The spotlight returns to Tulsa this weekend, the 105th commemoration of the Race Massacre that decimated one of the nation’s most prominent displays of Black success. After a white mob swept through the area in 1921 burning and looting, hundreds were killed and even more fled the area. Some of the dead were buried in mass graves in the southwest corner of Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery.

In 2019 – almost a century after the massacre – a ground penetrating radar survey detected the presence of remains. Months later in 2020, the City of Tulsa started physically digging for bodies and mass graves. 

Since the initial 2020 dig, the city has led multiple rounds of archaeological excavations. The first mass grave containing the remains of multiple massacre victims was found in October 2020. A larger, full-scale excavation and exhumation process began in the “Original 18” site, which is connected to a newspaper article that reported 18 bodies were being held at funeral homes and would be transported to Oaklawn Cemetery because their loved ones had not claimed their bodies due to the chaos following the massacre. Many of the residents who survived were also placed in internment camps, leading to displacement and scrutiny from whites.

The most recent multi-week excavation wrapped up in November 2025, which led to the discovery of dozens of additional unmarked graves.

Historians recall the Greenwood district in 1921, also dubbed “Black Wall Street,”  as an area with hundreds of Black-owned businesses, luxury hotels, theaters, and doctor’s offices. The area rose because economic discrimination created the need for independence, but the whites, who oversaw the system of oppression, became envious of the prosperity and sought to destroy the demonstration of collective determination.
Today, only one person is still alive who survived the massacre. Lessie Benningfield Randle is 111, and she continues to fight for justice and reparations for the victims and descendants of the residents of the Greenwood district.

The Congressional Black Caucus recently sounded the alarm, calling the Republican-led gerrymandering efforts across the country an assault on Black voter protections.

According to the CBC, 19 of its 62 members may lose their seats after the redistricting and the Supreme Court’s gutting of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The high court sanctioned Congressional maps providing a “partisan” advantage, but not a racial one. Critics say the developments open the door for dramatically decreased Black representation in Congress.

Representative Yvette Clark, who chairs the CBC, described the national redistricting strategy as a “power grab.” 

CBC members and political scientists describe the mid-decade redistricting plans, which were initiated by President Donald Trump, as an attack on Black voters.

In Tennessee, the state legislature successfully split the district that includes Memphis, a predominantly Black urban area, into three districts.

“Overall, the Congressional district plan is Black vote dilution at an industrial scale,” stated Dr. Sekou Franklin, the executive director of the John Lewis Center for Social Justice at Fisk University. “It eliminates the largest urban and naturally-cohesive Congressional district, of which Black voters can elect a candidate of their choice. This has not happened since before the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who has represented the 5th Congressional District which includes Kansas City for more than two decades, faces an uncertain future. The Missouri legislature targeted Cleaver by dividing the district, a Democratic stronghold, into three districts. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected challenges to the map, declaring it constitutional.

Vice President J.D. Vance campaigned today in the now Republican-friendly district, remarking on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling. 

“We had that great Supreme Court case that said a crazy thing, like maybe we shouldn’t discriminate against people based on race, right, very common sense,” said Vance.

The CBC has pushed back against the gerrymandering trend and announced plans to continue challenging the Republican efforts.

In a statement, members added: “We are working with partners in state legislatures across the South, alongside the legal and civil rights communities, to challenge these maps in court and mobilize our communities to the ballot box.”

In a recent social media rant, President Donald Trump hurled his favorite insult at House Democratic leader, New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, calling Jeffries “low IQ” and a “thug.” Trump’s denigration came as he called for Jeffries to be charged for allegedly inciting the violence at the Washington Correspondents Dinner two weeks ago when a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump. 

In conversations held publicly around news desks and in homes, barbershops, and backyard BBQs, one of the questions that invariably surfaces focuses on whether Donald Trump is a racist. Most Black Americans have a ready answer. Mother Jones raised the question earlier this week in an article, and their analysis of his use of the insulting description, “low IQ,” offers credible evidence. 

In the last 10 years, Trump used “low IQ” 75 times, and more than half of those times, he applied it to prominent Black Americans. Here’s a look at the numbers. 

• Vice President Kamala Harris: Targeted 23 times; Trump has called the Vice-President “very low IQ individual”.
• Congresswoman Maxine Waters: Targeted at least 8 times; described as an “extraordinarily low IQ person”.
• Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson: Attacked as “that new, Low IQ person” on the Supreme Court.
• Minority Whip Hakeem Jeffries: Called a “totally low IQ person” and a “thug”.
• Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson: Targeted 5 times.
• Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett: Referred to as a “low-IQ person” during a Meet the Press appearance.
• Radio Host Charlamagne tha God: Labeled a “low IQ individual” in response to his public comments.
• Other Targets: He has also questioned the intelligence of figures like Basketball Superstar LeBron James, Newscaster Don Lemon, and former Trump Supporter Omarosa Manigault Newman.

