By Olivia Green In July 2021, President Biden claimed that social media platforms were “killing people” by facilitating the spread of vaccine misinformation. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell cosigned the statement declaring that misinformation is to blame for low COVID-19 vaccination rates. The debate that followed brought up questions surrounding the public’s belief in vaccine…
By Énoa Gibson The time of lynching for Black folks in America was the same for hundreds of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans—La Hora de Sangre, the “Time of Blood,” they have come to call it in Spanish. It was a time of racial persecution, injustice and countless mob-infused deaths; and 1918 and 1919 were particularly noteworthy…
Black Businesses in an Era of Racial Reckoning By Chanel Cain, Corinne Dorsey, Cory Utsey, Donovan Thomas, Gregory Smith, Jr., Ryan Thomas, Brittney Dezwaan Isaac Welch, Taniyah Keve Podcast: Briana Alvarado, Braxton Babb, Karla Dozier, Robyn Evans, Hadiya Presswood, Jarius Wells, Justin Palmer Black consumers are impacting brands and corporations in unprecedented ways in 2021…
By Aaliyah Seabrooks In the midst of her muddled path to and through the Olympic summer games in Tokyo, it would have been difficult to imagine that four months later, Simone Biles would be celebrated as Time magazine’s 2021 Athlete of the Year. Midway into the competition where she had been expected to easily win several gold…
By Chanel Cain This homecoming was extra special. It would not be the first time comedian Dave Chappelle would come back to Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, which had put him on the path to success and stardom. He’d returned before, often bringing along financial support and celebrities to inspire others as…
By Janáe Bradford Naomi Osaka seemed to sense that the optics were unsettling, and out of character. She was a top-ranked professional tennis player still a month before her 24th birthday, and she already had earned more money in one year than any woman athlete in history. Yet, there she’d been for all to see: banging…
By Brittney DeZwaan A Denver suburb’s decision to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Elijah McClain acknowledged the role police officers had in his death after they handcuffed and placed him in a chokehold. Three officers were indicted on murder charges in September. But two Aurora paramedics also were…
By Ryan Thomas Just last month, Greenbelt, a small Maryland suburb outside the nation’s capital, became the latest to join the movement for local reparations, as voters approved legislation to study ways to repair the damage past policies did to Black and Native American residents. Colin Byrd, mayor of the city of about 23,000, said…
By Ryan Thomas Fashion’s always been about clothes and style, but also class, culture and politics. That’s the way it was at the Met Gala in September in New York, where Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance in a custom-designed off-the shoulder gown with “Tax the Rich” plastered on the back became a most-discussed item. The optics seemed…
By Gregory Smith Howard University students arrived back on campus on August 23, 2021 to complete the 2021-2022 academic school year in person. Upon arrival students were shocked to learn of tuition increases during an ongoing pandemic. Along with the tuition increase, some students didn’t receive housing assignments until the first week of school. Students…