Posted inAfro Briefs

Rev. Sharpton issues statement after claims to the New York Times that White people were ‘very badly treated’ from Civil Rights Era actions

By National Action Network Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), on Jan. 12 condemned recent claims from President Trump that White people were “very badly treated” as a result of laws and policies adopted during the Civil Rights Movement. Trump’s alarming statements to the New York Times come as […]

Posted inOPINION

Opinion: Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign foretold America’s affordability crisis

Rising costs and stagnant wages have pushed affordability to a crisis point for working families in 2026. Charlene Crowell, a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending, argues that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign foresaw these challenges and that its call for economic justice remains urgently relevant today.

Posted inAfro Briefs

From Washington to Bogotá, protests grow as Maduro faces US judge

The arrest and transfer of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to a U.S. federal court sparked widespread protests across the United States and abroad, with demonstrators questioning the legality and consequences of the 47th U.S. president’s action. As Maduro appeared under heavy guard in Manhattan, rallies erupted from New York to Bogotá and Caracas, drawing condemnation from global leaders and deepening international tensions over U.S. intervention and international law.

Posted inNational News

Average household electricity bills in 2025 ran 9.6 percent higher than in 2024, rising faster than wages and overall inflation

A nationwide analysis shows U.S. households paid significantly more for electricity and natural gas in 2025, with average electricity bills rising 9.6 percent over 2024—outpacing wage growth and inflation. Driven by aging grid upgrades, climate-related weather stress, rising demand from AI data centers, higher fuel costs, and policy decisions slowing clean energy expansion, the increases are affecting more than 150 million utility customers nationwide.

Posted inEducation

Education Dept. scrambles as civil rights backlog explodes

The U.S. Department of Education is urgently recalling hundreds of Office for Civil Rights employees—fired during a March reduction-in-force—to return on Dec. 15 as unresolved civil rights complaints soar past 25,000. The sudden move follows months of staffing turmoil, ongoing litigation, and a near-collapse of OCR’s capacity, leaving students and families facing long delays in discrimination investigations.

Posted inNational News

Big changes to the agency charged with securing elections lead to midterm worries

Election officials across multiple states say the federal cybersecurity agency CISA has sharply reduced its election-security support due to the current administration’s budget cuts, staffing losses and shifting priorities, leaving them worried about vulnerabilities heading into the 2026 midterms. Many states are now scrambling to fill gaps once covered by CISA—such as threat monitoring, coordination, and preparedness exercises—because they no longer know whether the agency will provide the services they relied on in past election cycles.

Posted inINTERNATIONAL

Aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean in major buildup near Venezuela

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, has entered the Caribbean as part of a massive U.S. military buildup near Venezuela, raising concerns over the White House’s escalating counterdrug campaign. While officials claim the operation targets narcotrafficking, critics warn it signals heightened pressure on President Nicolás Maduro and potentially unlawful military actions in the region.

Posted inOpinion

The 47th president is hollowing out America’s only agency for minority business

The dismantling of the Minority Business Development Agency — the nation’s only federal agency dedicated to supporting minority and other disadvantaged entrepreneurs — threatens millions of small businesses that rely on its technical assistance and capital access. As the 47th president’s administration hollows out the agency’s remaining staff and infrastructure, experts warn that its loss would deepen economic inequities and undermine U.S. competitiveness.

Posted inDMV News

Restaurants, city agencies step up to support workers and families facing food and housing insecurity

By Chianti Marks and Victoria MejicanosAFRO Intern, AFRO Staff Writervmejicanos@afro.com While the Trump administration and lawmakers in Congress played political brinkmanship over the budget, leaving the well-being of millions hanging in the balance, organizations, local government agencies and corporations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., have been offering support to furloughed federal workers and residents impacted […]

Posted inNational News

Supreme Court issues emergency order to block full SNAP food aid payments

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court’s order requiring the 47th president’s administration to fully fund November SNAP food aid payments during the ongoing government shutdown. The decision leaves millions of low-income Americans uncertain about when or if they’ll receive full benefits, as some states already issued payments before the ruling.

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