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N.C. woman files $15M lawsuit against the national NAACP
A woman who said she repeatedly told the national NAACP that her supervisor in the North Carolina conference had sexually harassed her is suing the national group and her former boss.
United Methodist Church keeps ban on gay clergy, same-sex marriage
“We’re in this to the end,” sang LGBTQ United Methodists and their allies.
Winston-Salem removes Confederate statue from old courthouse
The city of Winston-Salem, N.C., removed a Confederate statue Tuesday from the grounds of an old courthouse, drawing applause from onlookers for the rare move in a state where such monuments are largely protected by law.
Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 ½ years in murder of George Floyd
Not enough. That was the sentiment of the late George Floyd’s family members after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chau- vin was sentenced late last week to 221⁄2 years in prison for the murder of Mr. Floyd in May 2020.
Rapper DMX dies at 50
DMX, the iconic hip-hop artist behind the songs “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” and “Party Up (Up in Here)” whose distinctively gruff voice and thoughtful messages in his rhymes made him one of rap’s biggest stars, has died, according to a family statement Friday, April 9, 2021. He was 50.
McDonald’s hires new diversity chief
McDonald’s is hiring a new chief diversity officer as it struggles with charges of harassment and racism at all levels of the company.
Former Globetrotter Marques Haynes dies at 89
Marques Haynes’ dribbling skills wowed fans in more than 100 countries. He was a showstopper, a player who helped make the Harlem Globetrotters beloved ambassadors of basketball around the world.
Jason Mott, Tiya Miles win National Book Awards
Jason Mott’s “Hell of a Book,” a surreal meta-narrative about an author’s promotional tour and his haunted past and present, has won the National Book Award for fiction—a plot twist Mr. Mott did not imagine for himself.
Federal court blocks Trump’s travel ban
The fate of President Trump’s order to ban travelers from six predominantly Muslim nations, blocked by federal courts, soon may be in the hands of the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court, where the president’s appointee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, could help settle the matter.
Not again
Wisconsin man, 29, paralyzed after being shot in the back Sunday by police as his children watched
Suddenly there is a new name and a new face to remind people that the lesson of George Floyd has not sunk in among many in the police rank and file.
Senate fails to remove Trump from office
President Trump won acquittal Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. The votes split the country, tested civic norms and fed the tumultuous 2020 race for the White House.
Former Rep. John Conyers, the longest-serving black lawmaker in U.S. House of Representatives, dies at 90
Former Rep. John Conyers, a liberal Democrat who was the longest-serving African- American member of the U.S. House of Representatives at more than half a century, died on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019, at the age of 90.
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 Kerner Report.
Single mom goes from nearly $100,000 debt to savings
When Takiia Anderson graduated from Boston College Law School in 1999, she was a single mom with a 2-year-old, nearly $100,000 in student loans and a new job as a government attorney that paid $34,102 a year.
White nationalist rally sputters in D.C. on anniversary of bloody Charlottesville protest
A white nationalist rally in the heart of Washington drew two dozen demonstrators and thousands of chanting counterprotesters last Sunday, the one-year anniversary of deadly, racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va.
Lt. Gov. Fairfax files $400M defamation suit against CBS
Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax is suing CBS for $400 million, claiming the company defamed him when it broadcast interviews with two women he said have falsely accused him of sexual assault.
Rev. Billy Graham, evangelist, presidential confidante and supporter of Dr. King, to be laid to rest March 2
Thousands of people from all walks of life filed slowly past the casket of the Rev. Billy Graham on Monday to pay their final respects to a man who reached millions with his message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Jazz pianist, professor and family patriarch Ellis Marsalis Jr. dies at 85 of complications from coronavirus
Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist, professor and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan, died late Wednesday, April 1, 2020, from pneumonia brought on by coronavirus, leaving six sons and a deep legacy. He was 85.
Athlete power: ‘Shut up and play’ is tossed from the game
The sports world came to a halt last week as leagues postponed professional men’s and women’s basketball games, football practices, soccer matches, baseball games, hockey playoffs and tennis competitions as players protested the shooting of a Black man by police in Kenosha, Wis.
Metropolitan Opera makes history with first work by a Black composer
“We bend, we don’t break. We sway!” sings the chorus in the second act of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”
