A Minneapolis street has been renamed Lena Smith Boulevard to honor Minnesota’s first Black female attorney and correct the legacy of segregation tied to its former namesake. Community members led the five-year effort to reclaim the space and uplift a civil rights icon.
Civil Rights
Posted inNational
Supreme Court weighs damages for inmate’s forced haircut
WASHINGTON (HUNS) — Damon Landor, a Rastafarian who had taken a Nazarite vow to grow his hair in locks, was transferred to Raymond Laborde Correctional Center for the final three weeks of his sentence. He arrived with proof of religious accommodation from two previous facilities, along with a court ruling showing that Louisiana recognized his […]
Posted inOpinion
Why freedom of speech matters
When we think about free speech, we usually think about our right to share our thoughts, ideas and beliefs, as long as we are respectful and not unfairly stopped by the government. Free speech is a basic human right protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, this protection is not unlimited. It […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to pass the Black leadership torch
The Trump administration is ordering the removal of information on slavery at multiple national parks in an effort to scrub them of “corrosive ideology.” To describe the truth about our Black experience and history as “corrosive ideology” is not only an insult but highlights the possible long-term damage that this administration can cause. Some of […]
Posted inOpinion
The right to vote is on trial. Again.
Ever since I was five years old, walking to the polls with my mother, I wanted to vote. I remember watching her proudly cast her ballot, knowing it was both a right and a responsibility hard-won by generations before us. So I proudly applied for my voter card as soon as I turned 18, and […]
Posted inOpinion
What Black women want and what Virginia needs
All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk. This admonishment came from novelist and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most prolific Black literary figures of the 20th century. Tracy Chiles McGhee, a Zora Neale Hurston biographer, shares context, noting this reference is loosely drawn from Hurston’s 1942 autobiography, “Dust Tracks on a Road.” Zora unapologetically leaned into […]
Posted inLocal & State
Cuts threaten federal support for children with disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education is exploring relocating its special education programs, weeks after the Trump administration laid off nearly all staff in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), according to a department spokesperson. In a brief statement sent to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder’s media partner Word in Black, Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for […]
Posted inOpinion
We still have power until we give it away
Thirty years after the Million Man March, the fight for democracy and self-determination continues. The No King’s Movement revives that spirit of collective power — a reminder that unity remains our greatest defense against tyranny.
Posted inNews
We are witnessing Jim Crow 2.0
From book bans to museum censorship, attempts to sanitize U.S. history are accelerating. Denise Forte warns that “Jim Crow 2.0” is here—undermining education, truth, and democracy. Here’s why resisting historical erasure matters, and what must happen now.
Posted inOpinion
When Trump’s troops come, it won’t be to help Black people
I’ve lived long enough to know that when power feels cornered, it looks for a mirror to break. The Insurrection Act is that mirror, a 19th-century law revived whenever those in charge want to project fear instead of face truth. Written in 1807, the Act allows the president to deploy the military on U.S. soil, […]
Posted inPolitics
AG Ellison’s pushback pays off for Minnesotans
But how long can he and other AGs resist Trump’s overreach? In every corner of Minnesota, Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office has become a bulwark in what he casts as a constitutional struggle, one state-led lawsuit at a time. Across rural counties and in the halls of state agencies, his team is quietly but persistently […]
Posted inTelevision
Andrew Young Documentary Revisits the ‘Dirty Work’ Behind the Civil Rights Movement
A new MSNBC documentary, “Andrew Young: The Dirty Work,” highlights the hidden labor that held the civil rights movement together and the lessons the 93-year-old diplomat and former Atlanta mayor wants to pass on today.
Posted inOpinion
Why America is currently in a constitutional crisis
America’s constitutional crisis is not looming — it is here. Voting rights, due process, and the rule of law are under siege.
Posted inOpinion
Voting Rights at 60 still under attack
Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act, voter suppression persists. From felony disenfranchisement to restrictive laws, the fight for democracy continues.
Posted inOpinion
The MLK files endgame: Erase the man, then erase the holiday
The release of over 230,000 FBI files on Dr. King isn’t about truth — it’s about erasure. These coordinated attacks are designed to unravel civil rights progress and silence Black history. We must resist.
Posted inNational
A sentence, finally, but still no justice for Breonna Taylor
A federal judge rejected a one-day sentencing request from Trump’s DOJ for former Louisville officer Brett Hankison and imposed a nearly three-year prison sentence for his role in the 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor. Taylor’s family says the ruling offers a start — but not full justice.
Posted inLocal & State
HCMC faces allegations of racial bias, harassment, discrimination
Civil rights attorneys and health care advocates are urging the Hennepin County Board to launch a third-party investigation into HCMC following allegations of racial and gender discrimination, retaliation, and institutional harm.
Posted inOpinion
Black folks take note: It’s not just about immigrants
Black folks may think immigration raids don’t impact them — but they do. From surveillance creep to ICE detaining U.S. citizens, we’re already in the fight. And silence won’t save us.
Posted inOpinion
Reclaiming Juneteenth in a time of backlash
Cicley Gay of BLM reflects on Juneteenth as a celebration of Black joy and a call to resist erasure. “Freedom includes the right for everyone to play, to dream, and to live fully.”
Posted inOpinion
Trump again targets Black cities with LA crackdown
Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles without state consent echoes his 2020 crackdown on Black-led protests. With Project 2025 looming, Black communities must remain alert to growing federal overreach. Originally published by NNPA.