After a weekslong battle, Black Philadelphians and their allies have notched a victory: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore a slavery exhibit at the President’s House Site in the city. Without warning, National Park Service workers in January removed panels about slavery from the President’s House Site, where George Washington […]
Brandon Tensley
Brandon Tensley is Capital B's national politics reporter.
Posted inCulture, History, Politics & Policy
Remembering the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Impact and Civil Rights Leadership
The Rev. Jesse Jackson — a grandfather, husband, and storied civil rights icon — has passed away. Jackson died peacefully Tuesday morning, surrounded by family, according to a statement issued by the Rainbow People United to Save Humanity (PUSH) Coalition. Last fall, Jackson was hospitalized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he received “good […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Culture
This Fugees Album Still Feels Like Home 30 Years Later
Marcia Chatelain remembers that it was almost impossible to turn on the radio in 1996 and not hear the Fugees’ smooth cover of “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” That remake transformed the group’s sophomore album, The Score, which dropped on Feb. 13 of that year, into a decade-defining juggernaut. But The Score was more […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Texas Senate Primary Erupts After ‘Mediocre Black Man’ Remark
The Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas has been jolted by fresh controversy, one that has revived debates over race, power, and perceived political legitimacy in the Lone Star State and beyond. The flare-up began on Sunday. A TikToker posted a video in which she says that Democratic Texas state Rep. James […]
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Politics & Policy
Black Diplomats Say Trump’s Moves Are Pushing People Out of Public Service
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. Pamela L. Spratlen knows all too well how elusive diversity has long been within the U.S. Foreign Service. Her father, as a young man, applied to join the Foreign Service. But this was […]
Posted inEconomy, Employment, Food Access, Health, Politics & Policy
Partial Government Shutdown Looms as Battle Over DHS Funding Persists
Large swaths of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are poised to shut down on Saturday, as Democrats and the White House remain locked in a standoff over the Trump administration’s immigration measures. Some 13% of the federal civilian workforce would be affected by a shutdown, according to the Washington Post. Operations would be disrupted […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Don Lemon and Black Critics of the Trump Administration Released
The fallout from a Jan. 18 protest at a Minnesota church continues following the arrests of Black journalists and activists critical of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Friday morning that, at her direction, federal agents had arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon, independent journalist Georgia Fort, […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Lisa Cook Case Tests Presidential Power and Black Women’s Resolve
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in Trump v. Cook — a case some say crystallizes President Donald Trump’s ongoing tension with Black women leaders. Fueling the case is Trump’s effort to break with more than a century of law and fire Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the Federal […]
Posted inEducation, Politics & Policy, Student Loans
Student Loan Wage Garnishment Is Put on Hold. What Borrowers Need to Know.
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that it will delay wage garnishment for defaulted student loans. The move, revealed Friday, reverses the department’s earlier plan to gradually restart wage garnishment for groups of borrowers, and will allow the agency more time to finalize new repayment plans. Garnishing wages could have affect millions who are […]
Posted inHistory, Politics & Policy
Stevie Wonder’s Battle for MLK Day and the New Challenges to King’s Legacy
Stevie Wonder’s new album, Hotter Than July, had been burning up the charts for months by Jan. 15, 1981. But something bigger than music was on the artist’s mind that day. Along with other Black cultural giants, the 30-year-old was leading a rally of approximately 100,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Years […]