"I got started in the African American community. I got involved in the Civil Rights Movement when I was a kid. I helped de-segregate a movie theater, that kind of thing," Biden noted. "I was the only guy who worked in the projects on the East Side who was White. That's how I got started, and the Black community is the community that, as we say, brung me to the dance. That's how I got elected." ... read more »

“The Bloomberg campaign’s initiative is groundbreaking, and it goes to significantly increasing the economic health of African Americans by tripling their net worth,” said Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Steve Benjamin, who co-chairs Bloomberg’s campaign. “The Bloomberg model is intentionally focused on creating a million new African American homeowners, 100,000 new African American-owned businesses, and $70 billion in federal capital to go in the 100 most challenged neighborhoods across the country.” ... read more »

An annual highlight of the conference was the 2020 NNPA Publisher Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to The Dallas Examiner’s distinguished publisher, Mollie Finch Belt. ... read more »

Following the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court case, which gutted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, 14 states had new voting restrictions in place before the 2016 Presidential election, and there were 868 fewer polling places across the country, according to the Poor Peoples Campaign. ... read more »

“It is with great pleasure that the NNPA Executive Committee has selected Mollie Belt for the honor of the Publishers Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the NNPA for so many years,” stated NNPA National Chair and Houston Forward Times Publisher Karen Carter Richards. ... read more »

“The majority of the people of the United States want better relations with Cuba, and that is the will that must prevail,” stated Chavis, who counted among the delegation of 30 American scholars who attended the 18th edition of the Series of Academic Conversations on Cuba in the Foreign Policy of the United States of America. ... read more »

Jones said voting rights had been under attack since the 2013 Shelby V. Holder decision, which eliminated a lot of voter protections. “It’s not the same as the old Jim Crow laws, but there’s still efforts out there to suppress votes and keep people from having that free access to the booths,” he stated. Jones noted that he’s working to restore “teeth” in the Voting Rights Act but doubts that the current GOP-led Senate and President Trump’s administration would approve. “I don’t see it happening, so it’s all the more important to get out and vote in the 2020 elections.” ... read more »

In 1965, Lewis and fellow activist Hosea Williams led what was planned as a peaceful 54-mile march through Alabama from Selma to Montgomery. The march, a protest of the discriminatory practices and Jim Crow laws that prevented African Americans from voting, would be remembered in history as "Bloody Sunday," one of the most dramatic and violent incidents of the American Civil Rights Movement. ... read more »

The historic launch of the BNC will fulfill the business dream and vision of J.C. Watts, Jr., a nationally known entrepreneur and former U.S. Congressman, representing Oklahoma’s Fourth District. ... read more »

Bass opened the floor thanking everyone for joining the call, and explaining what happened in terms of the impeachment. ... read more »

A recent Daily Beast article written by Sil Lai Abrams is the latest example that in the age of social media, factchecking and accuracy are no longer criteria to getting a story published. ... read more »

In addition to the contributions he made to improve the lives of all Americans, the congressman was a passionate advocate for his beloved Baltimore, where he was born and raised. ... read more »

BNC, which officially launches at 6 a.m. on Friday, November 15, 2019 has agreements with Charter Communications, Comcast and DISH TV. The network already has commitments for carriage in major African American hubs like Atlanta, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, DC, Baltimore and Los Angeles. ... read more »

Chavis noted that mainstream media’s coverage of the trial lacked facts, and the racially and politically-charged atmosphere inside and around the Pennsylvania courthouse may have deprived Cosby of a fair trial. ... read more »

During the intimate video-taped interview inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the two visionaries also tackled topics that ranged from the Transatlantic Slave Trade, their shared North Carolina families’ histories, the writing legacy of author James Baldwin, and the contemporary vitality of the Black Press of America. ... read more »