By Ciara Franklin, Abel Communications for the AFRO The AFRO, the oldest Black-owned business in Maryland, has announced the Black Business Matters Expo 2023, scheduled for April 27th from 4pm-7pm. The theme for the media company’s 3rd annual event is “The Great Divide: Work. Wages. Wealth.” The Expo will feature a full slate of speakers, […]
Category: NEWS
Posted inNational News
Fox News defamation trial set to begin April 17
By AFRO Staff Fox News is set to begin defending its propagation of lies fostered by former President Donald Trump and his allies after his loss in the 2020 presidential election, as jurors are expected to be seated and opening statements offered April 17 in the defamation case brought against the media giant by a […]
Posted inNational News
Black football star bound for college among 4 killed at Alabama birthday party
By Jeff Amy and Kim Chandler, The Associated Press DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A high school senior who had signed to play college football was celebrating at his sister’s 16th birthday party the night of April 15 in Alabama when gunfire killed him and three other people and wounded several others. Police were gathering evidence […]
Posted inNational News
Boston remembers deadly marathon bombing 10 years later
By Michael Casey, The Associated Press With a bagpiper playing “The Bells of Dunblane” and a few runners looking on, families of those killed in the Boston Marathon bombing marked the 10th anniversary of the tragedy early April 15 by slowly walking together to the memorial sites near the finish line and laying wreaths. Boston […]
Posted inNational News
High court temporarily blocks restrictions on abortion pill
By Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko, The Associated Press The Supreme Court said April 14 it was temporarily keeping in place federal rules for use of an abortion drug, while it takes time to more fully consider the issues raised in a court challenge. In an order signed by Justice Samuel Alito, the court put […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Federal banking rules make funding Maryland cannabis industry tricky
By GREG MORTON, Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With less than a week left in Maryland’s legislative session, most elements of Maryland’s plan to create a legal market for cannabis have been decided. Bills on track to pass establish details like licenses to be allotted, the types of operators allowed and provisions to create […]
Posted inNEWS
Deadline approaches for Maryland’s state agencies to submit their MBE procurement plans
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com and Tashi McQueen, AFRO Political Writer, tmcqueen@afro.com The deadline for Maryland’s 70 state agencies to submit reports on procurement activity and their progress toward meeting Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) goals is quickly approaching. Back in February, Governor Wes Moore signed an executive order giving MBE-affiliated agencies 60 days […]
Posted inNational News
Part 1: Following the science: 1.5 degrees celsius is a crucial benchmark—a world at stake, a world to gain
By Frank Dexter Brown, Special to the AFRO Question and AnswerDurban, Birmingham, Cape TownAtlanta, Johannesburg, WattsThe earth around. Struggling, fightingDying—for what?A world to gainGroping, hoping,Waiting—for what?A world to gain.Dreams kicked asunder, why not go under?There’s a world to gain.But suppose I don’t want itWhy take it?To remake it. —Langston Hughes’ Question and Answer,” publishedin Panther […]
Posted inNational News
As female imprisonment rises, Black women still feel the brunt of mass incarceration in America
By Stacy M. Brown, BlackPressUSA, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent America imprisons many more of its citizens than any other developed nation, with men comprising most of the incarcerated. But the rate of growth for female imprisonment has been twice as high as that of men since 1980, according to The Sentencing Project, which estimates […]
Posted inCommentary
TBE# 15 – “Tennessee Three” fiasco highlights the inextricable link between racism and gun violence
By Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League “We won’t be bent, we won’t be bowed, and we won’t be ordered to ignore the hearts and minds of the people who elected us, demanding commonsense gun safety in a state that has nearly none. The GOP of the Tennessee House of Representatives attempted […]
Posted inNational News
Black lawmakers from Tennessee reinstated
By Catherine Pugh, Special to the AFRO Both of the expelled Tennessee legislators, Rep. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson have been reinstated by the Shelby County Commission in Memphis, Tenn. Tennessee lawmaker Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) was exempt from the April 7 expulsion, despite her involvement with the “Tennessee Three” and choosing to speak out against […]
Posted inBaltimore News
‘Chef Connie’ Johnson, SuperBowl chef, mentor, dies at 56
By AFRO Staff The AFRO is saddened to report, with family confirmation, that Connie Johnson, affectionately known as “Chef Connie,” passed suddenly on April 13. Known for her work with children, Johnson established summer camps and workshops with special attention to the culinary arts. In 2020, she was even chosen to cook at SuperBowl LIV […]