By Kara Thompson, Special to the AFRO When the Freedom Riders risked their lives in 1961 to protest the segregated bus system in the American south, Moses Newson was there. When the University of Mississippi, a segregated college, admitted its first male Black student in 1962, Moses Newson was there. And when Martin Luther King […]
Category: Washington D.C. News
Posted inNational News
The AFRO at 130: a word from Publisher Frances “Toni” Draper
The not-so secret of success: “Believe in yourself, in God and the present generation.” “A newspaper succeeds because its management believes in itself, in God and in the present generation. It must always ask itself: whether it has kept faith with the common people; whether it has no other goal except to see that their liberties […]
Posted inReligion
AFRO News: 130 years of documenting the Black Church
By Fatiha Belfakir, Special to the AFRO Intertwined at the core, the AFRO will never cease coverage of the Black church. In fact, the AFRO American Newspaper was born in 1892 when John Henry Murphy Sr. merged three church publications in Baltimore. The former slave and Union soldier combined his Sunday School Helper, George F. […]
Posted inNational News
Building on John H. Murphy Sr.’s legacy of truth in our Black history
By Maxine Johnson Wood, Ed.D., Special to the AFRO The founding of the AFRO-American Newspaper 130 years ago on August 13, 1892 is being widely celebrated, lauded and applauded. Of particular significance to many interested in its origin is the life, activity and motivations of its founding publisher, John Henry Murphy, Sr. A perusal of […]
Posted inBaltimore News
#FaithWorks: The Moore Report: We’re saints too
By Ralph E. Moore Jr., Special to the AFRO The Social Justice Committee of St. Ann Catholic Church has been working on a letter writing campaign to Pope Francis for a year. Our initiative, which began on November 1, 2021 (All Saints Day and the first day of Black Catholic History Month) urged individuals to […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Philadelphia Print Works creates apparel amplifying the work of social justice movements
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com Founded by former software quality assurance engineer Maryam Pugh, Philadelphia Print Works is not like your regular T-shirt shop. It’s an independent clothing brand informed by previous and current social justice movements that designs apparel for activists, organizers and allies creating positive social […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Sistahs in Business Expo returns to the DMV
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com The Sistahs in Business (SIB) Expo, an event celebrating and educating Black female entrepreneurs, is returning to the Washington Metropolitan area this year at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center in College Park on Aug. 13. The multi-city small business expo will boast […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Shawn Cosby co-directs ‘33rd and Memphis’
By Cara Williams, Special to the AFRO Shawn Cosby decided the premier for 33rd and Memphis her latest independent film about the crossroads demanded by life’s decisions, had to premier in the Washington, D.C. area. “33rd and Memphis” is layered with dance, excitement, turmoil, self-awareness, love, and forgiveness and premieres at the American Film Institute’s […]
Posted inReligion
#FaithWorks: Maryland pilots with a higher calling sponsor Youth Day at Fort Meade
By H.R. Harris, Special to the AFRO While Michael McFadden flies between San Diego and Seattle Washington as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, Air Force pilot Todd O’Brien is often busy escorting government officials in a Cessna-17 overseas. This past weekend, however, both men reported for duty on a mission of love as the […]
Posted inPolitics
Trump blames D.C. Mayor Bowser for Capitol insurrection and other news on Jan. 6 hearings
By Tashi McQueen, AFRO Political Writer, Report for America Corps member As the Jan 6. special committee closes in on Donald Trump, the former president is now trying to blame a Black woman – D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, to be exact– for the insurrection that took place on Jan. 6, 2021. “Jan. 6 is her […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
No charges for officer who pepper-sprayed Army lieutenant
By Ben Finley, The Associated Press A former police officer in Virginia should not be criminally charged but should be investigated for potential civil rights violations after he pepper-sprayed, struck, and handcuffed a Black U.S. Army lieutenant during a 2020 traffic stop, a special prosecutor has determined. The prosecutor’s findings are the latest fallout from […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
MELLOW 39th ANNUAL NATIONAL NIGHT OUT in D.C. AFTER MULTPLE SHOOTINGS ROCKED THE CITYs
By Deborah Bailey, AFRO D.C. Editor The 39th Annual National Night out celebration was a mellow event this year at the Kennedy Recreation Center in the Shaw Historic District in NW D.C. Children played on the Center’s wide-open grass field, tucked amidst the garden apartment buildings and row houses that define the neighborhood. Men […]