Jeffries responded with a post of his own, referring to Trump as the “dumbest” president in history.

High gas prices continue to dominate the headlines as the U.S. and Iranian stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz persists. Compounding consumer frustration–especially for Black Americans–is an unemployment rate almost double that of the national average and other ethnic groups.

For Black Americans, the March 2026 unemployment rate was 7.1% while the national average was 4.3%. Earlier in the year, the unemployment rate was even higher, fluctuating between 7.3% in January to 7.7% in February.

During the past few months, the unemployment rate among Black men and women, who are  noncollege graduates, has dropped. But overall, the unemployment rate among Black men is higher in 2026 than it was this time last year.

Black women with college degrees and those who work in public sector jobs have seen professional progress eroded under Trump’s attacks on federal workers and DEI policies.
Despite the impact of Trump’s policies on Black Americans, recent polling shows he has found an opening among a block of voters historically loyal to Democrats. A 2025 Gallup poll found  22% of Black voters approved of Donald Trump’s leadership compared to 13% in 2017 during his first term. 

Mary Jones Fitts and her mother always enjoyed returning home to Demopolis, Alabama. Back in 2010, they were cruising through their old neighborhood when her mother, Mary Ida Calhoun, 85, casually pointed at a one-story blue house on East Washington Street.

“That was the Juanita Coleman Hospital,” said her mother.

Jones Fitts was puzzled. “Who was Juanita Coleman?”   

“She was a Black lady from Tuskegee who came to Demopolis and found out there was not a hospital for Black people,” said her mother. “So, she built this hospital.”

This was a life-changing conversation for Jones Fitts. It was the first time her mother mentioned the name Juanita Coleman or that a Black woman founded a hospital in west central Alabama – during the Jim Crow era.  The revelation was even more surprising because Jones Fitts is the former director and president of the local Marengo County History and Archives Museum.  Black history was her passion and she had absolutely no record of Juanita Coleman.

The revelation inspired Jones Fitts to dig for more information and bring the Juanita Coleman story to life. But in this Alabama community where Black people make up roughly half of the population, Jones Fitts was frustrated that more people did not know this story. She encountered some Black residents who were old enough to remember the Juanita Coleman Hospital but expressed a reluctance to talk about the painful history of discrimination that made an all-Black hospital necessary for survival.

“No more,” Jones Fitts told herself. “It’s time to tell our stories.”

Backstory

Nannie Juanita Coleman was born August 5, 1885, in Temple, Texas. After high school, Coleman studied at The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama where she graduated in 1908.

Coleman’s earliest achievements are documented in a few books and research papers. In 1915, at the age of 30, The Tuskegee Institute hired Coleman as the first female home demonstration agent to uplift poor Black families with lessons in agriculture, health, and homemaking.

During her years as a demonstration agent, Coleman had an important mentor by her side – Margaret Murray Washington. Washington was one of the most influential women in America as the principal of Tuskegee Institute and the widow of Booker T. Washington.

Under Mrs. Washington’s guidance, Coleman stages what might have been her most significant achievement. She raised money to secure space and furnishings to fulfill medical needs for the Black community in Demopolis. In 1923, Coleman purchased a house on Washington Street.

Juanita Coleman Hospital dedication

On December 15, 1923, The Montgomery Advertiser announced the opening of the Juanita Coleman Hospital. Approximately 600 people attended the dedication. The event was held in the town’s Confederate Park.

The total cost of the 12-bed facility and the furnishings was $6,000. Hospital superintendent Coleman is credited as the owner and operator who invested $2,000 of her own savings (the equivalent of $35,000 in 2023.) “The rest of the money was secured through donations from those interested in the movement, “according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

Despite her significant financial stake, ownership and naming rights, Juanita Coleman did not have complete autonomy over her hospital operations. Coleman reported to a board of trustees consisting of three Black and four White community leaders.

No Black doctors allowed

In 1923, The Selma Times Journal reported the purpose of the new Juanita Coleman Hospital was to provide care for “colored patients and training of colored nurses.” But there was one catch – Black doctors were not allowed to practice medicine at the hospital. The ban is spelled out in a single sentence near the end of the article “Only White doctors are to practice in this hospital.” The article provides no further explanation or context.

