This week, Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to visit the West African nation of Angola, where he spoke of “our nation’s original sin.” About 25% of all enslaved Africans who arrived in the U.S. came from Angola, which is more than any other African region. But outside of the acknowledgement of America’s past […]
Adam Mahoney
Adam Mahoney is the climate and environment reporter at Capital B. He can be reached by email at adam.mahoney@capitalbnews.org, on Bluesky, and on X at @AdamLMahoney.
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Wealth Gap
The Struggle for Land, Reparations, and Belonging in California
This story was produced in partnership with High Country News. Like many residents of Southern California’s San Bernardino Mountains, Jacques Powers wears clothes and boots painted with dirt and mud and gets around in a humming monster truck. But no matter where he goes, whether in these mountains or elsewhere in the state, Powers rarely […]
Posted inCulture, Incarceration
‘The Wildest Show in the South’: Spectacle and Suffering at America’s Biggest Prison
ANGOLA, La. — On a blistering fall afternoon, even by Louisiana’s standards, mainly Black incarcerated people cling tightly to bucking horses. They run from barreling bulls and get tossed around like rag dolls in events that are outlawed in rodeos across the country — but not here at the “wildest show in the South.” Each […]
Posted inInfrastructure, Transportation
Baltimore Needs Modern Transit, but a New Project Rehashes Historical Trauma
At a Sept. 10 Baltimore City Council meeting, longtime Reservoir Hill neighborhood resident Angel St. Jean took the podium to tell the story of her community over the past decade. “Step by step, chip by chip, our voice has been taken away,” she said. For years, residents in the 85% Black neighborhood have worked together […]
Posted inMental Health, Politics & Policy
Strategies for Black Americans to Nurture Mental Health After the Election
As Black, immigrant, pregnant, and low-income people brace for the possible worst outcomes of a second Trump administration, many, maybe even you, are grappling with a flood of emotions – fear, anger, sadness, and a deep sense of grief. With the news cycle churning with reports of the potential for an administration that perpetuates anti-Black […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
How the Electoral College’s Origins Manifest Today
As we get ready for the season finale of this presidential election cycle, what happens after the polls close Tuesday night is anyone’s guess. But what we know for sure is that the countdown to whether Vice President Kamala Harris or Trump becomes our 47th president all hinges on the Electoral College. It’s that slow […]
Posted inExtreme Weather, Housing
From Hurricanes to Homelessness: Black Renters at Risk as Evictions Soar
A little over two weeks after Hurricane Helene turned living rooms into murky, debris-filled pools, washed away homes, and caused upward of $50 billion in damage, dozens of renters and homeowners stood outside the Buncombe County Courthouse on Oct. 17 in Asheville, North Carolina. With winter approaching and temperatures dipping into the 40s, they gathered […]
Posted inCourts, Housing, Policing, Politics & Policy
Black Unhoused Communities Targeted After Supreme Court Ruling
LOS ANGELES – On a dirt pocket between a sidewalk and freeway in the Wilmington neighborhood in South Los Angeles, roughly half a dozen people lived in tents for most of the summer. But by 7 a.m. on Sept. 24, three police SUVs and a bright orange truck lined the street next to the freeway […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Feds Resolve Civil Rights Complaint Brought by Rural Black Alabama Community
On a Sunday in early October, 16 people, mainly elders, met under Timothy Williams’ gazebo. The ground was still soaked from a recent downpour in rural Alabama. It has become a routine gathering in their historic Black community over the past six years as they’ve battled through a flooding crisis brought on by a highway […]
Posted inExtreme Weather
Black Florida Residents Face a ‘Scarcity of Resources’ as Hurricane Milton Makes Landfall
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, as a dangerous Category 3 storm on Wednesday night and weakened to a Category 1 as it ran east through the state and moved offshore. While the Tampa area escaped the worst possible outcome, Milton dropped more than a foot and half of rain over the metro […]
