10 Million Names Project Digs Into History Of Black Families

The 10 Million Names Project is a project from American Ancestors that is designed to create a database of names and stories of Black people who were enslaved in the United States before 1865. Kendra Field, the project’s chief historian tells ABC News: “Before roughly the mid-20th century, data about enslaved Africans and their descendants was really hard to locate. It was often obscured or erased or difficult to find. During that same period, descendants from, say, Mayflower, had access to a whole different set of tools and documents.” According to their website, the project aims to collect information through a collaborative network of genealogists, historians, cultural organizations, and descendant communities. The project’s intention is to create a document-based research database to amplify the voices and stories of people who have been trying to archive their family stories for centuries. They estimate that the 10 million people who were enslaved between the 16th Century and the Civil War have around 44 million descendants who were separated forcibly from their family histories by slavery. 

Black Enterprise

The Closest Calls: How America Nearly Forged a Different Path in 1916

An accidental snub changed history.

Politico

Does IUD Insertion Really Have to Be So Painful?

In this op-ed originally published inVogue, Hannah Jackson explores pain management for IUD insertion.

Teen Vogue

Lizzo’s Former Dancers Are Suing. Here’s What She’s Accused of and How She’s Responded

The lawsuit details numerous allegations and the Grammy-winning singer has responded to them on social media.

them

GOP Rep. Chip Roy threatens to defund DOJ, DHS

“And I can tell you right now for all my colleagues, I will not vote for a continuing resolution or any funding for DHS or DOJ if we don’t get changes to both,” Roy said. “I want the border secure. I want DOJ restored to following the rule of law and we should use the power of the purse as James Madison wrote in Federalist 58: It’s the most powerful weapon against an over tyrannical executive branch that we see unfold right now before us.”

The Hill

Voting rights face more threats today than Jim Crow era, advocate says

“It comes at a time when voting rights are more under attack now than during the Jim Crow era,” said Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. The voting rights advocate lamented that Republican politicians have created “newer forms” to “suppress votes and intimidate voters.”

The Grio

Rosenwald Schools helped educate Black students in segregated South. Could a national park follow?

It was in schools like this one, and nearly 5,000 others built in the American South a century ago, that Black students largely ignored by whites in power gained an educational foundation through the generosity of a Jewish businessman who could soon be memorialized with a national park.

AP News

Lawyers successfully argued that a Jim Crow-era law banning felons from voting is cruel and unusual punishment

Mississippi lawmakers in 1890 drafted a new state constitution designed to strip Black Americans of their voting rights by implementing a poll tax and literacy tests. These Jim Crow-era laws included a lifetime voting ban on any Mississippi resident convicted of certain felonies.

That lifetime ban is still in effect in the state today, more than 130 years later.

Now, a Mississippi legal team is seeking to repeal the law — and they secured a win in a federal appeals court last week after arguing the provision constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The victory came in the 5th Circuit, one of the country’s most conservative, the Washington Post reports.

Insider

Migrants Are Stuck in NYC’s Shelter System. What’s the City Doing to Get Them Out?

One year since the first buses of migrants arrived in New York, expert organizations say they have solid plans of how to help — but are being completely ignored

Rolling Stone

DeSantis’ ‘anti-woke’ bills are costing Florida millions of dollars in business

A slew of new bills signed into law by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has draped the Sunshine State in controversy, spurring protests, lawsuits and travel advisories warning the state is “openly hostile” toward people of color, immigrants, women and LGBTQ+ community members.

CBS News

Comity crumbles on Congress’ Covid committee

The decadelong friendship between Reps. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) and Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) survived elections, impeachments and the Jan. 6 insurrection. But the battle over where to place blame for the last pandemic, and how to confront the next one, is testing its limits.

Politico

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop! ‘Expelled’ Tennessee Democrats Win Back State House Seats

Get used to seeing Tennessee state Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson because they aren’t going anywhere.

Both freshman legislators, who were expelled from the House in April 2023 for protesting gun violence, have won both their seats back, Associated Press reports.

Black Enterprise

The election that could determine the future of democracy in Ohio

Ohio will be voting on a measure that makes it harder to amend the constitution in a high-stakes election – and the Republican proposal is ‘minority rule’, experts say

The Guardian

Veterans see historic expansion of benefits for toxic exposure as new law nears anniversary

Under the law, certain cancers and ailments are presumed to be connected to the burn pits that were used to dispose of trash and potentially toxic materials. For veterans who served during the Vietnam War, hypertension and other conditions were added to the list of problems presumed to be caused by exposure to Agent Orange, which was used by the U.S. military to clear vegetation.

