By VICTORIA IFATUSIN, GABRIELLE LEWIS and JAMILLE WHITLOW The Howard Center For Investigative Journalism PALESTINE, Texas — Every weekend, beginning when she was 14, Constance Hollie-Jawaid would head to the ninth floor of the Dallas Public Library. She’d stay for hours, combing through land deeds, court records and census records. She said she was there […]
Author Archives: Capital News Service
Posted inAfro Briefs
Newspapers falsely reported Slocum Massacre as a race revolt
By VICTORIA IFATUSIN, GABRIELLE LEWIS and JAMILLE WHITLOW The Howard Center For Investigative Journalism SLOCUM, Texas — White men bought ammunition and stopped at saloons on a hot summer day in 1910 in Slocum, Texas. They had sheltered their wives and children in churches and schools. They believed a racial revolt was underway. And so, […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Redistricting group releases draft congressional maps
By ALLISON MOLLENKAMP Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The General Assembly’s redistricting group released four draft congressional maps Tuesday, but critics say the maps show signs of continued gerrymandering. The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, established earlier this year by the Legislature’s Democratic leadership, released the maps days after the state’s other redistricting commission delivered […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Federal lawmakers in both parties seek to redress veteran homelessness
By GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO Capital News Service WASHINGTON — While homelessness among veterans improved dramatically between 2009 and 2019, thousands remain on the streets – a tragedy lawmakers in both parties are seeking to address in proposed legislation. In March, Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, introduced […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Cybersecurity concerns grow in hospitals across Maryland
By A.R. Cabral Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland hospitals are seeing an uptick in ransomware and other cybersecurity threats, mirroring a national trend, and a federal agency is investigating a dozen breaches among healthcare providers in the state. There are seven breaches currently under investigation from this year alone but there are 12 current investigations […]
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Abortion bans disproportionately impact marginalized communities, activists say
By BRITTANY N. GADDY and KELLY LIVINGSTON Capital News Service WASHINGTON – As reproductive rights are being restricted in nearly two dozen states, marginalized communities, including people of color and LGBTQ people, are being disproportionately impacted, according to activists. A variety of abortion restrictions have been passed in 21 states, with others pending in state […]
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New virtual reality course lowers stress at recovery centers
By RACHEL LOGAN Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. — At two Maryland substance use disorder treatment facilities, patients can use music, yoga and even a virtual reality lesson plan to practice mindfulness and decrease stress. When a patient dons a proprietary wireless and light headset and noise-canceling headphones, they are immersed in a new world. […]
Posted inNEWS
Virginia voters want family caregiver relief
Mildred Tompkins discusses a proposal for paid family medical leave while helping at a community Halloween festival in Charleston, W.Va., on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Tompkins said her two daughters could have benefitted from the plan, which was removed from President Joe Biden’s social spending plan because of opposition from West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
A racist caricature ran on newspaper fronts for decades
Hambone’s Meditations cartoon: The Hambone’s Meditations cartoon, created by a cartoonist for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., ran in newspapers throughout the South, sometimes on their front pages. The racist caricature was created in 1916 and continued running in the Commercial Appeal until 1968. By BRITTANY N. GADDY The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Newspapers called lynching of Black Mississippi woman ‘mysterious affair’
By BRITTANY N. GADDY The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism COLUMBUS, Miss. — The Columbus Dispatch and The Columbus Commercial for decades published information that condoned the lynching of African Americans. But one incident was so heinous that it prompted The Columbus Commercial to write that those who lynched a Black Mississippi woman should be […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Columbus, Mississippi, newspapers were not innocent bystanders to racist violence
By BRITTANY N. GADDY The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism COLUMBUS, Miss. — In a roughly 150-square-foot room on the second floor of The Commercial Dispatch, the newspaper of record for Columbus and surrounding Lowndes County, Mississippi, are large, heavy bound volumes of old newspapers stacked on wooden shelves. They date back to at least […]
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Maryland will pay wrongfully convicted man
Treasurer Nancy Kopp, Gov. Larry Hogan and Comptroller Peter Franchot at a Board of Public Works meeting in Annapolis on Oct. 20, 2021. (Photo/Alexandra Radovic/Capital News Service) By ALEXANDRA RADOVIC Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland has agreed to pay a wrongfully convicted prisoner more than $500,000 in compensation. The Board of Public Works […]