The Senate has confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, placing her in charge of the agency beleaguered by turmoil: resignations, deep staff cuts, and major changes to vaccine policies. In a 51-44 vote Wednesday, the 54-year-old became the 22nd leader and the first Black woman to […]
Politics & Policy
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
What El-Sayed’s Michigan Win Reveals About Black Voters and Democrats
Abdul El-Sayed is projected to win Michigan’s Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat, concluding a bruising contest that became a national proxy battle over where the party is headed and how Black voters might shape that future. While many observers framed the race around whether El-Sayed could break through with Black Michiganders — who […]
Posted inHBCUs, Politics & Policy
Savannah State Student Keeps Fighting for His Baseball Dream Despite ICE Detention
Savannah State University student Johan Sandoval felt like the world had turned its back on him while he was being held in a New York detention center for two weeks, but God and his love for baseball remained a constant. While in custody, Sandoval and other detainees played baseball using makeshift bases made from sandals. […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Data Center Surge Worsens Electricity Costs for Black Families
In the sweltering Alabama heat, where a trailer home can feel like an oven during each new heat wave, Esther Calhoun’s electricity bill has doubled in recent years. On a fixed income of about $1,300 a month, the 63‑year‑old Calhoun now pays roughly $350 monthly for electricity in rural Alabama. President Donald Trump came into […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
What Lindsey Graham’s Death Means for Black South Carolina Voters
South Carolina native Lawrence Moore remembers when he saw his father cast a ballot for the first time in 1968. It was a few years after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. Black voter registration was surging across the South. Those years taught Moore, now 70 and a […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy, Redevelopment, Transportation
From the South to the Coasts, New Highways Are Threatening Black Land
Timothy Williams’ family has lived in the same community for over 150 years, but he is afraid that they are one big storm away from losing it all. Eight years ago, the Alabama Department of Transportation widened the highway that runs just a few yards from Williams’ home in Shiloh. Since then, every time it […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
How Jackson’s Former Mayor Went From Progressive Star to Guilty Plea
Jackson, Mississippi, resident and social justice organizer Danyelle Holmes saw up close the scrutiny and efforts by the state’s top leaders to remove her friend and former Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba from office during his tenure. Lumumba consistently fought back against lawmakers and the governor for refusing to fix the city’s crumbling infrastructure, she said, […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
Black Organizers Are Preparing for a New Era of Voting Rights Battles
The mobilization effort was swift once it became clear that Black Georgians stood to lose political representation. LaTosha Brown and other voting rights advocates sprang into action after Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on May 13 called a special session to redraw the state’s congressional and legislative maps in ways that could erode Black voters’ […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Politics & Policy
Black Farmers Win Court Case That Restores $127 Million in Federal Grants
Black farmers like Sharon Mallory can finally get some relief after a judge ruled to restore millions of dollars in grants. Earlier this year, the Trump administration yanked the money away from organizations led by and in support of Black farmers. Mallory’s organization, the 2020 Farmers Cooperative, promised to purchase equipment and land and provide […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics & Policy
Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Fire Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve Board
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday blocked President Trump’s bid to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, leaving her job secure for now. A distinguished economist, the Georgia native and Spelman College grad is the first Black woman to sit on the Fed’s board. She also held roles in the Clinton, […]
