Amidst the slew of nationwide virtual graduation ceremonies this past June, JP Morgan Chase held a similar event for its 10-year old mentoring success program The Fellowship Initiative. TFI’s Class of 2020 will see thirty-eight predominantly Black and Latinx young men from low-income communities throughout Los Angeles attending colleges across the state, as well as Princeton in New Jersey. ... read more »

Entrepreneur Madame C.J. Walker passed away at her villa in New York, 1919. ... read more »

"At 9:22 p.m. this evening, April 6, my father and hero, Earl Graves, Sr., the founder of Black Enterprise, passed away quietly after a long battle with Alzheimer's," Earl Graves Jr. wrote on Twitter. "I loved and admired this giant of a man and am blessed to be his namesake. Love you, dad." ... read more »

Simmons is leading a group of producers who, on Sunday, April 5, will premiere “Def Comedy Jam Presents: Healing Through Laughter,” a marathon fundraiser hosted by Cedric the Entertainer. The program will air online beginning at 10 p.m. EST, and Simmons’ Instagram page will be updated to provide more information. Simmons has established a GoFundMe page with the hopes of raising as much as $100,000 to help with supplies to assist those in need. ... read more »

What we’re dealing with as a nation in this moment is unprecedented in modern history. We have fears about our health, our families and friends, fears about our jobs and our finances, and about what this crisis will mean for the economy. What will the world look like in recovery from the novel coronavirus? ... read more »

“As we deal with some of the most challenging times in modern history, it is important that we understand the significance of the Black Press in reporting on and recording our history,” said National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Chair, and publisher of the Houston Forward Times, Karen Carter Richards. The NNPA is the national trade association representing America’s Black Press. ... read more »

During my tenure at the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), it became clear to me that access was the foundation of economic opportunity. The transportation sector lacked diversity, equity and inclusion, and this was glaringly obvious to both leadership and employees. Pathways began to emerge to grow a diverse pool of talent, but it was obvious that a more organizational framework was needed to operate at full capacity to best serve veterans, women, underrepresented, and underserved workers; groups that had been previously overlooked. ... read more »

There are half a million people, mostly men, mostly white, but way too many African Americans. African Americans are 13 percent of the population and 40 percent of the homeless. The homeless are primarily concentrated in California, New York, Florida, and Texas, but you can find them in almost any community. Two-thirds of the homeless are sheltered on a given night, but a third are sleeping on the streets, on park benches, in alleys, under awnings. To quote the late great Congressman Elijah Cummings, "we are better than this." ... read more »

One of the best basketball players to ever live, Julius "Dr. J" Erving was born in Roosevelt, NY, 1950. ... read more »

Alina Moran has been named president of Dignity Health – California Hospital Medical Center (CHMC) and will lead the overall direction, strategy, and operation of the hospital. ... read more »

On Wednesday, January 29, 2020, thirteen years after being exonerated, Adams was admitted to the Wisconsin State Bar. Adams was joined by Keith Findley, a co-founder of the Wisconsin Innocence Project at a ceremony celebrating his bar admission at the Wisconsin State Capitol. ... read more »

One of the greatest basketball players to ever live Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, 1963. ... read more »

The American Youth Symphony (AYS), in part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sounds About Town series will give the world premiere of Los Angeles native and Emmy award-winning composer and pianist Kris Bowers’s new violin concerto. Debuting February 8, 2020, at Walt Disney Hall, the piece played by violinist and former classmate Charles Yang titled For A Younger Self is an ode to Bowers’s younger self and their careers at Juilliard. ... 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 »

As the nation celebrates the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this month, those who knew King well, say Hughes and Urban One are the epitome of King’s dream. ... read more »