AP News

Some states are trying to boost youth voter registration. Here’s what they’re doing

Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, signed a voting bill into law about three months ago that would make it easier for young people to register to vote — even before they turn 18.

NPR

Black mayor of tiny Alabama town says he was ousted by his White predecessor

Patrick Braxton accomplished something no Black man in his Alabama town had done in its 166-year history: he became mayor.

He told CNN he ran for office in 2020 to serve the fewer than 300 residents of Newbern, to connect them to help if they didn’t have enough food or to spread information on staying healthy in the Covid pandemic.

And when there were no other declared candidates, he won by default.

CNN

Senate forces Biden into personnel standstill ahead of 2024

The Senate’s unprecedented lack of action on President Biden’s nominees has left the administration at a personnel standstill, with a Cabinet official’s confirmation process at a dead end and military leadership unable to move forward with promotions.

Almost six months after the president nominated Julie Su to head the Department of Labor, the Senate has made little progress getting her across the finish line because moderate Democrats do not support her. Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is holding up hundreds of military advancements in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy.

The Hill

Black Trans Activist Dominique Morgan Just Had an Omaha Street Named in Her Honor

Domonique Morgan is believed to be the first out Black trans woman to have a street named in her honor.

them

Wow, there’s actually a GOP presidential candidate who’s standing up for LGBTQ+ people

Former Texas congressman Will Hurd, who’s billing himself as a “common sense” and “modern” Republican, is running a digital ad with the sensible message that conservatives should focus on defeating Vladimir Putin and not fighting LGBTQ+ people.

Queerty

SAG-AFTRA, WGA Strikes Are Trying to Topple a Broken Industry

In this op-ed, news and politics editor Lexi McMenamin connects the ongoing TV and film strikes to the rise of reboots and remakes, and asks if we can build something better.

Teen Vogue

Mexico finds 491 migrants in vacant lot en route to U.S. — and 277 of them are children

There were 277 children and adolescents among the migrants, most of whom were traveling with relatives. But there were also 52 unaccompanied minors.

CBS News

Eddie Izzard aims to stand in Brighton at next general election

Comedian Eddie Izzard has said she will stand for one of Brighton’s parliamentary seats.

BBC

Hiroshima: Atomic bomb survivors keep memory alive

As the city pays homage to the victims of the 1945 nuclear bombing, the memories are being preserved by the next generation. Survivors tell their stories to “successors” who in turn spread the word.

Deutsche Welle

Israeli extradited to the US over visa fraud scheme

Shai Cohen, 39, was indicted on Friday for leading a visa fraud scheme with the aim of facilitating the illegal entry and employment of noncitizens in the United States, the US Department of Justice said on Saturday (DoJ).

Jerusalem Post

Two Israelis arrested after Palestinian man killed in West Bank

Two Israelis have been arrested for questioning and five others detained following the reported killing of a Palestinian man in the West Bank, Israel Police said in a statement Saturday.

CNN

China floods: Torrential rains in Hebei province leave 10 dead

At least 10 people have died and 18 are missing after torrential rains battered Hebei province in northern China.

BBC

Libyan governing body’s vote to replace its head adds uncertainty to the country’s split politics

Members of the Supreme Council of State, which is separate from both of the governments and is based in the capital of Tripoli, voted for Mohamed Takala to be the body’s new leader.

AP News

Ukraine updates: Russia launches dozens of missiles, drones

Russia has unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine, including hypersonic missiles and Iranian-made drones.

Deutsche Welle

At Least 28 Dead as Express Train Derails in Pakistan’s Sindh Province

The rescue operation is going on with the help of Pakistan Army, Sindh Rangers, and Provincial Government.

The Quint

Russia has arrested nearly 20,000 people for protesting Ukraine war

The report found that 19,062 people were arrested during protest rallies while 325 were arrested after the fact. Another 360 people have been arrested for posts made to social media or remarks made in private discussions.The majority of the arrests, about 15,354 of them, were made in the first month of the invasion as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime cracked down on dissent.

UPI

The Chinese town engulfed by a flood to save Beijing

As the flooding emergency in western Beijing turned deadlier at the beginning of this week, taking out bridges, washing away dozens of cars at a time, and wreaking havoc on the city, the decision was made to divert the raging waters.

BBC