Protests and unrest in 2020 sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, shined an even brighter spotlight on police brutality against African Americans.  ... read more »

It’s a bit jarring. A New York City middle school band is murdering the Disney song “When You Wish Upon a Star.” By the time they’re through, you’d wish a dream-fulfilling star had given you earplugs. Still, they continue, inspired by their very patient music teacher Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx). Jazz is the reason their instructor loves music not matter how screechy the band gets. ... read more »

Spike Lee’s daughter and son have been chosen as the Golden Globe ambassadors to assist with the awards ceremony. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Tuesday morning that Satchel and Jackson Lee will assume the ambassador roles for the 78th annual Golden Globes Awards in February. ... read more »

The Madison Group, a bipartisan, bicameral, and bicoastal government relations firm, is pleased to welcome Tiffany Harris, Esq. as director of Government Relations. Harris brings legislative policy and judiciary expertise to the Madison Group. ... read more »

Gun violence spiked across the country in 2020, the most violent year in decades. 19,000 were killed in shootings, the highest death toll in 20 years (and that does not include gun suicides). Mass shootings — defined as four or more shot in an incident — also rose drastically to over 600. ... read more »

 Actor, director, and producer Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. was born in Mount Vernon, NY, 1954. ... read more »

Record setting artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, NY, 1960. ... read more »

The Episcopal Diocese of Texas acknowledges that its first bishop in 1859 was a slaveholder. An Episcopal church in New York City erects a plaque noting the building’s creation in 1810 was made possible by wealth resulting from slavery. ... read more »

Dinkins was viewed as a compromise candidate during a time of turmoil in New York. Elected a year after the infamous 1989 “Central Park jogger” incident that led to the wrongful convictions of five Black and Hispanic boys, Dinkins proved to be a cautious and stoic figure who was a competent caretaker of the city, including its many fiscal, social and political challenges. Dinkins’ administration followed that of one of New York City’s most storied politicians, Ed Koch. ... read more »

 Dancer, actor, and comedian Sammy Davis, Jr. was born in Harlem, NY 1906. ... read more »

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was founded on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, 1906 ... read more »

Researchers are urging more people of color to participate in clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine, but participation numbers so far are low. ... read more »

“Some had to pay fees. Some were tested. Many people died for that right. It is too important for us not to vote, and if we want to have a democracy, we need to participate in it. We can’t hope that situations will change. We have to be active in helping candidates get elected who will create that change,” said Lex Scott, the president of the Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter. ... read more »

“Yet even today, with all those credentials and as one of the leading executives on Wall Street,” wrote Raymond J. McGuire, Citi’s Vice Chairman and Chair of its Global Banking and Capital Markets, “I am still seen first as a six-foot-four, two-hundred-pound Black man wherever I go — even in my own neighborhood. I could have been George Floyd. And my wife and I are constantly aware that our children could have their innocence snatched away from them at any given moment, simply for the perceived threat of their skin color.” ... read more »

Cosby’s lawyers remain convinced that since Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele invited the testimony of five women who allegedly had encounters with Cosby in the 1980s, there was no reason to bring up the comedian’s alleged behavior from the 1970s. ... read more »