The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in Trump v. Cook — a case some say crystallizes President Donald Trump’s ongoing tension with Black women leaders. Fueling the case is Trump’s effort to break with more than a century of law and fire Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the Federal […]
Donald Trump
Posted inEducation, Politics & Policy, Student Loans
Student Loan Wage Garnishment Is Put on Hold. What Borrowers Need to Know.
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that it will delay wage garnishment for defaulted student loans. The move, revealed Friday, reverses the department’s earlier plan to gradually restart wage garnishment for groups of borrowers, and will allow the agency more time to finalize new repayment plans. Garnishing wages could have affect millions who are […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Trump Rollbacks Put Children’s Health at Risk as Pollution Increases
On the morning of Jan. 10, when the federal government said it would stop prioritizing how many lives are saved by cutting air pollution, Sonya Sanders flashed back seven years to when a fossil fuel facility near her South Philadelphia home exploded. The 2019 blast rattled windows across the city and could have killed thousands […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Ghana Helped U.S. Deport Migrants, and Now Its Own Citizens Are Shut Out
“America is a bully that is never satisfied,” Oliver Barker-Vormawor said from Ghana. The Trump administration’s new freeze on immigrant visas from 75 nations is the latest example, he added. African nations make up a striking share of the 75 countries swept into the Trump administration’s new freeze on immigrant visas, a move officials say […]
Posted inPolicing, Politics & Policy
ICE Shooting After Takeover of Minneapolis Renews Debate on Qualified Immunity
Minneapolis entered January with unusually mild weather and a sense of calm, but that was shattered two days later when a federal immigration officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good. Less than 24 hours later, a man and woman in Portland, Oregon, were shot and wounded by Customs and Border Protection agents. As immigration crackdowns […]
Posted inHistory, Politics & Policy
Stevie Wonder’s Battle for MLK Day and the New Challenges to King’s Legacy
Stevie Wonder’s new album, Hotter Than July, had been burning up the charts for months by Jan. 15, 1981. But something bigger than music was on the artist’s mind that day. Along with other Black cultural giants, the 30-year-old was leading a rally of approximately 100,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Years […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Venezuelan Oil Brought to the U.S. Would Be Refined in Black Gulf Communities
On Saturday morning, John Beard woke up to news that he’d been dreading, but preparing for: A global oil crisis could hit closer to home in Texas. The southeastern part of the state is home to more than a dozen oil refineries, and he’d spent decades working at one of them. But after attending more […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Nicki Minaj’s Embrace of Trump-Era Politics Has Fans Asking Questions
As more Nicki Minaj fans are questioning the rapper’s politics, the Trinidad and Tobago- born artist is proudly pledging her allegiance to Donald Trump. From calling herself the president’s “No. 1 fan” to showing off her Trump “gold card” visa, many on social media are no longer asking what happened to Minaj but blatantly criticizing […]
Posted inBlack Migration, Politics & Policy
Deportations of African Migrants Triple Under Trump’s Second Term
African migrants in the United States are being arrested and deported at rapidly escalating rates under President Donald Trump’s second term, even though most have no criminal record. Deportations of people from African countries are on pace to nearly triple this year compared with the annual average during the Biden administration, according to a Capital […]
Posted inHistory
As Federal Sites Remove Black History, Communities Organize to Fight Back
It all started with a QR code. When Gerry James learned this summer that signs had been posted at National Park Service sites encouraging visitors to use a QR code to report information that could be considered “negative about either past or living Americans,” he wanted to change the conservation. He felt as if the […]