REAL ID enforcement has kicked in and in the weeks leading up to the May 7 deadline, some grassroots organizers worried the requirement to obtain an upgraded ID card from a state’s driver’s licensing agency would have a disproportionate burden on some Black Americans. Already, 21% of Black adults lack a valid driver’s license, compared […]
Brandon Tensley
Brandon Tensley is Capital B's national politics reporter.
Posted inClimate Change, Criminal Justice, Environmental Justice, Health Equity
The End of DEI: What Trump’s Executive Orders Mean for Black Americans
President Donald Trump has spent the early months of his return to the White House dismantling the nation’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The moves, he’s said, are designed to forge a “color-blind” society that rejects the sorts of race-conscious programs that are intended to make amends for the historical wrongs experienced by Black Americans […]
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Politics & Policy
Can D.C. Keep Its Local Power? Residents Stand Up Against Federal Takeover.
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. WASHINGTON — For most of 61-year-old Jocelyn Frye’s life, her hometown of Washington was majority Black. As a child, she was keenly aware of how some white lawmakers would disparage D.C. and assert that […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
What Trump’s Cabinet Picks Mean for Black Americans as Hearings Continue
President Donald Trump’s picks for key positions in his second administration continue their Senate confirmation hearings, which began on Jan. 14. Marco Rubio, Trump’s choice for Secretary of the Department of State, was the first to win confirmation, gliding through the process. On the other hand, Pete Hegseth, selected to be the Secretary of the […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
What Happens If a Highly Effective HIV-Prevention Drug Is No Longer Free?
Black queer activist Preston Mitchum has been on PrEP — pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medication used to reduce the risk of getting HIV — since around 2014, just two years after its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Washington, D.C., resident remembers the barriers he and many others faced when trying to secure […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics & Policy
Cory Booker’s 25-Hour Speech: ‘Our Nation Is in Crisis’
It took Sen. Cory Booker 25 hours and 5 minutes to make his point: The Trump administration’s actions are harmful to everyday Americans — and a disruption is necessary. “I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able. I rise tonight because […]
Posted inBlack Businesses, Politics & Policy, Technology
With TikTok Ban in Limbo, Black Creators Face an Uncertain Future
The story has been updated. The original story was published on January 16. Lifestyle content creator Talia Cadet hasn’t quit her day job, but TikTok has changed her life, she says. The additional income generated from her viral lists of Black-owned products, books she loves, and local events has made “a huge difference,” especially as […]
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Politics & Policy, The Workplace
The Trump Administration Is Leaving Federal Workers Vulnerable to Discrimination
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. “Overbearing.” “Intimidating.” “Aggressive.” Oscar Hampton, a Black former attorney at the U.S. Department of Labor, claimed in a federal district court complaint filed in 2023 that this was the language that white attorneys at […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Rep. Al Green Accepts Censure Vote and Recalls Civil Rights Era Protests
Rep. Al Green of Texas thought about the Black liberation struggle of the 1960s on Thursday, as House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, prepared to read the resolution censuring the 77-year-old Democratic lawmaker. “I recalled when we were faced with adverse circumstances, we would sing a song that would inspire and encourage us to move […]
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Politics & Policy
DEI Didn’t Start With ‘Wokeness’ — What Trump Gets Wrong
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. President Donald Trump and his allies have turned diversity, equity, and inclusion into a catchall slur. The administration claims to be eliminating DEI, but what it’s doing is conflating issues, attacking long-established civil rights […]