Uncertainty continues to hang over Texas’ 18th Congressional District. No single candidate secured 50% of the vote in the Nov. 4 special election, meaning that the race is heading to a runoff. The top two vote-getters — Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards — will compete at a date […]
Politics & Policy
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Black Lives Matter Facing Financial Scrutiny — Again
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc. denied on Friday being “a target of any federal criminal investigation” in light of a report that the federal government was looking into fraud allegations. The response comes after anonymous sources told the Associated Press that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether leaders in the Black […]
Posted inEconomy, Employment, Politics & Policy
Employment and Health Care Take Center Stage in Virginia Governor’s Race
ARLINGTON, Va. — Sequoia Ross was stunned when she saw the price of groceries during a recent trip to the store. Items ought to be more affordable, said the single mother of four and eighth grade English teacher, who lives in Amelia County, located in Virginia’s Richmond metropolitan area. “And I don’t mean through stipends […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Black Federal Workers Reflect on Service and Layoffs Amid Shutdown
Photographs by Kuwilileni Hauwanga, Capital B As the government shutdown nears a month and the furloughs continue, hundreds of federal employees are lining up to get food and other items at local pantries. If the work stoppage persists, more than 40 million Americans could be denied food assistance benefits. The tumult facing furloughed employees illustrates […]
Posted inEconomic Development, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
From Mississippi to Maryland, Black Communities Are Taking On Big Tech
When word spread through Bessemer, Alabama, earlier this year that a tech giant was eyeing hundreds of pine-covered acres at the city’s edge, Benard Simelton’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing. The longtime NAACP leader had fielded calls about toxic air and shuttered steel mills before, but this, he said, was new to him. At first, the […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
From Fani Willis to Letitia James, Trump’s Enemies List Targets Black Women in Positions of Power
New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James did not fold when a federal grand jury in Virginia indicted her. Days after the Oct. 9 announcement, she took the stage at the United Palace in Manhattan to stump for New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani. On the evening of Oct. 13, dressed in a […]
Posted inEducation, Politics & Policy
Federal Layoffs Put Head Start, FAFSA, and Civil Rights Investigations at Risk
The U.S. Department of Education has begun laying off more than 450 employees — many of whom oversee special education and civil rights enforcement. After the layoffs, a federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from firing government workers. While the judge’s decision has temporarily prevented more cuts to government […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
These Louisiana Voters Are Standing Up to Save Voting Rights Across America
WASHINGTON — Living in North Baton Rouge is like being on the wrong side of the tracks, Martha Davis said. There are potholes everywhere that make you feel as if you’re driving on a washboard, southeastern Louisiana residents are still reeling from the loss of medical facilities, and the area has some of the lowest-performing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration, Politics & Policy
Cannabis Convictions Still Haunt Black Families. This Nonprofit Offers a Lifeline.
Sitting in a Virginia state prison cell, Bryan Reid would often slouch his shoulders, droop his chin, and pout his bottom lip — the posture of someone struggling to believe how his life had come to this. Before he was transferred in 2018 to Coffeewood Correctional Center in Mitchells, he was a proud father of […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy, Technology
In Houston, A Program Turns Sunlight into Second Chances for Incarcerated Texans
HOUSTON — Leon Dillard gripped the solar panel tight, sweat stinging his eyes as he scaled the sun-baked roof for the first time. His adrenaline racing, he remembered making sure his harness was clipped not once, but twice. He’d never climbed up onto a roof before, let alone with a 50-pound panel of metal and […]
