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Tori Bowie’s death shows how pervasive racial disparities are in maternal health

By Char Adams The death of Olympic track and field star Tori Bowie, who died of pregnancy complications last month, has prompted questions about how a seemingly healthy, financially stable person could face such a tragic outcome. Experts say that the racial health disparities that lead to maternal health complications for Black people persist despite a person’s economic status or clean bill of health. In short, it could happen to any Black person. “Maternal mortality for Black women has nothing to do with health or economic status,” said D’Andra Willis, of The Afiya Center, a Black-centered reproductive justice group. “You could be

With festivals and reflection, America marks Juneteenth

By Daniel Arkin Americans from coast to coast celebrated Juneteenth this weekend, taking to the streets to commemorate the end of slavery after the Civil War. Black people in the U.S. have observed Juneteenth since the late 1800s. In the summer of 2021, after nationwide protests over systemic racism renewed interest in Juneteenth, President Joe Biden signed legislation that made June 19 a federal holiday. The holiday honors the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — 2Âœ years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The celebrations included cookouts, parades, line dancing,

Everything you need to know about California’s reparations report

By Curtis Bunn After more than two years of fact-finding, reports and public hearings, the California Reparations Task Force on June 29 will hand over to the California Assembly its extensive report and recommendations for compensation to eligible Black people of California for the harms of slavery. California was not a slave state, but more than 4,000 enslaved Black people were taken there between 1850 and 1860, typically by plantation owners, to work in the gold mines. They settled in California after slavery ended, many creating wealth, buying land and building communities, only to face generations of discrimination, land theft or seizure,

What Is Juneteenth? Here’s Why We Honor the Federal Holiday

By Mckenzie Jean-Phillippe A key American historical event has finally gotten federal recognition: June 19, 1865—the day all people living in the United States, including the formerly enslaved, were officially granted freedom. On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law making the day known as Juneteenth a national holiday. “Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. They don’t ignore those moments in the past. They embrace them,” Biden said at the White House signing. “Great nations don’t walk away. We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And in remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow

California skate park is named for Black motorist fatally beaten in police traffic stop

Officials dedicated a California skate park Sunday in honor of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who spent much of his youth in the state and was killed in January in what prosecutors said was a fatal beating by police in Tennessee during a traffic stop. An avid skateboarder, Nichols spent much time as a youth at the park on the outskirts of Sacramento. City officials and others held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated skate park now named for Nichols. Nichols moved to Memphis, Tennessee, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic and lived there with his mother and stepfather. He enjoyed photography

Illinois Becomes the First State to Prohibit Libraries From Banning Books

By Aila Slice Illinois has become the first state in the nation to legally prohibit libraries from banning books. During a ceremony in Chicago on Monday, Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that “protects the freedom of libraries to acquire materials without external limitations” and threatens to pull funding from libraries unless they agree that books cannot be “proscribed, removed, or restricted because of partisan or personal disproval.” The new law, which takes effect in January, comes amid a largely conservative movement to ban books from school libraries to counter any left-leaning narratives about race, gender, sexuality and other issues that Republicans

Supreme Court backs landmark voting rights law, strikes down Alabama congressional map

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Republican-drawn congressional districts in Alabama that civil rights activists say discriminated against Black voters in a surprise reaffirmation of the landmark Voting Rights Act. The court in a 5-4 vote ruled against Alabama, meaning the map of the seven congressional districts, which heavily favors Republicans, will now be redrawn. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, both conservatives, joined the court’s three liberals in the majority. In doing so, the court — which has a 6-3 conservative majority — turned away the state’s effort to make it harder to remedy concerns raised by

Jamie Foxx’s Rep Clears the Air Following Wild Claims About His Health

By Shanelle Genai As Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx continues to recover in rehab following an unspecified “medical complication,” a rep is finally speaking out to clear the air on the unsubstantiated claim that the Ray star suffered a stroke that left him partially blind and paralyzed as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine. In an exclusive statement to NBC News, his rep said that the allegation is “completely inaccurate,” although he declined to offer any more specifications or clarifications on the cause of the actor’s condition. This marks the first time that another party outside of Foxx’s immediate family has spoken on the actor’s behalf

California’s earliest Black settlers bought land only for it to be stolen. Their descendants want it back

By Curtis Bunn It had been nine months since Yolanda Tylu Owens unearthed her ancestors’ history by researching her family tree. But one evening, quietly sitting at the foot of her bed in her home in Sacramento, California, an idea flashed in her mind. “It was like my ancestors spoke to me,” Owens said. “It was so out of the blue. But it was clear: I should search to see if my great-great-great-grandfather had any land.” She scrambled for her laptop. Within minutes, she had to sit back in her chair to process what she had learned. “It was there, plain

Cornel West announces his presidential campaign

By Char Adams Philosophy professor, historian and political activist Cornel West entered the 2024 presidential race on Monday. West, 70, announced his candidacy for the People’s Party nomination on social media, calling the presidency a vehicle for pursuing truth and justice. “I come from a tradition where I care about you,” West said in the video. “I care about the quality of your life. I care about whether you have access to a job with a living wage, decent housing, women having control over their bodies, health care for all, de-escalating the destruction of the planet.” He said his campaign would

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