HBCU homecomings, Inside Higher Ed
HBCUs spend millions putting on weeklong homecoming celebrations each year, fostering connection with alumni and, in some cases, making back the cost in donations alone, Olivia Sanchez reports.
The past, present and future of Black games journalism, Aftermath
For Aftermath, Jeffrey Rousseau explored how games journalism has historically been a white institution via its relationship with Black journalists.
What’s In The News
Across America
Delaware: Delaware State enrollment just hit 7,407 students for Fall 2026, the biggest number in the university’s 135-year history…
District of Columbia: Ward 8 residents say staffing issues and reported failures in care at Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center risk heightening longstanding health disparities…
Florida: What if the Democratic establishment had actually invested in Angie Nixon?...
Georgia: A house fire killed 99-year-old Phyllis Lawhorn, a beloved educator, historian and author, neighbors and city officials said…
Louisiana: Students at Dillard University are calling for safer living conditions amid mold-infested dorms and campus apartments…
Massachusetts: The Harvard College Generational African American Students has released a statement on the troubling enrollment data Harvard College released…
Michigan: A study in Flint suggests that giving money directly to pregnant mothers saves lives…
Mississippi: Etta Mae Williams, a 97-year-old who left school to care for her family, received an honorary diploma from the Bay-Waveland School District…
New York: Mayor Zohran Mamdani is pushing a new policy requiring New York City agencies to address racial inequality in their funding requests…
North Carolina: A planned monument dedicated to Black North Carolinians in Raleigh has yet to be built, despite lawmakers talking about it for nearly eight years…
Ohio: Spotlight Books, a Black-owned independent bookstore, is opening on Nov. 21 in Olde Towne East, Columbus...
Oklahoma: Lessie Benningfield Randle, the last known Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, celebrated her 112th birthday this week…
Texas: After decades of waiting, 95-year-old James Dorsey finally has what he’s always wanted: a birth certificate…
What’s Happening
As news geared toward Black Americans shrinks, Capital B is working to buck that trend. The outlet announced an ambitious plan to place local journalists in 20 Black communities by 2030…
Morris Brown College President Kevin James announced that an anonymous donor gave $700,000 to the Atlanta HBCU…
The struggle for intellectual authority has entered a new marketplace for attention. Dr. JabarI Evans (Naledge) asks: Who gets to be a Black public intellectual?...
A University of Mississippi student captured on video walking past an apartment, making monkey noises and gesturing at the door, has issued a public apology. The students who said they were targeted went on CBS Mornings to discuss the ordeal…
The only handwritten manuscript of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech will be up for auction in January 2027…
The fields of public interest tech and progressive philanthropy should be doing far more to support Black women leaders, writes Fallon S. Wilson...
NYT: Curtis Malone ran a basketball powerhouse in Washington, DC, before going to prison for drug dealing. Now he wants back in the game…
Mark Robinson, the scandal-ravaged former North Carolina lieutenant governor, and his wife have filed for bankruptcy…
Explore New York City’s Bronx School of Hip Hop, the first program of its kind...
Duke University’s Class of 2030 contains the lowest reported share of Black students in at least 37 years…
From student journalist Damaia Davis: Grambling State University fired a professor for previously stalking a student. Then another school hired him…
Black veterans face a persistent cycle of rejection that tracks from government claims offices into corporate America, Nicky Childers writes for Newsone...
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes sued the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, alleging it didn’t disclose his sexual relationship with a reporter who worked on a defamatory story…
After conceding the Los Angeles mayoral race, Karen Bass said she doubts that she will return to politics in the future...
A top official at the U.S. Marshals Service has been placed on leave over his alleged involvement in an incident in which a watermelon was left on the desk of a Black deputy assistant director…
Entertainment News
In honor of Veterans Day this week, nadirah highlighted the 1973 war sitcom “Roll Out,” featuring an army supply unit stationed in France during World War II...
ESSENCE interviewed Dr. G. Preston Wilson Jr., the musical director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers…
This year’s slate of the 60th Annual CMA Awards nominees is entirely white, despite the increasing diversity of country music…
The New York Times reviewed “Soul Patrol,” J.M. Harper’s Vietnam War documentary about the Black soldiers who fought for a country that continued to deny them their rights…
NPR’s Rodney Carmichael asks in his recent column: Is ‘Spend Dat’ the best financial indicator of America’s grift economy?...
Award-winning illustrator George Ford still makes time for fitness — even at 100 years old...
NYT’s Jonathan Abrams spoke with Chance the Rapper for the 10-year anniversary of his Grammy-winning “Coloring Book”...
Erica Thompson spoke with Patti LaBelle about how the 82-year-old R&B legend still focuses on living her best life…
In the off-Broadway show “Ms Blakk for President,” Oscar-winning Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney explores the history of America’s first Black drag queen presidential candidate…
In 1957, Louis Armstrong played a concert at Highland Park High School. It’s now a live album…
Angie Martinez is sharing her previously unreleased portions of her 1996 interview with Tupac, months before his murder…
Tyler Perry spoke with Religion News Service about his recently released film, “The Gospel of Christmas,” prayer and the state of Black churches...
For the New York Times, Emmanuel Morgan spoke to former Harlem Globetrotters as the pioneering basketball team celebrates its 100th anniversary…
Druski brought “Saturday Night Live” 5.6 million viewers, its biggest audience in two years…
Obituaries
Irma P. Hall, known for her role as Big Mama in the 1998 film “Soul Food,” has died. She was 91…
Hubert “Geese” Ausbie, a legendary Harlem Globetrotter and Philander Smith College basketball icon, has died. He was 88...
Theodis Ealey, a Natchez, Mississippi-born soul blues artist, has died. He was 79...
Toukie Smith, a top model in the 1970s and an actress who appeared as Eva Rawley on “227,” has died. She was 74…
Richelle Fleming-Finney, co-founder and lead vocalist of Philadelphia disco-soul group First Choice, has died. She was 72…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 46 seconds!...
I’ve been reelected president of the Washington Association of Black Journalists! Thank you, everyone, for your support. Also, congratulations to Makayla Gray and the Georgetown University Association of Black Journalists on their launch. I was proud to assist with this effort…
The Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem will open Saturday, November 14 at 10 am. Find more details here…
The Department of African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University is seeking a professor of Black Male Studies…
Kat Stafford, global race & justice editor for Reuters, will be in conversation with NAACP President Derrick Johnson on Dec. 2...
The Black Metropolis Research Consortium is seeking applications for the 2027 Summer Short-term Fellowship Program. The deadline is Jan. 9, 2027...
ah! thank you soooooo much for sharing my piece! i can't wait to read everything here!