The Cleveland Observer

Photo: Getty Images Nearly 800 incarcerated people have been deployed as firefighters to help quell the severe wildfires across Southern California, The Guardian reports. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), roughly 783 incarcerated firefighters had been deployed as of Thursday (January 9) to battle the Los Angeles-area wildfires that have left […]

Photo: Getty Images NAACP President Derrick Johnson is urging President Joe Biden to deliver on “critical promises” before the end of his administration. On Wednesday (January 8), theGrio released an op-ed by Johnson in which he called on Biden to take action on key promises, including police accountability, clemency for drug offenders, and eliminating student […]

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the picket line at the Scripto plant in Atlanta, Ga., December, 1964. AP by Peter Cole, Western Illinois University If Martin Luther King Jr. still lived, he’d probably tell people to join unions. King understood racial equality was inextricably linked to economics. He asked, “What good does it do […]

South Side Chicagoan and former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The Office of Barack and Michelle Obama confirmed her decision but did not provide a reason. “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” […]

As flames tore through the picturesque foothills of Altadena and Pasadena on January 7, 2025, the Eaton Canyon fires left a historic Black community—rooted in the Civil Rights Movement—nearly wiped out. Among the hardest-hit areas in Los Angeles County, Altadena has seen its many Black-owned homes, churches, businesses, and landmarks reduced to ashes. The unincorporated […]

Chuck D, the legendary frontman of Public Enemy, has long emphasized the power of visuals in shaping understanding. “People listen with their eyes; they don’t really listen with their ears,” he has said, noting the weight of images emanating from the Los Angeles County wildfires. That perspective has taken on new significance as Public Enemy’s […]

Nikyra Dedeaux  Among the 14 victims of the New Year’s Day truck attack along Bourbon Street were four African Americans, the New Pittsburgh Courier has learned: 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, of Gulfport, Miss.; 37-year-old Reggie Hunter, of Prairieville, Louisiana; 47-year-old Latasha Polk, of New Orleans; and 63-year-old Terrence Kennedy, of New Orleans. More than 30 others […]

January 8 1866—Fisk University is founded in Nashville, Tenn., for recently freed slaves by the American Missionary Association. The college grows to become one of the leading Black institutions of higher learning in America by graduating several figures that played major roles in Black cultural, political and entertainment life. 1961—Calvin Smith, hall of fame track […]

Among them were groundbreaking figures, including two Black women Senators and two Black U.S. House members from Alabama serving simultaneously for the first time. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) celebrated a historic milestone with its largest membership ever, as 62 Black lawmakers were sworn in ahead of the 119th United States Congress. Among them were […]

The black security fences are up again. National Guard troops are on standby. Law enforcement is prepared, leaving nothing to chance. Four years after the Capitol was overtaken in a deadly assault, the country braces itself for the certification of another presidential election. The contrast is stark between the peace that should mark the cornerstone […]