Tiger clinches first win in 5 years
Tiger Woods was moved to the brink of tears after capturing his first title since 2013 with a two-stroke triumph at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on Sunday that proved he was far from washed up at the age of 42.
Venisha Brown, daughter of legendary singer James Brown, dies at 53
A daughter of the late “Godfather of Soul” James Brown has died.
Arthur Mitchell, creator of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, dies at 84
Arthur Mitchell, who broke barriers for African-Americans in the 1950s as a ballet dancer with the New York City Ballet and who would go on to become a driving force in the creation of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, has died. He was 84.
‘America’s Dad’ Bill Cosby now inmate No. NN7687
“America’s Dad” Bill Cosby was marched out of court in shackles Tuesday after a judge branded him a “sexually violent predator” and sentenced him to between three and 10 years in prison for sexual assault.
Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge breaks world marathon record
Kenya’s Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge pulverized the marathon world record with a blistering run last Sunday, slicing a staggering 78 seconds off the previous best to land the one major running crown that had eluded him.
Birmingham memorial service remembers 4 little girls
The four girls killed when a bomb placed by Ku Klux Klan members ripped through a Birmingham church in 1963 were remembered in a memorial service last Saturday on the 55th anniversary of the deadly attack.
Emmy Awards still not winning at diversity
“The Proposal.” It was a 2009 movie starring Sandra Bullock, but now will forever be the informal title of the 2018 Emmys telecast, thanks to a memorable romantic gesture from Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss — who summoned the courage during Monday night’s awards show to propose to his girlfriend.
Work to resume on Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Federal officials will allow construction to resume on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, weeks after work was halted when a Richmond-based federal appeals court threw out two key permits for the 600-mile natural gas pipeline.
Miss America wins minus swimsuit competition
There she is, Miss America. And Nia Imani Franklin, who won the coveted title Sunday night in Atlantic City while competing as Miss New York, didn’t have to parade around in a swimsuit to be crowned the winner. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native said the changes in the 98-year-old pageant are a welcome modernization.
Conflicting accounts emerge in bizarre case of cop killing man in his own apartment
A Dallas police officer charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a man she mistakenly thought was in her apartment may face a more serious charge, prosecutors said this week.
Serena loses U.S. Open to Naomi Osaka after challenging umpire
Serena Williams’ behavior in last Saturday’s U.S. Open final divided the tennis world after she called the chair umpire a “liar” and a “thief” and said he treated her differently than male players during her loss to 20-year-old Naomi Osaka.
Kaepernick draws fire again — this time over Nike ad
Controversy continues to surround former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick two years after he first took a knee during the national anthem to protest the oppression of people of color and continuing police brutality against African-Americans.
Former President Obama to speak at Sen. McCain’s funeral
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will deliver eulogies Saturday at the funeral of U.S. Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war during Vietnan and six-term Republican senator from Arizona whose reputation as a maverick is causing a stir even after his death.
Funeral arrangements announced for ‘Queen of Soul,’ Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin, the glorious “Queen of Soul” whose music became the backdrop for a generation and a theme song for both the civil rights and women’s movement, will be laid to rest Friday, Aug. 31, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.
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.
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.
Alabama minister, wife purchase Rosa Parks letter
A letter written by civil rights activist Rosa Parks describing the 1957 bombing of her neighbors’ home has been purchased at auction by the couple targeted in the attack.
Bishop Curry has prostate surgery
The American clergyman who preached about the power of love at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has undergone surgery for prostate cancer. An Episcopal Church spokeswoman said the surgery was performed July 31 on the Presiding Bishop Michael Bruce Curry.
Sen. Kaine, GOP opponent spar during first campaign debate
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Corey Stewart, candidates in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, had a quarrelsome first debate last Saturday, with President Trump serving as a frequent focal point of the sparring.
Smithfield Foods closing last smokehouse
Smithfield Foods is closing the last smokehouse that creates the genuine Smithfield ham — the signature product of a Virginia town of 8,300 people.
#MourningWhileBlack
Social media blows up after white priest kicks black family out of funeral
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has apologized for a white priest kicking an African-American family out of their loved one’s funeral.
Pharrell Williams wants to grow Virginia’s film, TV industry
Two years ago, Pharrell Williams co-produced the movie “Hidden Figures.”
Churches, nonprofits to be hit with taxes under new federal code
Republicans have quietly imposed a new, but limited tax on churches, synagogues and other nonprofits, a little-noticed and surprising change that could cost some groups tens of thousands of dollars.
Jackson family patriarch dies
Joseph “Joe” Jackson, the patriarch who launched the musical Jackson family dynasty, died Wednesday morning, June 27, 2018, in a Las Vegas hospital.
Oprah Winfrey exhibit opens at National Black History Museum
One of the most recognizable openings in television history blares on a video screen: “I’m Oprah Winfrey, and welcome to The Oprah Winfrey Show!” The crowd goes wild. At the center of it all, a dancing young Oprah.
