All results / Stories / Free Press wire reports
Drake most decorated winner in Billboard Music Awards history
It was a family affair at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday. Pink twirled in the air in a powerful performance with her 9-year-old daugh- ter, Willow Sage Hart, and Drake was named artist of the decade, accepting the honor as he held his fussy 3-year-old son, Adonis Graham.
George Washington professor, who claimed to be Black, comes clean about her racial background
George Washington University is investigating the case of a history professor who allegedly admitted to fraudulently pretending to be a Black woman for her entire career.
Joe Sample, pioneer in jazz funk, dies at 75
Music lovers around the world are mourning the loss of pianist and composer Joe Sample, a founding member of the genre-crossing Jazz Crusaders, who helped pioneer the electronic jazz-funk fusion style.
‘Cause other people to want to learn,’ Hampton U grads told
Love learning, help others and do your best.
Charlottesville roils with protests over Confederate statue
Protests reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan rallies are rattling Charlottesville over the city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park in downtown.
Kaine’s history readies him for VP role
He has been Richmond’s mayor, Virginia’s governor and a U.S. senator. Now Sen. Timothy Michael Kaine — whom everyone calls “Tim” — has leaped to the national stage as Democrat Hillary Clinton’s running mate.
Straight Outta Compton’ box office hit rakes in $60.2M over weekend debut
“Straight Outta Compton,” the N.W.A. biopic produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, blew away industry expectations over the weekend with a $60.2 million debut.
Former prosecutor files lawsuit over Central Park 5 series
Within one week, former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein has filed and lost a libel suit against Netflix and film director Ava DuVernay over her portrayal in the streaming service’s limited series about the Exonerated (formerly Central Park) Five case, which sent five African-American and Latino teenagers to prison for a crime they were later absolved of committing.
White supremacist gets life sentence in Charlottesville rally death
An avowed white supremacist who deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens, apologized to his victims before being sentenced on June 28 to life in prison on federal hate crime charges.
Obamas break ground for $830M presidential library
After five years of legal battles, gentrification concerns and a federal review, Barack and Michelle Obama dug shovels into the ground Tuesday during a celebratory groundbreaking on their legacy project in a lakefront Chicago park.
Singer Bobby Brown’s son found dead at L.A. home
Bobby Brown Jr., the son of singer Bobby Brown, was found dead at a Los Angeles home Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. He was 28.
Gospel star Edwin Hawkins dies at 74
Edwin Hawkins, the gospel star best known for the crossover hit “Oh Happy Day” and as a major force for contemporary inspirational music, died Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, at age 74.
Trump denounces intel reports of damaging info from Russian hacking
A defiant President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday adamantly denied reports that Russia had compromising personal and financial information about him, calling it a “tremendous blot” on the record of the intelligence community if material with any such allegations had been released.
Justice Dept. opens investigation into Gray’s death; officers charged
There’s an uneasy quiet in Baltimore after six police officers were charged last week in the mysterious death of Freddie Gray while he was in their custody. Underneath the calm simmers apprehension and anger in the African-American community — ready to erupt again at any moment — if there’s another incident of police brutality against a black man in the town known as “Charm City.” That grim reality was clear Monday afternoon when angry community members and officers in riot gear quickly converged in West Baltimore after an erroneous TV report stated police had shot and perhaps fatally injured a young African-American man who was seen running away from pursuing officers.
Robert P. “Bob” Moses, who crusaded for civil rights and later math education, dies at 86
Robert P. “Bob” Moses, a civil rights activist who was shot at and endured beatings and jail while leading Black voter registration drives in the South during the 1960s and later helped improve minority education in math, died Sunday, July 25, 2021.
’Emancipation’ project leaves Georgia over voter suppression laws
Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua have pulled production of their runaway slave drama “Emancipation” from Georgia over the state’s recently enacted law restricting voting access.
Bennett College meets fundraising goal
Bennett College, a historically black all-women’s college in North Carolina that was facing loss of accreditation and possible closure because of financial problems, has exceeded its $5 million fundraising goal.
’Empire’ star Taraji P. Henson hailed for mental health work
“Empire” star Taraji P. Henson has enjoyed wealth, celebrity, a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination. But behind the scenes, she has battled anxiety and depression.
MLB moving All-Star game to Denver in response to Georgia voter suppression
Major League Baseball plans to relocate the All-Star Game to Coors Field in Denver after pulling this year’s Midsummer Classic from Atlanta over objections to sweeping changes to Georgia’s voting laws.
