African Americans

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It's a Historic Day in Montgomery, Ala.

Probate judge Steven Reed elected as city's first black mayor

(Newser) - Alabama's capital, a city once known as the cradle of the Confederacy and later the birthplace of the civil rights movement, elected its first African-American mayor Tuesday. Steven Reed, already the first black probate judge elected in Montgomery County, clasped the history-making victory to be elected the next mayor...

Man Trump Called 'My African American' Is Ditching GOP

Gregory Cheadle is fed up with the party's 'pro-white agenda,' Trump's 'white superiority complex'

(Newser) - Gregory Cheadle didn't cringe in 2016 when then-candidate Donald Trump called him "my African American" at a rally in Northern California. But the 62-year-old is now backing away from not only President Trump, but the entire Republican party, too—which is why he's defecting from the GOP...

Black Government Worker's Office 'Targeted' in Attack

Betsy DeVos has called for an investigation

(Newser) - A black employee's office at the US Department of Education has been vandalized in what looks like a racially motivated attack, NBC News reports. The employee hasn't been identified, but her school desegregation poster was damaged and African figurines disfigured. "She had some dolls in her office...

Lone Black Republican in House Is Retiring

Hurd departure seen as sign of GOP pessimism

(Newser) - After next year's election, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott might be the only black Republican in Congress. Rep. Will Hurd, the only black Republican in the House, has announced his retirement, the Hill reports. "I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District...

Black Activist Found 'Murdered' in Car Trunk

Sadie Roberts-Smith 'was amazing and loved her history'

(Newser) - Louisiana police made a shocking find Friday: A black activist who helped establish an African American museum lay dead in a car trunk, ABC News reports. Sadie Roberts-Smith, 75, was discovered in a residential part of downtown Baton Rouge. "Our detectives are working diligently to bring the person or...

This State Just Banned Hairstyle Discrimination

Californians can't be ordered to cut off their dreads

(Newser) - Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Wednesday a bill making California the first state to ban workplace and school discrimination against black people for wearing hairstyles such as braids, twists, and locks. The law introduced by Democratic Sen. Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles, a black woman who wears her hair...

He Was Once a Slave. Now He May Become a Saint

Pope deems Augustus Tolton, America's first black Roman Catholic priest, 'venerable'

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Wednesday deemed the first known black Roman Catholic priest in the US to be "venerable," positioning the ex-slave for possible sainthood. The pontiff's designation of the Rev. Augustus Tolton as venerable, meaning the church intensely scrutinized his life and recognizes it as one of...

3 Top Pageant Winners Have Something in Common

Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, Miss America are all black

(Newser) - When Cheslie Kryst won the Miss USA crown , it marked more than a personal triumph: It meant that for the first time, three black women are the reigning Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss America, the AP reports. The North Carolina lawyer completed the historic triple Thursday with pageant...

All-Male, Black College to Admit New Kind of Student

Morehouse College policy to kick in next year

(Newser) - The country's only all-male historically black college will begin admitting transgender men next year, marking a major shift for the school at a time when higher education institutions around the nation are adopting more welcoming policies toward LGBT students. Leaders of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, tell the AP...

Va. First Lady's Mansion Tour Leaves Some 'Deeply Offended'

Pam Northam handed cotton to African-American students on tour

(Newser) - Another Northam fumble has emerged, with a Virginia DOE rep citing a new "racially insensitive" incident—but this time it doesn't involve Ralph Northam . The Washington Post reports it's the governor's wife, Pam Northam, who's under fire following a tour of the governor's mansion....

What Hit Texas' Court System Tuesday: 'Black Girl Magic'

19 African-American women ran for judge positions in Harris County; all 19 won

(Newser) - The most populous county in Texas got hit with some "black girl magic" on Tuesday—which is why you'll now see a whole bunch of proud female African-American judges on the bench going forward. While much of the nation was hyperfocused on another race in Texas—that of...

She Left the US to Raise a Black Son. Then, the 'Inevitable'

Family demands answers in tasing death of Chinedu Okobi

(Newser) - When 72-year-old Amaka Okobi heard a black man had had a deadly encounter with police in Millbrae, Calif., she thought, "Oh God, I feel so bad for his mother." Only later did she learn the man was her own 36-year-old son, said to have been tased by at...

Cops Called on Student Eating Lunch: 'All I Did Was Be Black'

Someone called Smith College cops to check on Oumou Kanoute

(Newser) - A Massachusetts college president is apologizing after campus police were called to investigate an undergraduate black student quietly eating her lunch in a common room. Smith College President Kathleen McCartney says in a letter Thursday the college is hiring a "third-party investigator" to review the incident and that every...

'New Information' Reopens Inquiry in Emmett Till's Murder

Following publication of a book in which Carolyn Donham says she lied when testifying against Till

(Newser) - The federal government has reopened its investigation into the slaying of Emmett Till, the black teen whose brutal killing in Mississippi shocked the world and helped inspire the civil rights movement more than 60 years ago. The Justice Department told Congress in a report in March it's reinvestigating Till'...

Patrons Complained Service Was Slow. Then the Cops Came

Black patrons now say they were racially profiled by manager who thought they wouldn't pay

(Newser) - A night out at an Ohio Bahama Breeze for a group of sorority sisters ended with complaints of slow service, police on the scene, and now, a fired manager after some of the black patrons said they were racially profiled. WKYC reports on the June 19 incident, when about 40...

London Breed Makes History as New SF Mayor

She's city's first-ever black female mayor

(Newser) - San Francisco Supervisor London Breed emerged victorious Wednesday to become the city's first African-American woman mayor after narrowly defeating a rival who was seeking to become the first openly gay man in the position. It took eight days of counting after Election Day for Breed to build a large...

White Yale Student Calls Cops on Black Student for Napping

Police arrived after Lolade Siyonbola was discovered snoozing in a common area

(Newser) - A white graduate student at Yale called police on a black graduate student who'd fallen asleep in a common area of their campus residence—an episode that a dean said shows the need for efforts to make the Ivy League university a more inclusive place, Per the AP , Lolade...

University Apologizes to Black Grads for 'Aggressive' Usher

University of Florida students were manhandled off stage

(Newser) - The University of Florida has apologized to black students who were manhandled off the stage by an aggressive usher at a commencement ceremony Saturday. Students say they were grabbed and shoved down the stage when they performed quick celebratory dances, with the usher apparently singling out African-American students, CNN reports....

Eatery That Asked Patron to Prepay Now to Pay Him $7.8K

Emile Wickham says his group was racially profiled in Chinese restaurant; tribunal agrees

(Newser) - A Toronto eatery tried to tell Emile Wickham it was standard operating procedure to ask for prepayment before his meal—but that didn't fly with Wickham, nor with the Canadian tribunal that ruled in his favor in April and awarded him $7,800. Per ABC News , Wickham and three...

'Lukewarm' Starbucks Apology Blasted by Black Activists

CEO Kevin Johnson says 'we will learn from this'

(Newser) - Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson expressed his "deepest apologies" to two black men arrested at a Philadelphia franchise location Thursday and says he hopes to give them a "face-to-face apology," the New York Times reports. "Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome—the basis...

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