One of the last surviving Navajo Code Talkers dies
Samuel Tom Holiday, one of the last surviving Navajo Code Talkers, died in Southern Utah on Monday, June 11, 2018, surrounded by family members who raised money through a crowdfunding campaign to be by his side.
19-year-old Soto called up to play forA royal wedding to remember
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wed in ceremony marked by new traditions, global audience
Prince Harry and his American actress bride Meghan Markle married on Saturday in a dazzling ceremony that blended ancient English ritual with African-American culture, infusing the 1,000-year-old British monarchy with a blast of blackness and modernity.
‘Black Panther’ star returns to alma mater to inspire Howard students at graduation
Actor Chadwick Boseman, a Howard University alumnus who starred in the blockbuster film, “Black Panther,” lauded Howard University students for their recent successful campus protests, saying their efforts to spark change will help them as they enter the workforce.
Hampton University alumna, Hollywood costume designer urges students to be innovators, leaders
Ruth E. Carter challenged Hampton University students to be brave, to be innovators, to be bridge builders and leaders. At the university’s 148th commencement on Sunday, the Hampton alumna and acclaimed Hollywood costume designer for the box office hit “Black Panther” told graduates, “When King T’Challa said, ‘Let’s build bridges not barriers,’ I say good thing Hampton’s got good engineering and architectural programs so they can build bridges that need building once all y’all break barriers in the world with your education.”
Pope Francis thinks about leaving
Pope Francis said he has thought about when it might be time to “take leave” of his flock.
Priest caught in political fire reinstated as House chaplain
Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan has announced he will reinstate the Rev. Patrick Conroy as chaplain for the House of Representatives after the controversial Jesuit priest challenged the stated rationale for removing him.
Graduating while black
Graduation celebration goes awry at University of Florida
It was supposed to be celebration time.
Golf club apologizes for calling cops on black women members
A golf club in Pennsylvania has apologized for calling police on a group of black women after the co-owner and his father said they were playing too slowly and refused requests to leave the course.
House Speaker Paul Ryan forces out chaplain
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan forced out the Jesuit priest who had served as chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011 because he said in a prayer during deliberations on tax cuts that lawmakers should be “fair to all Americans,” a news report stated last week.
Video shows former NFL player manhandled by Georgia police
A lawyer for Desmond Marrow said this week the charges against the former NFL player should be dropped, as police and prosecutors in Georgia said they are reviewing the arrest in which officers allegedly used excessive force.
Yvonne Staples of Staple Singers fame dies at 80
Yvonne Staples, whose voice and business acumen powered the success of the Staple Singers, her family’s hit-making gospel group that topped the charts in the early 1970s with the song “I’ll Take You There,” has died. She was 80.
Williams sisters join Billie Jean King in equal pay push
A day before playing in the 2005 final at the All England Club, Venus Williams addressed a meeting of the Grand Slam Board, urging Wimbledon and the French Open to offer equal pay to male and female players.
Memorial to nation’s lynching victims opens
Elmore Bolling defied the odds against black men and built several successful businesses during the harsh era of Jim Crow segregation in the South. He had more money than a lot of white people, which his descendants believe was all it took to get him lynched in 1947.
Atlanta March on Monday marked route of MLK funeral 50 years ago
Relatives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led more than 1,000 people on a march Monday in downtown Atlanta, where large crowds gathered 50 years earlier for the slain civil rights leader’s funeral procession as a mule-drawn wagon pulled his casket through the streets.
Holy Week underway; Passover begins Friday
Christians around the world are marking Holy Week, the solemn time retracing the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection three days later on Easter Sunday.
Journalist Les Payne, a founder of NABJ, dies at 76
Les Payne, an intrepid Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who helped pave the way for another generation of African-American journalists as one of the founders and a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists, died on Monday, March 19, 2018. He was 76.
Va. native Floyd Carter Sr., one of the last of the Tuskegee Airmen, dies at 95
Floyd Carter Sr., one of the last of the Tuskegee Airmen, died Thursday, March 8, in New York, where he served with the New York Police Department for 27 years. He was 95.
Get out! … Jordan Peele makes history with Academy Award
Film writer and director Jordan Peele made history Sunday night when he took home the Academy Award for best original screenplay for his thought-provoking movie on race in America, “Get Out.”
30 members of Congress make pilgrimage to civil rights sites
About a dozen Democrats and Republicans prayed and sang “Amazing Grace” during a solemn ceremony last Friday at the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated nearly 50 years ago. The ceremony marked the start of a three-day congressional “pilgrimage” to sites with ties to the Civil Rights Movement in the South.
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.
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.
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 Court of Appeals in Richmond said on Feb. 15 that it examined statements made by President Trump and other administration officials, as well as the presidential proclamation imposing the ban, and concluded that it “second-guesses our nations dedication to religious freedom and tolerance.”
Pat Robertson recovering from stroke
Televangelist Pat Robertson is recovering after suffering an embolic stroke.
Dennis Edwards, former member of The Temptations, dies at 74
Grammy winner Dennis Edwards, who performed lead vocals for some of the chart-topping Motown singles recorded by The Temptations in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at age 74.