The estate of Henrietta Lacks sued a biotechnology company on Monday, accusing it of selling cells that doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took from the Black woman in 1951 without her knowledge or consent as part of ``a racially unjust medical system.`` ... read more »

“Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence” by Anita Hill (Viking) Anita Hill didn’t care if President Joe Biden apologized or not, but she found his aversion to doing so rather dramatic. This is one anecdote from her new book, “Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence.” It was released Tuesday. ... read more »

R. Kelly, the R&B superstar known for his anthem “I Believe I Can Fly,” was convicted Monday in a sex trafficking trial after decades of avoiding criminal responsibility for numerous allegations of misconduct with young women and children. ... read more »

People will think this is a book about, you know, going to the Golden Globes and meeting a bunch of celebrities, and a bunch of powerful men whose lives were impacted by #MeToo. I want to tell a different story. My story is ordinary and also extraordinary: It’s so many other little black girls’ stories, so many young women’s stories. We don’t pay attention to the nuances of what survival looks like or what sexual violence feels like and how it impacts our lives. So it just felt important. This is a story that’s been growing inside me for more than 40 years. It was time to give it a home outside of my body. ... read more »

... is a predator who lured girls, boys and young women with his fame and dominated them physically, sexually and psychologically, a prosecutor said Wednesday, while a defense lawyer warned jurors they’ll have to sift through lies from accusers with agendas to find the truth. ... read more »

After several delays, the first phase of the sex trafficking trial of R&B hitmaker R. Kelly started Monday with jury selection in New York City. ... read more »

It's been more than three years since the (hash)MeToo movement launched a culture-shifting conversation about sexual violence. But Tarana Burke, the activist who gave the movement its name, says concrete change has been incremental at best _ and especially for Black survivors. ... read more »

For years, the members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors were known as “The Five Kings,” a title used to describe the powerful all-male Board of Supervisors, which remained that way until 1982 when Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke shattered the glass ceiling and became the first woman and the first African American to be elected to the Board of Supervisors. ... read more »

Unfortunately, this has been a consistent area of neglect for one of the candidates for Los Angeles County District Attorney. ... read more »

Festival organizers hope Lee will “shake things up” among the world’s cinema elite at the festival which runs May 12-23. And anti-racism campaigners hope Lee’s appointment wakes up the French cultural world to persistent discrimination and the damaging stereotypes it perpetuates. ... read more »

The Weinstein case has been categorized by some as one of the most significant #MeToo cases in history. This is because of the severity of the allegations against him and the fact that those allegations came early on in the movement and attracted much attention. It’s also true that many of the allegations are fairly recent and involved some of Hollywood's best-known female stars. Conversely, many of the allegations in several similar cases are often decades old and/or occurred far outside of the statutes of limitations. ... read more »

Census 2020 could be the most important and inclusive civic activity our country has ever experienced, covering every person in the United States of America.  Our constitution requires an accurate recording of the nation's population every ten years.  It is a centerpiece of our democracy that must honor its diversity and inclusivity in the process. ... 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 »

Kathrine McKee is a former L.A. morning talk show host who alleges Cosby raped her in 1974 in a Detroit hotel room while she was on tour with Sammy Davis Jr., her boyfriend at the time. ... read more »

“…in the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, America’s embrace of “I believe the victims” has intensified. However, Michael Jackson’s family and ultra-loyal fan base, are having none of it.” ... read more »