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,” […]
Donald Trump
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
This Climate Program Saved the U.S. $6 for Every $1 Spent. Trump Just Killed It.
As floodwaters surged through the streets of Natchitoches last month, soaking homes and businesses in this rural Louisiana town, residents were left grappling with yet another devastating blow. Over a thousand residents lost power as the muddy waters left behind waterlogged homes and damaged possessions. It was the fifth major flooding event the small majority-Black […]
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
CDC Employees Say Layoffs Under Trump Hit Black and Marginalized Staff Hardest
Employees at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta are accusing the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of laying off Black CDC workers at higher rates than other racial demographic groups. Three employees — two of whom received layoff notices on Tuesday — told Capital B Atlanta […]
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 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 inEducation
Trump’s Education Department Shutdown Plan Creates Uncertainty for Black Students With Disabilities
It had been over a year since Carla and Byron Scott’s 10-year-old son, Tyler, was diagnosed with ADHD, autism, and adjustment disorder. The couple questioned whether Tyler’s teachers in Portsmouth, Virginia, knew how to care for his disabilities, or if they would simply pass him through grades even if he performed poorly in school. Then, […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Rural Issues, Technology
Broadband Program Changes Stir Uncertainty for Rural Black Communities
A promise made by former President Joe Biden to connect millions of Americans to reliable and affordable high-speed internet service may become another casualty of President Donald Trump’s campaign to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the nation. A top outgoing official at the U.S. Department of Commerce warned that funds for the Broadband, […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
EPA Rollbacks Mean More Pollution, Less Justice for Black Communities
For a quarter of a century, a Black neighborhood in Beaumont, Texas, where Chris Jones lives has been the subject of two federal civil rights investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency that explore the role of race in his community’s disproportionately high levels of air pollution. In San Francisco, Kamillah Ealom’s neighborhood has been the […]
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 […]