It’s possible that White leaders in Demopolis established discriminatory ground rules around Superintendent Coleman’s hospital as a condition of support or to limit competition between Black and White doctors. It’s also worth noting that a hospital exclusively for Black people also provided an excuse for White hospitals to continue the long-standing practice of denying medical services to Black people.

On the hospital’s fourth anniversary, The Demopolis Times published a thank you letter from Coleman to the community for “splendid” donations and financial help “thus making it possible for us to go a little further,” she wrote.

The struggle to pay bills

Juanita Coleman’s hospital operated on “small fees paid by patients and the generosity of the public”. A remarkable accomplishment, especially during the Great Depression when the hospital temporarily closed its doors. In the spring of 1931, Coleman took out an advertisement in the Demopolis Times and announced the “reopening” of her hospital. This time, she informs readers that the hospital doors will be open to “all licensed physicians.” This appears to be Coleman’s victory in toppling the Black doctor ban. 

It’s unknown when the hospital officially closed. The last known newspaper reference to her hospital is a furniture sale announcement published in The Demopolis Times in 1953. At the same time, Coleman was working in Washington D.C. as a counselor at an Industrial school for girls. Newspaper accounts indicate Coleman travelled frequently between Washington D.C. and Alabama. 

So far, there has been no documentation of Coleman’s life in the 1960’s. She died in 1973 and was buried in Maryland.

More amazing discoveries

Not long after the 2010 revelation about the Juanita Coleman Hospital, Mary Jones Fitts returned to the blue house on Washington Street. She met the owner, who was unaware of the building’s history. Walking through the front door, Jones Fitts felt like she was stepping back into time. Inside, she noticed a number affixed to each door in the central hallway. They were the actual room numbers original to the hospital.

The discoveries continued several years later, when the homeowner found hospital artifacts in the attic including a white cabinet containing medical instruments. Perhaps the most valuable find was a framed painting of an unidentified woman. The painting bears a strong resemblance to Coleman’s mentor, Margaret Murray Washington, the wife of Booker T. Washington. Both items have been on display at the Marengo County history and archives museum as the only public exhibit of Juanita Coleman’s hospital.

Author’s note: I’ve known for many years that in the 1920’s, my grandmother, Inez Taylor Drake RN was the head nurse at a hospital in Demopolis, Alabama. No one in my family, including my 89-year-old mother, had ever heard of the name Juanita Coleman. This led my family back into our scrapbooks where we found a century-old Demopolis postcard. On the back, my grandmother confirms what we never knew until now: “Sis Coleman introduces me to folks as her head nurse from Texas,” my grandmother wrote home to her younger sister. “Do you reckon I get to be somebody at last.”

Juanita Coleman Legacy

As a historian, Mary Jones Fitts believes she has a responsibility to continue telling the story, especially when she encounters life-long Demopolis residents who have never heard of the Juanita Coleman hospital. “Coleman was a force to be reckoned with,” says Jones Fitts. “She definitely left her mark.”

In addition to the legacy, Jones Fitts also thinks about her own mother who died two years after the Juanita Coleman revelation. What if her mother had remained quiet about this important piece of Black history?

“I wouldn’t be the historian that I am today,” says Jones Fitts. “My mother loved Demopolis. She loved the people that were here. Learning about Juanita Coleman started me on a journey that I am still on today.”

About the author: Carlton Houston is a former journalist, writer and historian. For more history stories, follow Carlton on Instagram @myhistoryvibe

Image Credits: Juanita Coleman listening to one of her pupils read in her adult class Source: Library of Congress.

As the 42 million Americans who receive federal food assistance struggle to figure out how to make ends meet during the government shutdown, two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to continue funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, nationwide. The Agriculture Department said it would run out of money to fund the program on November 1, but the judges ordered the government to use the contingency funds earmarked for SNAP.

President Trump has responded to the judges’ ruling, posting on Truth Social that he had “instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.” The nation’s budget is at the heart of the government impasse between Republicans and Democrats, which has lasted 31 days.

As the debate continues, here’s what you need to know:

1. White Americans make up over 35% of SNAP recipients. African Americans comprise 26% of the participants, Hispanics are over 16%. Asians are nearly 4% and Native Americans a little over 1%. Due to incomplete reporting, the race of 17% of recipients is unknown.

2. In 28% of SNAP households, the recipients had earned income or jobs. The number increases to 55% when there are children.

3. According to The New York Times, the 10 states with the largest proportion of SNAP recipients are: New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

4. Four in five SNAP households or 80% include a child, an elderly person or someone with a disability.
5. The average SNAP benefit per person is $190.59 per person per month or $356.21 per household per month as of September 2024.

