Breaking News! History in the Making
Revamped Harambee building honors neighborhood philanthropists Reuben and Mildred Harpole
The new Bader Philanthropies building in Milwaukee was named the Harpole Building in honor of Reuben and Mildred Harpole, a fair housing advocate, civil rights activist and benefactress of multiple causes.
These Texas teens stayed silent about racism. Then their Black principal was suspended.
At Colleyville Heritage High in Texas, BIPOC students walked out of class to defend James Whitfield, their first Black principal. He has been accused by White school district officials of embracing critical race theory and is in danger of being fired. Whitfield, who is black, had created a diversity committee including students.
Black 6-Year-Old Girl Becomes Georgia’s Youngest Certified Farmer
At only 6 years old, South Fulton’s Kendall Rae Johnson used her love for vegetables to become the youngest certified farmer in the state of Georgia.
Damian Williams Is the First Black U.S. Attorney to Lead the Southern District of New York in Its 232-Year History
Damien Williams was confirmed by the U.S. Senate this week to be the next United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, the first Black person to lead the office in its 232-year history. The position makes him the most powerful federal law enforcement official in Manhattan at the age of 41 years old.
Black Girls and Women Killed At Rate of 4 Per Day In 2020 As Homicides Increased
The FBI and CDC found that Black girls and women were the most often killed among female demographics last year.
America’s 50,000 monuments: More mermaids than congresswomen, more Confederates than abolitionists
By Gillian Brockell, The Washington Post Hundreds of public monuments have come down amid the racial reckoning sparked by the murder of George Floyd last year. Some were toppled by protesters armed with rope; others have been disassembled and carted away by professionals hired by local governments. These removals may seem, well, monumental. But according to a study of U.S.…
Oba Adefunmi, Spiritual Leader born on this date in 1928
Walter Eugene King was born in Detroit, Michigan. He became the first documented African American to be initiated into the Yoruba priesthood of Obatala. In 1970, along with several other devotees, Oba Adefunmi created the Oyotunji village in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Man arrested for allegedly vandalizing George Floyd statue
Michael Beals has been charged with criminal mischief for defacing the bronze-finished bust of Floyd on Oct. 3 in Union Square Park.
Rapper Noname opens Radical Hood Library in Los Angeles
After several months of construction, rapper Noname finally opened up her Radical Hood Library.
Howard U launches $5.4 million Chadwick A. Boseman scholarship
The scholarship, funded by Netflix, will benefit students of the newly reestablished College of Fine Arts, which was named for the esteemed alumnus in May.
Henrietta Lacks Estate Sues Company Using Her ‘Stolen’ Cells
The estate is accusing a biotechnology firm of selling cells taken from her in 1951 without her knowledge or consent.
Alabama spends more than a half-million dollars a year on a Confederate memorial. Black historical sites struggle to keep their doors open.
By Emmanuel Felton, The Washington Post MOUNTAIN CREEK, Ala. — Down a country road, past a collection of ramshackle mobile homes, sits a 102-acre “shrine to the honor of Alabama’s citizens of the Confederacy.” The state’s Confederate Memorial Park is a sprawling complex, home to a small museum and two well-manicured cemeteries with neat rows…
‘We Can Not Forget’: Miami-Dade County Renames ‘Dixie Highway’ to Honor Harriet Tubman
The Harriet Tubman Highway in South Florida has been unveiled after many county workers and a very determined teenager called for the removal of the road’s previous problematic “Dixie Highway” title.
USDA to Form Commission to Tackle Racial Disparities That Hurt Black Farmers
The agency has long been accused of discrimination against Black farmers regarding loan applications and debt forgiveness.
Melvin Van Peebles, Champion of New Black Cinema, Dies at 89
Melvin Van Peebles, known as the godfather of modern Black cinema and a trailblazer in American independent movies, has died. He was 89. A Renaissance man whose work spanned books, theater and music, Mr. Van Peebles is best known for his third feature film, “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.” Mr. Van Peebles’s fiercely independent legacy can be seen in some of the most notable Black films of the past half-century.
12 Years A Slave’ Director Steve McQueen Remembers Michael K. Williams: ‘He Lifted Everybody’ On Set
Actor Michael Williams was found dead in his apartment on Sept. 6. Many members of the film industry paid tribute to Williams and his work. Director Steve McQueen of the Academy Award winning film 12 Years a Slave opens up about what is was like to work with Williams.
Digital records from 19th Century give Black families a glimpse of their ancestry
By Curtis Bunn, NBCBLK After more than 20 years researching her family’s origin in America, Nicka Sewell-Smith found the name of an uncle who had filed a complaint about having his horse stolen. Another notation said he had shopped for bacon, a broom and tobacco in “Short’s Place” in Louisiana about seven months before the 13th…
DOJ Announces New Limits on Chokeholds and No-Knock Warrants
By Rachel Pilgrim, TheRoot.com The agency acknowledged that the tactics lead to unnecessary deaths but doesn’t outright ban them in the new directive. In the past year, the calls to end fatal encounters with law enforcement have only gotten louder. Many of the physical restraints and apprehension tactics that result in the unnecessary deaths of Black…
He Taught About White Privilege and Got Fired. Now He’s Fighting to Get His Job Back
In his Contemporary Issues class that day at a Tennessee school, social studies teacher Matthew Hawn led a discussion of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha WI. Over the next several months, Hawn, 43, used the news cycle to show students, almost all of whom are white, how systemic racism is an indisputable element of American life. When he got fired, Hawn became one of the first casualties from the nation’s debate this year over “critical race theory” and whether or how teachers should acknowledge racism in class.
Maia Chaka Makes History as the First Black Woman to Officiate an NFL Game
By Rashad Grove, Ebony.com Maia Chaka made history by becoming the first Black woman to officiate an NFL game on Sunday, Sporting News reports. Making her debut as a line judge during the New York Jets vs. Carolina Panthers game, Chaka is only the third on-field female official in the history of the NFL. She joins Sarah Thomas,…
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Lawsuit Filed Over Century-Old Confederate Statue in the Majority-Black City of Tuskegee, Alabama
Macon County officials covered the base of a Confederate statue, Friday, June 12, 2020, in Tuskegee, Ala., after it was vandalized with spray-painted obscenities. The Alabama county is seeking to remove the statue that sits in a town square. Photo: Kim Chandler (AP)