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Serena loses U.S. Open to Naomi Osaka after challenging umpire
Serena Williams’ behavior in last Saturday’s U.S. Open final divided the tennis world after she called the chair umpire a “liar” and a “thief” and said he treated her differently than male players during her loss to 20-year-old Naomi Osaka.
Trump denounces intel reports of damaging info from Russian hacking
A defiant President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday adamantly denied reports that Russia had compromising personal and financial information about him, calling it a “tremendous blot” on the record of the intelligence community if material with any such allegations had been released.
Prosperity preachers to pray at Trump inaugural
Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, who hosted President-elect Donald Trump with his Detroit congregation in September, is among the religious leaders chosen to offer prayers at the new president’s swearing-in next week in Washington. The inaugural committee announced that prosperity gospel preachers Bishop Jackson, who leads Great Faith Ministries International, and Pastor Paula White, a friend of the president-elect, will join four others selected to participate in the inauguration on Friday, Jan. 20.
Everett Ward named president of St. Augustine’s
Everett B. Ward has been named the 11th president of St. Augustine’s University. “The lifeblood of St. Augustine’s runs through my every vein,” said Dr. Ward, 56, an alumnus of the historically black institution in Raleigh, N.C. “I have a long affiliation here, having been born on the campus. My father attended St. Aug’s. We have been part of this institution for generations.”
Memorial to nation’s lynching victims opens
Elmore Bolling defied the odds against black men and built several successful businesses during the harsh era of Jim Crow segregation in the South. He had more money than a lot of white people, which his descendants believe was all it took to get him lynched in 1947.
’Emancipation’ project leaves Georgia over voter suppression laws
Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua have pulled production of their runaway slave drama “Emancipation” from Georgia over the state’s recently enacted law restricting voting access.
’Empire’ star Taraji P. Henson hailed for mental health work
“Empire” star Taraji P. Henson has enjoyed wealth, celebrity, a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination. But behind the scenes, she has battled anxiety and depression.
MLB moving All-Star game to Denver in response to Georgia voter suppression
Major League Baseball plans to relocate the All-Star Game to Coors Field in Denver after pulling this year’s Midsummer Classic from Atlanta over objections to sweeping changes to Georgia’s voting laws.
Idris Elba named sexiest man alive
Move over Barack Obama. Actor Idris Elba was named the sexiest man alive on Monday by People magazine. The London-born actor, 46, said he didn’t believe it when magazine officials told him.
Breakdancing an Olympic sport?
Breakdancing, an art form started by African-American teenagers that has spread all over the world, may break into the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris as a new sport.
Pope makes D.C. archbishop first Black cardinal in U.S.
Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory is now the first Black U.S. prelate to assume the rank of cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, a historic appointment that comes months after nationwide demonstrations against racial injustice.
Bruce Boynton, who inspired 1961 Freedom Rides after Richmond arrest, dies at 83
Bruce Carver Boynton, a civil rights pioneer from Alabama who inspired the landmark “Freedom Rides” of 1961, died Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. He was 83.
Plans advance to build memorial, museum to U.S. lynching victims
The Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners denied fair and just treatment in the legal system, plans to open the first national memorial to African-American victims of lynching.
McAuliffe, Youngkin spar over vaccinations, taxes in final debate
Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin clashed Tuesday evening over vaccinations, tax policy, education and their respective records in the second and final debate in Virginia’s closely watched gubernatorial election.
Tea time: Oprah snags first interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle since they quit royal duties
Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spill the tea when they talk with Oprah Winfrey in their first major TV interview since they quit their royal duties and bought a home last year in the United States?
Voting rights fight comes to Va.
National NAACP President Cornell William Brooks and Stephen Green, the civil rights organization’s youth director, were arrested Monday in the Roanoke office of Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte after a six-hour sit-in calling for the full restoration of the federal Voting Rights Act, the NAACP said.
Oprah Winfrey exhibit opens at National Black History Museum
One of the most recognizable openings in television history blares on a video screen: “I’m Oprah Winfrey, and welcome to The Oprah Winfrey Show!” The crowd goes wild. At the center of it all, a dancing young Oprah.
Trump impeachment trial opens with GOP Senate majority rejecting Dems' attempts to bring in new witnesses
The U.S. Senate plunged into opening arguments Wednesday in President Trump’s impeachment trial, with Democratic House managers detailing the case that the president abused his power and should be removed from office.
Dems pull out big guns to energize virtual convention for Biden
Democrats launched the third day of their virtual national convention on Wednesday, with headliners broadening the focus from a multipart rebuke of President Trump to an energizing message of change in boosting former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential bid.
Critics assail Trump panel recommendations that would strip students of civil rights while not boosting student safety
The Trump administration on Tuesday moved to roll back an Obama-era policy that was meant to curb racial disparities in school discipline but that critics say left schools afraid to take action against potentially dangerous students.
