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City of Louisville to pay the family of Breonna Taylor $12M to settle the wrongful death lawsuit filed after she was shot to death by police during a late-night raid of her home
Months after the police killing of Breonna Taylor thrust her name to the forefront of a national reckoning on race, the City of Louisville agreed to pay the Black woman’s family $12 million and reform police practices as part of a settlement announced Tuesday.
Unsung civil rights pioneer Gloria Richardson dies at 99
Gloria Richardson, an influential yet largely unsung civil rights pioneer whose determination not to back down while protesting racial inequality was captured in a photograph as she pushed away the bayonet of a National Guardsman, has died. She was 99.
Did Miss Jamaica’s hair cut short her chance?
Halle Berry won an Academy Award for her dramatic role in the 2002 movie “Monster’s Ball” with a beautiful, short hairstyle. So why, an astonished audience at Sunday’s Miss Universe Pageant protested, didn’t their overwhelming favorite win? Their favorite: Short-haired beauty Miss Jamaica, 22-year-old Kaci Fennell.
Emmy Awards filled with color, politics
Diversity ruled at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, where a record 21 nominees of color were up for the annual awards for television and cable shows in contrast to this year’s all-white Oscars acting lineup. Several took home Emmys, many for the first time.
Turmoil at EBONY and Essence magazines prompts changes at top
EBONY and Essence magazines are in trouble.
Symbolism fills official portraits of Obamas
They have been called “stunning,” “compelling,” “powerful” and “unexpected.” And now, the official portraits of former President Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, will be on view at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.
Catholic Diocese of Richmond to pay $6.2M to sexual abuse victims
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond announced last week that it is paying $6.3 million to 51 people who experienced sexual abuse as minors by clergy.
Detroit post office named in honor of ‘Queen of Soul’
The “Queen of Soul” will forever be remembered at a Detroit post office.
Joe Jackson suffers stroke
Joe Jackson, patriarch of the Jackson family of musical performers, suffered a stroke in Brazil on Sunday and is being treated in a Sao Paulo hospital.
Pope Francis draws crowds, gives hope during historic visit
Pope Francis dove into some of the United States’ thorniest political debates during his historic six-day visit by urging the world’s wealthiest nation to welcome immigrants, end homelessness and do more to address climate change. Sometimes his political messages were blunt, like when he pleaded before the U.S. Congress for Americans to end “hostility” toward immigrants. Other times, they were more subtle, like the climate-conscious pope’s decision to ride around in a tiny Fiat rather than a gas-guzzling SUV.
Conflicting accounts emerge in bizarre case of cop killing man in his own apartment
A Dallas police officer charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a man she mistakenly thought was in her apartment may face a more serious charge, prosecutors said this week.
Bloomberg gives $100M to historically Black medical schools
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is giving about $100 million to four historically Black medical schools over the next four years, with students getting up to $100,000 apiece.
Police arrest 6 in Ortiz assassination attempt in DR
Six men have been arrested in the ambush shooting of former Boston Red Sox slugger David “Big Papi” Ortiz, as he sat in a nightclub late Sunday in his native Dominican Republic, authorities said.
Motown songwriter, producer Lamont Dozier dead at 81
Lamont Dozier, the middle name of the celebrated Holland-Dozier-Holland team that wrote and produced “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Heat Wave” and dozens of other hits and helped make Motown an essential record company of the 1960s and beyond, has died at age 81.
Dr. Irving P. McPhail, president of St. Augustine’s University, dies from COVID-19 complications
Dr. Irving P. McPhail, president of St. Augustine’s University, died Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, of complications from COVID-19, just three months after taking the helm of the historically Black university in Raleigh, N.C.
Mother Emanuel shooter gets 9 life sentences in S.C. state court
With Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof getting nine life sentences in state court on top of a federal death sentence, his prosecutions are finally over — and some relatives of the nine parishioners he killed at a historically black church say they can finally begin to heal.
Joshua Brown, key witness in Botham Jean case, fatally shot
Dallas authorities are insisting that the slaying of Joshua Brown, a key witness in the murder trial of a former Dal- las police officer, was part of a drug deal gone bad and not connected to his testimony in the case against Botham Jean’s killer.
Funeral service Friday for Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland
Tributes continue to pour in for Congressman Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, a moral voice of conscience who fought for civil rights and took on the White House as a prominent figure in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump as chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee.
Kool & the Gang co-founder Dennis Thomas dies at 70
Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, a founding member of the long-running, Grammy Award-winning soul-funk band Kool & the Gang, has died. He was 70.
Questions, lawsuit arise as Va. ratifies ERA
Virginia became the last state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Tuesday as the state Senate approved on a 27-12 vote a House of Delegates resolution endorsing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution stating that the rights of women “shall not be denied or abridged” because of their gender.
