Category: World & Nation

Harvard University will relinquish ownership of the earliest known photographs of enslaved people as part of a historic legal settlement announced Wednesday by nationally renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump. The agreement resolves a 2019 lawsuit filed by Tamara Lanier, the great-great-great-granddaughter of an enslaved man known as “Papa Renty,” whose image, along with that of his daughter Delia and five others, was captured in 1850 to support racist scientific theories promoted by a Harvard professor.

At a large press conference on the House side of the U.S. Capitol, members of Congress rallied around Congresswoman LaMonica McIver (D-NJ). The members represented the diverse “tri-caucus” made up of many of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Women’s Caucus. The three groups represent over half of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House.

Charlie Rangel, the long-term Congressman and a heavyweight in New York politics as a member of Harlem’s”Gang of Four”, has died at 94. His colorful and charismatic personality, bowties, and raspy voice made him a character on Capitol Hill who was impossible to forget.

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a judicial doctrine that for years shielded law enforcement officers from civil liability in police shooting cases by allowing courts to assess force based only on the final moments before an officer pulled the trigger. In Barnes v. Felix, the high court struck down the Fifth Circuit’s “moment-of-threat” rule, which had been used to justify the 2016 killing of Ashtian Barnes, a Black man shot during a traffic stop outside Houston.

Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, according to a statement released by his office on Sunday. The statement said Biden’s diagnosis was characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5), indicating a high-grade cancer with bone metastasis. Physicians noted that while the disease is advanced, it is hormone-sensitive, which allows for treatment options that can help manage the cancer.

President Donald Trump abruptly fired the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on May 8. Hayden made history in 2016 as the first woman and first African American to run the Library of Congress. Her firing arrived in the form of an abrupt email in the evening hours. There are fears that President Trump may also target a second prominent Black federal official, Smithsonian Chief Lonnie Bunch, for no other reason than the perceived political bias in a position not known for partisan activity.

Nearly a year and a half after the violent beating that led to Tyre Nichols’s death shocked the nation, a Tennessee jury has acquitted three former Memphis police officers of all state charges related to the 29-year-old’s killing.

This Mother’s Day, we honor not just the love between a mother and her child, but the shared dreams, grit, and determination that can make those dreams a reality. Regina, 44, and her son Judah, 18, are proof that purpose has no age limit—and that it’s never too late or too early to answer a calling.

“There’s a real inflection point this May Day,” Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, said about the day unions worldwide attempt to recognize workers, their contributions, and the importance of fair employment practices and worker rights.