Arlita Walker lives a fairly quiet life in southwest Memphis, Tennessee. The 60-year-old grandmother was employed with Federal Express for 15 years while she also raised her daughter. But when the toll of lifting heavy packages started to harm her health, Walker had to quit; she’s been grappling with health challenges since 2013. Since then, […]
Politics & Policy
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Carla Hayden Made the Library of Congress More Inclusive. Then She Was Fired for It.
The nation’s first African American Librarian of Congress was the latest person to get fired by President Donald Trump, a move that librarians say could stymie progress in making the nation’s library more accessible and inclusive. Carla Hayden’s firing on May 8 was met with fierce backlash from mainly Democrats, who tied the longtime librarian’s […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Trump Is Giving 500+ Plants a Pass to Pollute More. Is Your Home at Risk?
Imagine if the billion-dollar companies that run oil refineries or chemical plants could ask the government for permission to spew more pollution into the air with less hassle than it takes to renew your driver’s license. That’s now a reality. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has created a shortcut for fossil fuel and chemical […]
Posted inGun Violence, Politics & Policy
Years After Tragedy Gripped Buffalo, Its Black Community Waits for Change
As the month of May approaches each year, Marnetta Malcolm is brought to tears — mourning alongside former neighbors still reeling from the racist massacre that attempted to shatter her childhood community in Buffalo, New York. “It starts now,” Malcolm told Capital B in an interview nine days before the third anniversary of the murder […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Transportation
Now That REAL ID Is Required, Black Travelers May Face New Travel Hurdles
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 […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health, Partner Content, Politics & Policy
The Fight to Be Believed: Long COVID’s Toll on Black Americans
This article is part of a collaboration with the Associated Press, Capital B, and Flint Beat. The work is part of the AP Inclusive Journalism Initiative supported by the Sony Foundation. Chimére L. Sweeney, a Maryland middle school teacher, was preparing to lead one of her first online classes after the pandemic shutdowns in March […]
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy
Black Renters Could Be Displaced by Historic Affordable Housing Cuts
Elisha Fye Jr. grew up hearing his father’s stories of the Jim Crow South. There, Elisa Sr. was born on a plantation in 1918 and one of 14 children in a family of sharecroppers who toiled all year for just $200 and a share of the crops in Vidalia, Georgia. After a violent run-in with […]
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 inElections, Politics & Policy
Black Milwaukee Voters Say No to Musk, Yes to Reproductive Rights
It was a frigid spring day shortly before polls closed in Wisconsin. Chanita Edwards and her daughter, Chamari, left their polling place in Milwaukee’s North Side with two concerns: Elon Musk and reproductive rights. “I voted because I’m a woman and those rights are very important to me, especially abortion rights, and I’m a student,” […]
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 […]