May 26, 2021

WILMINGTON, DE January 7, 2021: Kristen Clarke speaks during the announcing of President- Elect Joe Biden and Vice President - Elect Kamala Harris Justice Department nominees at the Queen in Wilmington, DE on January 7, 2021. Merrick Garland, for attorney general, Lisa Monaco for deputy attorney general, Vanita Gupta for Associate attorney general and Kristen Clarke for assistant attorney general for the civil rights division. (Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Senate confirms Kristen Clarke as first Black woman to lead DOJ civil rights division

By Christina Carrega Democrats confirmed Kristen Clarke on Tuesday as the first Black woman to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division, a historic step that came on the anniversary of George Floyd’s killing — and after a vitriolic campaign by Republicans over her stance on policing. The vote was 51-48 with Sen. Susan Collins

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Missouri Gov. Mike Parson looks on as the newest member of the Missouri Supreme Court, Judge Robin Ransom, addresses the media after being introduced by Parson during a press conference Monday, May 24, 2021, at his Capitol office in Jefferson City, Mo. Ransom was selected from 25 applicants for the position. (Julie Smith/The Jefferson City News-Tribune via AP)

A Black woman will serve on the Missouri Supreme Court for the first time

By Harmeet Kaur A Black woman will soon sit on Missouri’s highest court for the first time. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson named Judge Robin Ransom to the state’s Supreme Court on Monday, filling a vacancy created after Judge Laura Denvir Stith retired in March. Ransom most recently served on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern

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MIKE TYSON: THE KNOCK OUT - 5.25.21 - Byron Pitts interviews Mike Tyson for the ABC News documentary series “Mike Tyson: The Knockout,” detailing the life of the boxing legend. The two-part primetime event chronicles Mike Tyson’s climb, crash and comeback on back-to-back Tuesdays, May 25 and June 1 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (ABC News Framegrab) MIKE TYSON

‘Mike Tyson: The Knockout’ doesn’t live up to its title, but the ABC documentary wins on points

Review by Brian Lowry “Mike Tyson: The Knockout” initially feels like it’s simply retracing the same old steps, charting the boxer’s epic rise, fall and attempted comeback. After the first few rounds, though, this two-part ABC documentary lands some pretty compelling blows, particularly in highlighting the difference 25 years made in terms of Tyson’s third

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BASKERVILLE, VA - MAY 09: John Wesley Boyd Jr. poses for a portrait at his farm on Wednesday May 09, 2012 in Baskerville, VA. Boyd is president and founder of the National Black Farmers Association. (Photo by Matt McClain for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Banks say USDA’s debt forgiveness for minority farmers will cost them money and could affect future loans. Black farmers call that a threat.

By Vanessa Yurkevich and Kate Trafecante Three of the biggest US banking groups want the US Department of Agriculture to reconsider the terms of billions of dollars in planned debt relief for minority farmers, claiming it will cut into banks’ profits — and warn they may have to cut those same farmers off from future

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LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 25: Janne Lennox participates in a Black Lives Matter protest near City Hall on the first anniversary of George Floyd's murder, May 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin during an arrest after a store clerk suspected he used a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin, one of four police officers involved in the incident, knelt on Floyd’s neck and back for about 9 minutes. He was found guilty of all three counts against him after a three-week trial on April 20, 2021. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Defund the police encounters resistance as violent crime spikes

By Peter Nickeas, Julia Jones, Josh Campbell and Priya Krishnakumar One year since a nationwide movement sparked calls for slashing police funding in favor of other nontraditional forms of public safety, it’s not clear whether any city achieved anything resembling what protesters demanded: massively defunded or abolished police departments. The calls to cut funding and

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Nurses give shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination pod for students and employees at Lake Sumter State College on April 14, 2021 in Clermont, Florida, United States. A day earlier, the CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration recommended the U.S. pause the use of the single-shot J&J vaccine after six reported US cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via AP)

Experts say those who are not inoculated against Covid-19 shouldn’t rely on protection from those who are

By Madeline Holcombe The US is hitting major Covid-19 vaccination milestones, but health experts say those who are not inoculated should not rely on protection from those who are, as their infection risk hasn’t gone down in response to declining cases. “The work ahead of us Is going to be really challenging because while the

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Jackson State University Class of 1970 graduates, wear their face masks during a special graduation ceremony on the historically black campus, Saturday, May 15, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves lifted mask mandates for all counties earlier this month, and said residents are encouraged but not required to wear a face covering citing plummeting hospitalizations and lower case numbers. Businesses or individuals deciding to take additional precautions of requiring use of face masks are within their rights, he noted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

A police shooting delayed this Black college’s graduation in 1970. Now, those students finally got their ceremony — and an apology

By Leah Asmelash The class of 1970 at Jackson State University in Mississippi finally got to turn their tassels, over 50 years after their initial ceremony was delayed by a police shooting that left a dozen injured and two students dead. In May 1970, two students were killed and 12 were wounded when local law

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FILE - In this July 24, 1967 file photo, a Michigan State police officer searches a youth on Detroit's 12th Street where looting was still in progress after the previous day's rioting. The last surviving member of the Kerner Commission says he remains haunted that the panel's recommendations on US race relation and poverty were never adopted, but he is hopeful they will be one day. Former U.S. Sen. Fred Harris says 50 years after working on a report to examine the causes of the late 1960s race riots he strongly feels that poverty and structural racism still enflames racial tensions even as the United States becomes more diverse. (AP Photo/File)

More than 50 years before George Floyd’s death, lawmakers predicted a growing racial divide

By Amir Vera A year ago, George Floyd’s chilling last words, “I can’t breathe,” sent shock waves around the world. A guilty verdict came down April 20, but Black Americans had no time to celebrate the rare occurrence of a White police officer being convicted of the murder of a Black man. The next day,

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