The U.S. Black Chambers of Commerce recently unveiled its new campus, which was the former BET headquarters, located on more than seven acres in the nation’s capital.

USBC President Ron Busby, said, “When I reflect on the journey of the U.S. Black Chambers over the past 16 years, I see a story of resilience, vision, and progress. This campus is the next chapter of that story — not just a building, but a living symbol of what happens when we claim our space, own our future, and build institutions that outlast us.”

For five years, Busby worked to bring his vision of a permanent home for the “voice of Black Business” to fruition. Relying on his faith and an impressive roster of supporters, he navigated a changing political landscape and uncertainty for businesses, large and small.

“The USBC Innovation Campus is about more than today’s entrepreneurs; it’s about ensuring that generations to come inherit a place where their ideas, voices, and businesses can thrive,” he explained.

Amid the upheaval of today’s economy with its growing list of mass layoffs, increased tariffs and tightened access to capital, Black entrepreneurs are finding renewed hope in efforts to build a community that helps fuel their goals.

History is on their side.

Even during slavery, some free Blacks managed to establish small businesses, and for a very small number of the enslaved, there were limited opportunities to “hire themselves out” for income. After the Civil War and during Reconstruction, there was a sharp rise in Black business ownership as men and women embraced ways to exercise their freedom. Despite the frequent threats and incidents of violence, this commitment to claim their place in spaces that had been off-limits served only to fortify their determination.

The harsh reality of Jim Crow and its relentless discrimination created a demand for more Black businesses. Entrepreneurs provided services to their communities, even though many consumers had very little discretionary income. The “internal” economies that sprang up around the country employed other African Americans and led to Tulsa’s Black Wall Street and insurance companies like North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and Atlanta Life Insurance Company. Madame C.J. Walker also emerged during this era.

“My object in life is not simply to make money for myself or to spend it on myself in dressing or running around in an automobile, but I love to use a part of what I make in trying to help others” she said.

Fast forward more than a century, and the development of a campus devoted exclusively to nurture Black entrepreneurship would have been among Walker’s and the ancestors’  wildest dreams. It certainly has been one of Ron Busby’s, and he would like to see the USBC Innovation Campus play a pivotal role in helping others realize theirs.  

The Texas House reconvened today, but failed to reach a quorum for the second day in a row as the Democrats, who left the state in an orchestrated effort to delay the state’s Republican-led legislature from moving forward with its redistricting map that would create five more GOP congressional seats, show no signs of returning home soon.

One of the Texas lawmakers who fled to New York, state Representative Jolanda Jones said that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is “trying to get soundbites” by threatening to arrest the lawmakers who have left the state.

President Donald Trump says the FBI “might have to” locate the lawmakers. Trump’s statement comes hours after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the state police to locate the lawmakers. However, the civil arrest warrants that have been issued do not extend beyond the state of Texas, and the 50 Democrats involved in the redistricting protest are in predominantly blue states like Illinois and New York.

Jones held back tears as she discussed the decision she and her legislative colleagues have made.

“I can’t imagine living in a time with no voting rights; I can’t imagine living in a time with no civil rights, but that’s where we are,” Jones said. “Yes, it’s hard. I have a granddaughter. I adore her. I miss her, but I’m going to have to be okay with FaceTime because I can’t come back to see her. There’s not a doubt in my mind that the Texas State Troopers will arrest me, and if I’m arrested, I literally can’t fight for democracy, so I’ve got to sacrifice. It is what it is. It makes me sad, but it is what it is.”

Texas State Senator Borris Miles released a statement announcing his support of Jones and the other legislators who broke quorum. 

Miles wrote, “It is a blatant racist power grab. The ramifications of this [mid-decade redistricting] are not just a danger to Texas; they will ripple through this country, threatening the fabric of our entire nation.”

Miles said he and other Texas lawmakers will meet with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey this week at the National Conference of State Legislatures Annual Summit in Boston to discuss ways to “sound the alarm.”

In Illinois – another blue state – the absent Texas lawmakers have received support from Governor JB Pritzker, and the Democratic National Committee Chair, Ken Martin, said they will “fight fire with fire.”

Pritzker added, “We’re going to everything we can to protect every single one of them and make sure that – ‘cause we know they’re doing the right thing, we know that they’re following the law.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “That’s why the gloves are off, and I say, ‘Bring it on.” Hochul and other political leaders in blue states have begun talking about redistricting drives to form maps favorable to Democratic candidates.

