Starbucks to close 8,000 U.S. stores for racial bias training
Starbucks Corp. will close 8,000 company-owned U.S. cafés for the afternoon on Tuesday, May 29, to train nearly 175,000 to prevent racial discrimination in its stores.
Target settles claims it screened black people, Hispanics out of jobs
Target Corp. has agreed to review its policies for screening job applicants and pay $3.74 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its use of criminal background checks kept thousands of African-Americans and Hispanics from obtaining employment.
Howard University students end 9-day sit-in
The occupation of a Howard University administration building in Washington by students making demands to school officials has ended.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Fifty years after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, the world honors his legacy and leadership in civil rights activism to bring freedom, equality and justice to all people.
‘Black Panther’ continues to smash box office records
The box office hit “Black Panther” is now the top grossing superhero film of all time in the United States. The wildly popular Disney and Marvel release achieved the milestone on Saturday after surpassing fellow Marvel title “The Avengers.”
China’s new policy threatening recycling in U.S.
At least half the cans, bottles, plastics and paper collected for recycling used to end up in one place — China. Now China has decided to stop accepting most of the recycled materials that it once purchased. And that decision …
‘Immortal’ Henrietta Lacks to be honored with cancer center
The year was 1951. The place: Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where Henrietta Lacks, a native of Halifax County, Va., sought treatment for cervical cancer.
Inequality persists 50 years after landmark Kerner Commission report
Barriers to equality are posing threats to democracy in the United States as the country remains segregated along racial lines and child poverty worsens, according to a study examining the nation 50 years after the release of the landmark 1968 …
‘Becoming Kareem’ coming to a city near you
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been a best-selling author, civil rights activist, actor, historian and one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived.
Fla. school shooting survivors hoping to be catalyst for tougher gun laws
Bodies of the dead were still inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when the teenage survivors of the Valentine’s Day massacre began speaking out about gun violence.
Federal appeals court rules Trump travel ban unconstitutional
President Trump’s latest travel ban on travelers from six largely Muslim countries is “unconstitutionally tainted with animus toward Islam,” a federal appeals court ruled last week, delivering another blow to the policy. In a 9-4 vote, the 4th U.S. Circuit …
Petersburg votes to rename Confederate schools
The Confederate names on three Petersburg public schools are coming down. The Petersburg School Board voted unanimously on Feb. 7 to rename the schools following a series of public meetings, a public hearing and survey of Petersburg teachers, students, families, …
Symbolism fills official portraits of Obamas
They have been called “stunning,” “compelling,” “powerful” and “unexpected.” And now, the official portraits of former President Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, will be on view at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.
Kings Dominion changes name of roller coaster
Kings Dominion amusement park is changing the name of a roller coaster named after the war whoop of a Confederate soldier.
Florida votes to replace Confederate statue in Congress with one of Mary McLeod Bethune
Florida could soon help diversify the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall by replacing a Confederate general’s likeness with the hall’s first statue honoring an African-American woman.
