Former Gov. Baliles dies of cancer at 79
Former Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, a Democrat known as the “transportation governor” and for his work to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and increase foreign trade, died Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019.
Comedian Dave Chappelle honored with Mark Twain Prize
Dave Chappelle has built a career on pushing boundaries and challenging social conventions. But his greatest act of defiance may have come Sunday night at Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Rep. Cummings remembered as ‘fierce champion’
First African-American lawmaker to lie in state at Capitol
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings was eulogized as a leader with the fiery moral conviction of an Old Testament prophet at a funeral last Friday that brought former presidents and ordinary people alike to the Baltimore church where the congressman worshipped for four decades.
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.
Funeral service Friday for Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland
Tributes continue to pour in for Congressman Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, a moral voice of conscience who fought for civil rights and took on the White House as a prominent figure in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump as chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee.
Gymnast Simone Biles breaks medal record with 25
American Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in world championship history Sunday when she won the beam and floor finals to take her career tally to 25 medals.
Coco wins first WTA title at 15; Osaka gives up U.S. citizenship to play for Japan in Olympics
Coco Gauff is still just 15. She also is already the owner of a WTA singles title.
Kenyan marathoner breaks 2-hour barrier
Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge made athletics history on Saturday when he became the first person to run a 26.2-mile marathon in under two hours, stretch- ing the limits of human endeavor and passing a milestone few thought could be reached for decades if at all.
Architect for black history museum in D.C. wins another big commission
The project was an architect’s dream and a potential nightmare: Design a tripartite worship space — to include a Catholic church, a synagogue and a mosque — in the heart of the conflict-ridden Middle East, in order to promote tolerance and at the same time reflect the three great Abrahamic faiths, which are so often at loggerheads.
Trailblazing actress Diahann Carroll succumbs to cancer at 84
Diahann Carroll, a versatile singer and stage actress who quietly blazed a trail for African-American women on American television in the late 1960s by playing a widowed nurse and single mother in “Julia,” died Friday, Oct. 4, 2019.
Kehinde Wiley statue unveiled in Times Square; next home, Richmond
Artist Kehinde Wiley unveiled his biggest work ever last Friday — a massive bronze statue of a young African-American man in urban streetwear sitting astride a galloping horse. Called “Rumors of War,” it flips the script on traditional statues in Richmond and through-out the South commemorating white generals.
International opera star Jessye Norman dies at 74
Jessye Norman, the renowned international opera star whose passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor, has died, according to family spokesperson Gwendolyn Quinn.
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.
Serena Williams loses at U.S. Open
Maybe someday in the distant future, Serena Williams will look back and be proud of herself for making it to the final at four of the first seven Grand Slam tournaments she played in after having a baby. But not right now.
Steph Curry scores golf team for Howard University
What started as an innocuous conversation during a public event has evolved into a golf partnership between NBA star Stephen Curry and Howard University.
‘A heavy lift’: Religious black voters weigh Buttigieg’s bid
The Rev. Joe Darby, a South Carolina pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pondered a sensitive question that he knew was on the mind of his congregation. Would black voters be able to reconcile their conservative religious doctrine with voting for a gay candidate for president?
Missy Elliott honored at MTV Awards
Missy Elliott, the rapper-singer-songwriter-producer-dancer and Portsmouth native whose music videos have moved the needle over the last two decades, was honored at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, where Taylor Swift also took center stage with her gay pride anthem, “You Need to Calm Down.”
Trump steadily fulfills goals on religious right’s wish list
When Donald Trump assumed the presidency, conservative religious leaders drew up “wish lists” of steps they hoped he’d take to oppose abortion and rein in the LGBTQ rights movement. With a flurry of recent actions, the Trump administration is winning their praise for aggressively fulfilling many of their goals.
Churches mobilize to help families impacted by immigration raids
The children of Sacred Heart Catholic Church streamed out into Mississippi’s blistering heat last Sunday afternoon, carrying what they said was a message of opposition against immigration raids their parents could not.
Simone Biles wins record-tying sixth national gymnastics title
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles reasserted her position as the world’s unrivaled No. 1 gymnast with an amazing winning performance Sunday at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
Hampton University turns to eSports for creating entrepreneurs
Students at Hampton University soon will be playing video games as part of their studies. The university is building an eSports lab, thanks to a $340,658 technology grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Toni Morrison, who transformed American literature to win Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, dies at 88
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, a pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Beloved,” “Song of Solomon” and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race, has died at age 88.
Gov. Northam praises removal of Confederate honor at Fort Monroe
Gov. Ralph S. Northam praised the state’s removal of Confederate president Jefferson Davis’ name from an archway at the site where the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia 400 years ago.
Trump seeks to roll back federal Fair Housing provision
The Trump administration is working to dilute the federal Fair Housing Act in an effort to make it more difficult to bring housing discrimination lawsuits, according to housing advocates.
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.
Foundations buy Ebony and JET photo archives for preservation at Smithsonian
The sale of the photo archive of Ebony and JET magazines chronicling African-American history is generating relief among some who worried the historic images may be lost.
