Category: KOLUMN Magazine

A conservative activist and three Republican candidates have asked state and federal courts to toss the votes and shut down drive-thru voting in the state’s most populous, and largely Democratic, county. — JOLIE MCCULLOUGH, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE For 18 days of early voting, Harris County residents waited in line, had their identities verified by poll […]

These Black artists are trailblazing new art and tech, giving us a glimpse of what the future holds. — JENNIFER KHO AND LAUREN MORASKI, HUFFPOST Creating a more equitable future requires the ability to dream of something better. So the fourth and final installment of “Art Is Revolution (AIR),” our 3D virtual exhibit celebrating groundbreaking Black […]

“For me, one of the most damaging things that Hollywood has done is not just the images that it has put out… but it’s absolutely the erasure of Black women,” Gina Prince-Bythewood said. — VARIETY, NBC NEWS Before Lena Waithe was an Emmy-winning writer, an actor, a film and television producer with her own Hillman Grad banner […]

— DANA GIVENS, BLACK ENTERPRISE Chess is a complicated game to master but that hasn’t stopped one New York teenager from her goal of becoming one of the greatest chess masters in the world. Last week, 15-year-old Brooklyn teen Jessica Hyatt got that much closer to her dream after becoming one of the top Black female chess players […]

Black celebrities using their platform to advocate for social justice is good, but they don’t speak for the Black masses. — KYLE T. MAYS, THE WASHINGTON POST After his recent NBA championship win, LeBron James noted that although he was happy to win, he wanted to keep “the main thing the main thing,” referring to […]

More than 2.6 million customers are without power as the storm heads northeast. — EMILY SHAPIRO and MAX GOLEMBO, ABC NEWS At least three people are dead after Hurricane Zeta slammed into the South, leaving a trail of destruction before turning toward the Northeast. A 55-year-old died from electrocution in Louisiana, the governor said, and another […]

— TED JOHNSON, DEADLINE Galen Gordon has been named senior vice president of talent strategy and development at ABC News. He’s filling some of the duties that had been held by Barbara Fedida, who departed the network in July following an investigation that she made racially insensitive remarks. Gordon, who starts on Nov. 30, will report to James […]

— JOHANN CALHOUN, CHALKBEAT, WHYY PBS NPR After weeks of juggling between stalled contract talks and the district’s reopening plans, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan made an unexpected and emotional declaration to the public late Monday night: “Black Lives Matter. Yesterday, today, and always.” As most students in Philadelphia’s public schools could see […]

— SHANIQUE YATES, AFROTECH This Black-owned wine shop is making its way to Oakland’s Black Arts Movement District. CoCo Noir Wine Shop & Bar was co-founded by Bay area natives Mari Kemp and Alicia Kidd and will open during the first quarter of 2021 with a focus on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) […]

— ALISA GUMBS, BLACK ENTERPRISE Sevetri Wilson considers herself a triple threat: young, Black, and female. And we’d add successful. In Episode 7 of the SistersInc. podcast, “Starting From Scratch,” she shares how she started her first company at just 22 with no capital and built it to a seven-figure business. “There’s pros and cons to […]