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Late rapper Nipsey Hussle honored at 2019 BET Awards
The late rapper Nipsey Hussle was honored with the Humanitarian Award at the 2019 BET Awards in a show that also paid tribute to singer Mary J. Blige and filmmaker Tyler Perry.
Gov. Northam issues temporary weapons ban
Fearing a repeat of the deadly violence that engulfed Charlottesville more than two years ago, Gov. Ralph S. Northam declared a temporary state of emergency Wednesday that would ban all weapons, including guns, knives, sticks, bats, chains and projectiles, from Capitol Square through the weekend and until Tuesday.
Ray Charles to be inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame
R&B legend Ray Charles, who helped redefine country music in the civil rights era will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Prayers go out to ‘Queen of Soul’
Icon Aretha Franklin reportedly is in hospice at her Detroit home; family at her bedside
Prayers from across the nation and the around the globe are pouring in for legendary singer Aretha Franklin, who has fallen gravely ill. Ms. Franklin, 76, a legendary gospel and R&B singer whose reign as the “Queen of Soul” spans more than 50 years, is under hospice care at her home in Detroit’s Riverfront Towers, according to publicist Gwendolyn Quinn.
Unsung civil rights pioneer Gloria Richardson dies at 99
Gloria Richardson, an influential yet largely unsung civil rights pioneer whose determination not to back down while protesting racial inequality was captured in a photograph as she pushed away the bayonet of a National Guardsman, has died. She was 99.
Cuba Gooding Sr., former lead singer of The Main Ingredient, dies at 72
Cuba Gooding Sr., who sang the 1972 hit “Everybody Plays the Fool,” has died.
Protesters call for tougher gun laws; blame Trump for deaths of 31 in latest mass shootings
Protesters greeted President Trump’s arrival in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday, blaming his incendiary rhetoric for inflaming political and racial tensions in the country, as he visited survivors of last weekend’s mass shootings and saluted first responders.
Priest aids in Mugabe relinquishing power
Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe knew it was “the end of the road” days before he quit, and appeared relieved when he signed his resignation letter after 37 years in power, said a Catholic priest who mediated talks leading to his removal from office.
Prosperity preachers to pray at Trump inaugural
Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, who hosted President-elect Donald Trump with his Detroit congregation in September, is among the religious leaders chosen to offer prayers at the new president’s swearing-in next week in Washington. The inaugural committee announced that prosperity gospel preachers Bishop Jackson, who leads Great Faith Ministries International, and Pastor Paula White, a friend of the president-elect, will join four others selected to participate in the inauguration on Friday, Jan. 20.
Emmy Awards filled with color, politics
Diversity ruled at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, where a record 21 nominees of color were up for the annual awards for television and cable shows in contrast to this year’s all-white Oscars acting lineup. Several took home Emmys, many for the first time.
Afghan evacuees mark first U.S. Ramadan with gratitude, agony
Sitting cross-legged on the floor as his wife and six children laid plates of fruit on a red cloth in front of him, Wolayat Khan Samadzoi watched through the open balcony door for the sliver of the new moon to appear in the cloudless New Mexico sky, where the sun had set beyond a desert mountain.
‘I believe I witnessed a murder”
Witnesses to George Floyd’s deadly arrest in Minneapolis tell jury of their shock, horror
Darnella Frazier said she sometimes lays awake at night “apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life.”
Hip-hop artist Prince Markie Dee of Fat Boys dies at 52
Prince Markie Dee, a member of The Fat Boys hip-hop trio who later formed his own band and became a well-known radio host, died Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, the day before his 53rd birthday.
Kool & the Gang co-founder Ronald ‘Khalis’ Bell dies at 68
Ronald “Khalis” Bell, a co-founder, singer and producer of the group Kool & the Gang, died Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. He was 68.
Sweet
Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ shoes sold for millions
Sotheby’s auction house announced April 11 that a pair of Air Jordans worn by Michael Jordan during his final championship run with the Chicago Bulls has sold at auction for $2.2 million, surpassing the record for the most valuable sneakers ever sold, reports CBS News.
Trump lays out tough agenda in address before Congress
Heralding a “new chapter of American greatness,” President Trump issued a broad call for America first, investing in the nation’s infrastructure, slashing taxes and revamping health insurance in his first address to Congress.
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.
2016 NAACP Image Awards nominees announced
“Empire” leads the television nominees for the 2016 NAACP Image Awards. The scintillating drama is up for 12 trophies at the ceremony honoring diversity in the arts, including acting nominations for Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Jussie Smollett and Grace Gealey.
Inside Met Gala, where there’s always someone more famous
U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe had just gotten her beverage at the bar at the edge of the room. She looked back at the throbbing crowd of celebrities packed into the center of the airy Petrie Court, where the Met Gala was holding its cocktail reception.