Many Black Americans have developed an immunity to shocking news headlines stemming from the Trump Administration’s open hostility toward minority communities and its rush to undo democratic principles, but the recent news about a whites-only community in northern Arkansas has flooded social media newsfeeds and traditional TV and radio newscasts.

The 160-acre community in the Ozark Hills near Ravenden, Arkansas, attempts to navigate civil rights guidelines by labeling the area as a Private Members Association. There are 40 members currently living in the settlement, but hundreds more around the world have paid the membership fee to join Return to the Land ( RTTL). 

Founder Eric Orwoll said in an interview that has gone viral, “What we’ve done here is establish a place where we have control over who our neighbors are – and that is just for the sake of, you know, preserving our culture.”

RTTL welcomes only white Christians. The settlement is explicitly declared a whites-only community, excluding Jewish people, followers of non-European religions, and LGBTQ individuals. Members are evaluated on European ancestry via interviews and a screening process.

“You know, you don’t let everyone in,” Orwoll added.

Members are building their own homes, streets, and there is a schoolhouse. A young mother explained why she and her family have moved to the settlement, explaining that she was “doing this for her ancestors, my friends, my family, my children and my children’s children.”

Dr. Dara Gaines, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, said, “This is an environment where they feel bold enough to say something like this or do something like this without fear of retribution or prosecution. The political scientist in me says that it’s unfortunate, but not unexpected, that this sentiment exists. I think it’s very telling about the political position we are in that these people feel so emboldened.”

Gaines is a native Arkansan who grew in the southern part of the state. She pointed to Harrison, Arkansas, which has been known for racial tension and ties to the Ku Klux Klan, as an example of progress – citing the city’s recent efforts to improve its image.

“But, they [RTTL] think this racism is to be applauded,” Gaines added.

Legal experts say the community’s structure could be a violation of the Fair Housing Act. Civil rights groups have also indicated that labeling a community as a private club may not provide protection from laws prohibiting discrimination.

Arkansas’ attorney general has also expressed displeasure with the new community. Republican Tim Griffin has been an opponent of DEI initiatives and embraced other right-wing philosophies, but he said his office is looking into RTTL’s settlement. 

Griffin stated, “Racial discrimination has no place in Arkansas or anywhere in a free society. These allegations raise all sorts of legal issues, including constitutional concerns.” 

The group would like to expand from its northeast Arkansas flagship community, which started in 2023, further north into Missouri. A second site nearby opened in January 2025, and there are reports of plans to move into the Appalachian mountains.

“I would like to have more communities so that people in all parts of the U.S. have this as an option if they want,” Orwoll said. “I would also like us to network and branch out internationally.”

In yet another obvious attempt to shift the country’s attention from the Jeffrey Epstein files, President Donald Trump is calling for the prosecution of former Vice President Kamala Harris, Oprah, Beyonce and Rev. Al Sharpton, alleging that the Democratic party funneled millions of dollars to high-profile figures in exchange for support of its presidential candidate – Kamala Harris.

Trump says the 35-time Grammy-winning artist was paid millions to appear at a Harris rally in Houston on October 25, and it was “probably illegal.” The baseless claim was made in May, but as his political supporters clamor for the release of more documents from the Epstein investigation, Trump has repeated the unsubstantiated claim in an attempt to redirect their attention.

At the energetic campaign rally last fall, Beyonce endorsed the Vice President and called for unity. 

“It’s time to sing a new song, a song that began 248 years ago. The old notes of downfall, discord, despair no longer resonate,” she said. “Our generations of loved ones before us are whispering a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem. Our moment right now – it’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity.”

Beyonce wrapped up her successful “Cowboy Carter” tour last night in Las Vegas and has not issued a statement.

Last week Trump accused President Barack Obama of treason. Trump and his National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard alleged that Obama promoted a “contrived narrative” that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump. Gabbard released declassified documents she said support her claims of Obama’s “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine Trump.

Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said, “Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”

According to a report by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), social media comments calling for Obama’s imprisonment or execution surged between July 17 and July 20, after the Trump administration claimed Obama’s administration “manipulated and withheld” key information about the extent to which Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election.

On Friday Ghislane Maxwell, who was convicted of helping Epstein run a sex trafficking ring, was subpoenaed to testify before Congress on August 11. In 2019, Epstein was charged with sex trafficking minors and died while in jail. 

Trump’s MAGA supporters have called for the release of all documents related to the Epstein case, which Trump said he would do while on the campaign trail in 2024. Reportedly Trump was told in May by his own attorney general that his name appears in the Epstein files. Trump and Epstein were friends in the 1990s and early 2000s. Photos and communication between the two have surfaced within the last few weeks, and Republicans are clamoring for transparency.