By David Carr, WordinBlack On June 19, the United States will celebrate Juneteenth for the second time as a federal holiday. But for Black America, Juneteenth has long been seen as the true celebration of freedom for enslaved Africans in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Jan. 1, 1863, but it was […]
Category: NEWS
Posted inINTERNATIONAL
Author David Miller returns to Africa to develop a new curriculum for students
By David Lance, AFRO MDDC Intern Author David Miller knows a thing or two about reaching back into your past to inform the future. Right now he is once again back in Ghana, Africa- but this time, he’ll be coming back with something for the youth. Over the next five weeks, Miller will work closely […]
Posted inWord In Black
Food deserts are deliberate, but Black farmers are fighting back
By Alexa Spencer, Word in Black The days of legal segregation in the U.S. are past us, but Black folks continue to feel the health effects of racist policies that took place when it was law. Practices such as “redlining” — where the federal government mass-produced housing subdivisions for White people in the 1930s and […]
Posted inBUSINESS
JPMorgan Chase invests $150,000 into D.C. and Baltimore summer youth employment programs
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com JPMorgan Chase recently announced a new $20 million commitment over five years to support summer youth employment programs across the country, two of which are located in the DMV area. This new effort expands on the firm’s previous summer youth employment investments. Serve […]
Posted inPrince George's County News
JUNETEENTH ACTIVITIES AROUND THE DMV
By H.R. Harris Let’s say you are looking for Juneteenth celebrations in the DMV but don’t want to go into the District of Columbia? Well look no more. Our Juneteenth activity scout has curated a short list of the best parades, marches, concerts, and ways to meet “kinfolk” during Juneteenth weekend in the Maryland communities […]
Posted inBaltimore News
The Moore Report: More bite-sized bits of news and notes…
Celebration of the 120th anniversary of Father John Dorsey’s Ordination By Ralph E. Moore, Jr. Charles Dorsey, Jr. directed the Legal Aid Bureau in Maryland for many years, providing legal assistance and advice to the poor, unable to afford lawyers on their own. In April 1995, he died. The Bureau’s building, near City Hall, is […]
Posted inWord In Black
#WordinBlack: A brief history of Juneteenth
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black Juneteenth is a federal holiday. A bill to make it the 12th federal holiday was passed by the Senate and House, and President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021. So, what exactly is Juneteenth? On June 19, 1865, the last slaves in the United States […]
Posted inWord In Black
#WordinBlack: Texas native son talks Juneteenth: better late than never
By Patrick Washington, Word in Black The Texas-birthed holiday of Juneteenth is a very interesting holiday, to say the least. See, I, a native-born Texan, have two Yankee parents. As such, I’ve been able to hear both sides of the “idea” of Juneteenth and now, I am at a final resting place for my attitude […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Historic Hosanna School Museum joins Smithsonian transcription project centered on the African American experience during the Reconstruction era
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com The Hosanna School Museum, a former Freedmen’s Bureau school located in Harford County, recently partnered with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to participate in a transcription project of more than 1.5 million images files from the Freedmen’s Bureau […]
Posted inHealth
Alzheimer’s Association African American Town Hall on Memory Loss on June 22, 2022, at Reginald F. Lewis Museum
By The Alzheimer’s Association June 14, 2022, Towson, Md.—The Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore becomes a classroom on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, from 2 to 4 p.m., when the Alzheimer’s Association hosts the African American Town Hall on Memory Loss. The museum is located at 830 East Pratt Street. To encourage participation, registration is free. […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
D.C. Editor’s notebook: District’s favorite game of ‘haves and have-nots’ creeps into 2022 Mayoral Primaries let the people decide!
By Deborah Bailey, AFRO D.C. Editor We are less than two weeks away from a major primary election in the District of Columbia. Sadly, D.C.’s favorite age-old game of the “haves and have-nots” has seeped into the D.C. Mayoral campaign. The “have and have nots,” a staple of District culture, is on full display, compliments […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Mayor Muriel Bowser: Will three terms be a charm?
By Cara Williams, Special to the AFRO D.C. has had two women mayors, Sharon Pratt Kelly (1991-1995) and the City’s current mayor, Muriel Bowser who has served the District of Columbia since 2015. Bowser is running for a third term, following in the footsteps of Marion Barry (1979-1991), the only Mayor who served the District […]