Alexis Herman, 1st Black U.S. Secretary of Labor, Dies at 77
April 25, 2025
Alexis M. Herman, the first African American to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor, passed away today, April 25. She was 77-years-old.
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National
DEI rollbacks hit campus support systems for students of color
April 25, 2025
By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Campus mentors. Move-in events. Scholarships. Diversity offices that made them feel welcome on predominantly white campuses. As U.S. colleges pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, students of color say they are starting to lose all of these things and more. The full scope of campus DEI rollbacks is still emerging as colleges respond to the Trump administration’s orders against diversity practices. But students at some schools said early cuts are chipping away at the sense of community that helped open the door to higher education. “It feels like we’re
Al Sharpton calls meeting with Target’s CEO amid DEI backlash ‘very constructive and candid’
April 21, 2025
By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Target’s chief executive officer met Thursday with the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose civil rights organization has encouraged consumers to avoid U.S. retailers that scaled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Sharpton called the meeting with Target CEO Brian Cornell “very constructive and candid,” according to an update from his National Action Network. Two other NAN representatives, National Board Chair Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson and Senior Advisor Carra Wallace, also attended the meeting at the organization’s New York headquarters. “I am going to inform our allies, including Rev. Dr. Jamal
Leslie Odom Jr. to reprise his Tony-winning role in ‘Hamilton’ this fall
April 18, 2025
By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Leslie Odom Jr., one of the original cast members of the mega-hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” is coming back for another shot, a role he says “gave me life.” Odom, who played Aaron Burr opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton, will return to his Tony Award-winning role at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Sept. 9 through Nov. 23. “I was born on the stage of the Richard Rodgers in so many ways. It gave me life in a way,” he tells The Associated Press. “I’m really looking forward to it.” Odom and
African American Mayors Set to Convene in Nation’s Capital for Landmark Conference
April 15, 2025
Hundreds of city leaders are expected to attend, representing more than 500 African American mayors who serve over 25 million Americans in large and small communities.
Judge refuses to dismiss Central Park Five’s defamation case against President Trump
April 14, 2025
By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against him filed by the men formerly known as the Central Park Five who were exonerated after spending more than a decade in prison for the 1989 rape and beating of a woman who was jogging. U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in Philadelphia denied Trump’s motion to dismiss in a brief Thursday night order. The five men sued Trump in the midst of last fall’s presidential election campaign, accusing him of making “false and defamatory statements” about
Lawsuit alleging environmental racism in Louisiana parish allowed to proceed, federal court says
April 11, 2025
By JACK BROOK Associated Press/Report for America NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A civil rights lawsuit alleging a south Louisiana parish engaged in racist land-use policies by placing polluting industries in majority-Black communities can move forward, a federal appellate court says. On Thursday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that a trio of faith-based community groups could proceed with a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in the petrochemical buildout in St. James Parish, a region in the heart of Louisiana’s heavily industrialized Chemical Corridor. It is often referred to by environmental groups as “Cancer Alley” for its
Henry Louis Gates Jr. goes from host to guest on PBS’ ‘Finding Your Roots’
April 9, 2025
By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — For 11 seasons, Henry Louis Gates Jr. has sat across from his guests on the popular PBS series “Finding Your Roots” and led them through secrets in their family tree. On Tuesday, it’s his turn. The Harvard scholar learns a long-buried puzzle about his great-great grandmother, Jane Gates, information which scrambles his ancestry and opens up a new branch that goes back to Ireland. “I was moved to tears,” Gates tells The Associated Press ahead of the airing. “I used to pass her grave at the Gates’ plot in Rose
Black Lives Matter Plaza’s end — like its beginning — is a barometer of the times
April 7, 2025
BY ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It started as an ordinary D.C. intersection — a tourist destination with a modest white church on the corner, notable largely for an unobstructed view of the White House across Lafayette Park. Then, in the pandemic summer of 2020, it transformed. The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police turned the nexus of 16th and H streets into a focal point for decades-old grievances over police brutality and racial inequities. Even before it was named Black Lives Matter Plaza, thousands of protesters descended there daily, many staying around the
First-Ever Report on `Hate Incidents’ Released by LA County
April 4, 2025
LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations today released its first-ever Hate Incident Report, showing reported non-criminal hate acts in the county grew 35%, from 609 in 2022 to 821 in 2023. Hate incidents are non-criminal occurrences motivated by prejudice or bias against a person or group’s actual or perceived identity. Such incidents can include verbal abuse, harassment and displays of offensive material. According to the survey, reported hate incidents taking place at schools, colleges and universities rose 234% — from 59 to 197. Incidents with white supremacist ideology increased 124% — from 33 to
Smithsonian African American Museum Director Placed on Leave
April 2, 2025
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent Kevin Young, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), is currently on personal leave and not leading the museum, according to Smithsonian officials. The leave began on March 14 and will continue for an “undetermined period,” according to Kevin Gover, the Smithsonian’s under-secretary for museums and culture. Shanita Brackett, the museum’s associate director of operations, has stepped in as acting director. Young has served as director since January 2021, succeeding Lonnie G. Bunch III after Bunch became Secretary of the Smithsonian. Under Young’s leadership, the museum
Georgia Democrat Lucy McBath suspends 2026 run for governor, citing her husband’s cancer
April 2, 2025
By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath on Monday announced that she’s suspending her exploratory bid for governor in 2026, casting uncertainty on the Democratic field. McBath might still run for governor that year, spokesperson Jake Orvis said, but she needs to focus on her husband Curtis’ health right now after complications from a recent cancer surgery. “I’m so grateful for everyone who has stood by my family as we undergo this arduous period. I will be spending some time focusing on my husband’s health, and I cannot make a decision to run for
Senator Booker’s Historic 25-Hour Speech Sparks ‘Good Trouble,’ Pressures Democrats to Respond
April 2, 2025
Senator Cory Booker, the senior Democrat from New Jersey, delivered the longest speech in U.S. Senate history, speaking from 7 p.m. on March 31 to 8:05 p.m. on April 1, 2025. In honor of the late civil rights leader and Representative John Lewis, he dedicated the 25-hour and 5-minute speech to the pursuit of “good trouble,” drawing national attention.
Will Smith gets a street named in the Philadelphia neighborhood where he was born and raised
March 28, 2025
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In West Philadelphia where he was born and raised, now there’s a street called Will Smith Way. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and city leaders honored the Oscar and Grammy winner on Wednesday, renaming a street next to Smith’s old high school. “Philly, I love you. I am yours. You are mine,” Smith said at a ceremony along a section of 59th Street that now bears his name. He reminisced about learning the values of hard work and education from his mother and father before hitting it big as an actor and rapper. “Nobody gets an easy ride,”
Former Utah Rep. Mia Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to the US House, has died
March 26, 2025
By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Mia Love of Utah, a daughter of Haitian immigrants who became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died Sunday.\ She was 49. Love’s family posted news of her death on Love’s X account. She had undergone recent treatment for brain cancer and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University’s brain tumor center. Her daughter said earlier this month that the former lawmaker was no longer responding to treatment. Love died at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according