Henrietta Lacks Portrait Jointly Acquired By National Portrait Gallery And National Museum Of African American History And Culture
Photo credit: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images The National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) are remembering the immortal legacy of Henrietta Lacks with an installation of Kadir Nelson’s 2017 portrait of her. According to the NMAAHC, “The portrait was jointly acquired by the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian’s […]
D.C. Mayor Awards The Only All-Black, All-Female Team In NASA Science Competition With $4,000 Grant
Photo credit: Evelyn Hockstein 11th graders Mikayla Sharrieff, India Skinner and Bria Snell made up the only all-Black and all-female team to be named finalists in the NASA Goddard Optimus Prime Spinoff Promotion and Research Challenge. For their project, the Benjamin Banneker Academic High School students created a water filter developed to clean drinking water in schools. When NASA opened […]
Grandmother-Granddaughter Duo Graduate From College Together
All photos via: Tennessee State University Newsroom Over the weekend, Theresa Lyles and her granddaughter, Zuri Lyles, experienced an incredible milestone together: their college graduation from Tennessee State University (TSU). The 68-year-old grandmother and 22-year-old granddaughter duo walked across the stage in Hale Stadium on Saturday to receive their degree in sociology and health information management respectively. Zuri also […]
Archived Zora Neale Hurston Work, ‘Barracoon,’ Is Finally Published And Released
Today, the literary legacy of Zora Neale Hurston’s compelling and vividly written works will expand to include her first completed manuscript, titled “Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo.’” In 1931 when she originally finished the work, publishers were uninterested in the chronicled experiences of Cudjo Lewis who (at the time) was believed […]
Black-Owned Dallas Restaurant Closes Weekly To Serve And Uplift The Homeless
Paulette Johnson has successfully merged her love for cooking and for helping others by hosting a unique weekly event that’s open to the public. As the owner of Trucker’s Café, she closes her restaurant each Monday to serve the homeless of her surrounding Dallas, Texas community. Even though Mondays have traditionally been extremely busy for […]
Jessica Nabongo is Aiming to be the First Black Woman to Visit Every Country
All photos via: Jessica Nabongo By all accounts, 33-year-old Jessica Nabongo had achieved the “American dream” once she graduated from college, landed a six-figure job with a pharmaceutical company, and bought a home in her native Detroit. Yet very quickly she realized that her work wasn’t fulfilling. Born to Ugandan parents and already a holder […]
NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray Launches Mental Health Initiative For Black Men
Mental health is a widespread issue in the African American community that often goes undiagnosed due to a lack of access. But New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray is taking matters into her own hands to change that. She recently launched, Brothers Thrive, which aims to raise awareness around mental illness and provide Black […]
#BlackExcellence: This North Carolina Student Got Accepted Into 113 Colleges
Photo via: WFMY News 2 Black excellence is still at an all-time high! 17-year-old Jasmine Harrison has been accepted into 113 colleges and awarded over $4.5 million in merit-based scholarship money. The Greensboro, North Carolina student also received full rides from three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Bennett College, Ed Waters College, and […]
FAMU Grad Gives Back To Underserved Jacksonville Community By Opening A Pharmacy
In April of 2018, Dr. Albert Chester, II and a crowd of over 100 people celebrated the grand opening of New Town Pharmacy. Opening the pharmacy, which is the only pharmacy within a 3-mile radius for area community members, was a dream come true that Dr. Chester and his family saved for two years to […]
Victoria Mahoney Becomes First Black Woman To Direct A ‘Star Wars’ Film
Photo credit: Rob Latour/Variety/Rex/Shutterstock The “Star Wars” universe is adding some much needed diversity to its staff with filmmaker Victoria Mahoney being tapped by J.J. Abrams to serve as a second-unit director for the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode IX” film. This will make Mahoney the first African-American woman to hold a directorial seat in the […]