Paradox of history: Jamestown commemoration
As Trump speaks at Jamestown commemoration for 400th anniversary of representative government, Va. Legislative Black Caucus boycotts with commemoration of the enslaved
President Trump marked the 400th anni- versary of American democracy Tuesday, but Virginia’s African-American lawmakers boycotted his celebration of the initial experiment in self-government in this country to protest his continued disparagement of a veteran black congressman and the majority-black Baltimore district he represents.
Dr. Edith Irby Jones, first female president of the National Medical Association, dies at 91
Dr. Edith Irby Jones, one of the first African-American students to enroll at an all-white medical school in the South and later the first female president of the National Medical Association, has died.
Art Neville, one of the legendary musical Neville Brothers, dies at 81
Art Neville, a member of a storied New Orleans musical family who performed with his siblings in The Neville Brothers band and founded the groundbreaking funk group The Meters, died Monday, July 22, 2019, at his home
Phil Freelon, architect of the African-American history museum in D.C., dies at 66
Architect Phil Freelon, who designed buildings ranging from local libraries to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, died Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in Durham, N.C.
Serena loses title, but remains committed to the fight
Tennis star Serena Williams remained tantalizingly one short of a record-equaling 24 Grand Slam singles titles as Simona Halep thrashed the off-key American in a one-sided Wimbledon final last Saturday.
William F. Brown, co-creator of ‘The Wiz,’ dies at 91
William F. Brown, an author and illustrator who was best known for writing the book of the Tony Award-winning 1975 musical “The Wiz,” died Sunday, June 23, 2019, at a hospital in Norwalk, Conn. He was 91.
Cable network backs Bailey for ‘The Little Mermaid’
A Disney-owned cable network has taken aim at critics who disagree with the decision to cast Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming adaption of “The Little Mermaid.”
Black media icons scaling back, possibly closing
It has been a rough few days for the black media. First, Ebony magazine and its sister publication, JET magazine, may be closing their doors for good. And then the publisher of the storied Chicago Defender newspaper announced last week that it will no longer publish a print version.
Couple trying to save James Weldon Johnson cabin
A New Jersey couple is working to preserve a crumbling hilltop cabin in western Massachusetts where noted African-American author, educator and songwriter James Weldon Johnson wrote one of his most famous works.
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.
Viola Davis' production company is telling the stories of people of color
When Viola Davis started her production company nearly a decade ago, she was deter- mined to bring about change in Hollywood with a strategic mandate: Normalize people of color on screen.
Vanderbilt joins in effort to create National Museum of African-American Music
Vanderbilt University is pledging $2 million for the National Museum of African-American Music, which is sched- uled to open a 56,000-square-foot facility in downtown Nashville early next year.
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.
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Bladensburg Peace Cross
A 40-foot-tall cross-shaped war memorial standing on public land in Maryland does not represent an impermissible government endorsement of religion, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a major decision testing the boundaries of the federal Constitution’s separation of church and state.
Lawmakers hear the case for reparations
The debate over reparations catapulted from the campaign trail to Congress on Wednesday as lawmakers heard impassioned testimony for and against the idea of providing compensation for America’s history of slavery and racial discrimination.
Police arrest 6 in Ortiz assassination attempt in DR
Six men have been arrested in the ambush shooting of former Boston Red Sox slugger David “Big Papi” Ortiz, as he sat in a nightclub late Sunday in his native Dominican Republic, authorities said.
Fund drive for 3 burned African-American churches tops goal
A crowdfunding drive to help rebuild three African-American churches gutted by arsons in Louisiana has surpassed its original $1.8 million goal.
Hate crime charges filed in Louisiana church fire
The white man suspected in the burnings of three African-American churches in Louisiana will remain in jail, denied bond Monday by a judge, as state prosecutors added new charges declaring the arsons a hate crime.
$140M Deal makes Russell Wilson highest paid in NFL
The Richmond native posted a video on social media early Tuesday saying, “Seattle, we got a deal,” shortly after agreeing to a $140 million, four-year extension with the Seahawks, his agent Mark Rodgers told The Associated Press. Wilson’s new deal runs through the 2023 season and includes a $65 million signing bonus, a no-trade clause and $107 million in guaranteed money.
Kanye taking ‘church’ to Coachella this Easter
Since the beginning of the year, Kanye West has been hosting a mysterious variety show of celebrity performances featuring both new and old music, complete with a gospel choir, that he calls “Sunday Service.”
Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle remembered for his music, community efforts
Tributes continue to pour in for Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was fatally shot outside his clothing store in South Los Angeles on Sunday, March 31.
Beyoncé, Jay-Z and ‘Black Panther’ win big at 50th Annual NAACP Image Awards
Queen Bey still reigns supreme. Beyoncé was named Entertainer of the Year at the 50th Annual NAACP Image Awards that highlighted works by entertainers and writers of color.
Chicago makes history in mayoral race
Lori Lightfoot’s victory in the Chicago mayor’s race signaled hope among voters that the nation’s third-largest city may someday move beyond long-entrenched divides, racial and otherwise, that have left large parts of the metropolis feeling ignored by people in power.
Dismissal of charges raises more questions in Smollett case
Prosecutors still insist Jussie Smollett faked a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in the hopes that the attention would advance his acting career. The star of the hit Fox network television show “Empire” still says he was assaulted by two men late at night in downtown Chicago.
