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 […]
Donald Trump
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 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 inReproductive Health
Abortion Saved Her. Now It Could Cost Her Freedom.
Kneeling on the cold bathroom floor of her apartment, Kisha clutched the pregnancy test she had just picked up from the Walgreens down the street. She waited for a single blue line to appear. Instead, there were two. “When I looked down at that test, I didn’t believe it,” she said. “I told myself there […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Rural Alabamians Lived With Poop-Filled Water for Decades. Trump Just Killed Plans For Relief.
Last April, Sherry Bradley and the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program helped rural Alabama resident Willie Perryman install a septic system in his home for the first time. Since his grandfather purchased the land and homestead more than six decades ago, none of the family’s properties had a proper disposal system for their waste. Thousands […]
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 inEnvironmental Justice
Living in Industry’s Shadow: How Black Communities Are Left Behind by EPA Cuts
From Gary, Indiana’s steel mills to the oil refineries of Beaumont, Texas, and the toxic waste sites in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point, Black communities across the country are living with the harsh realities of industrial pollution. As the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations are rolled back, efforts to address these toxic hazards in these areas […]
Posted inClimate Change, Rural Issues
With Southern Utilities Quietly Dismantling DEI Programs, Black Households Pay the Price
When Chris Womack became the first Black CEO of Southern Co. in 2023, he called the company’s commitment to racial equity one of his guiding principles. His leadership of the third-largest private utility company in the world offered hope of fairer wages and more representative employment for thousands of Black employees and cleaner air and […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
Inside One Student Movement to Save DEI on College Campuses
Bradley Price traveled to the Kentucky governor’s office to show her support for the veto of an anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion bill. Alexandria Underwood took part in a letter-writing campaign calling for the preservation of inclusion programs on college campuses. And Savannah Dowell organized a demonstration in support of anti-discrimination efforts at Kentucky colleges and […]
