Donald Trump’s campaign has nourished a fusion of hard-right politics and theology to energize evangelical Christians in swing states.

Vice President Kamala Harris has announced a series of proposals designed to give Black men more economic opportunities as she works to energize a key voting bloc that has Democrats concerned about a lack of enthusiasm.

American Airlines is putting employees on leave after they were involved in an incident in which several Black passengers were removed from a flight earlier this year.

A medal richly deserved but long denied to an African American combat medic wounded on Omaha Beach in the D-Day landings has been tenderly laid on the hallowed sands where he saved lives and shed blood.

Three Black men are suing American Airlines, claiming they were discriminated against when ordered to leave a plane in January.

President Joe Biden’s administration is again delaying a sweeping plan to ban menthol cigarettes.

Jordan Bell, a local historian in Roanoke

Former 11th District Virginia Delegate and Roanoke City Circuit Court judge Onzlee Ware has died at age 70.

Danville is honoring local African American figures with a bus wrap.

On Monday, the Hill City took a moment to honor MLK with its annual breakfast.

A growing number of Black Americans see the struggle of Palestinians reflected in their own struggles for racial equality and civil rights.

Jill Biden has hosted a White House listening session with about 60 female faith leaders, community leaders and others.

Some of the nation’s most influential Black leaders say many of the threats to democratic institutions in the U.S. appear to be aimed squarely at their community, including efforts to make voting more difficult, censor lessons around race and weaken social safeguards such as affirmative action.

Leaders with the Calfee Community and Cultural Center hosts a groundbreaking ceremony in hopes to renovate the facility.

The City of Roanoke is looking at ways to revitalize the Gainsboro neighborhood.

The wide empty spaces in pews between parishioners at a Sunday service at Zion Baptist Church in South Carolina’s capital highlight a post-pandemic reality common among many Black Protestant churches across the nation.

The College Board says changes will be made to its new AP African American studies course, after critics said the agency bowed to political pressure and removed several topics from the framework, including Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations and queer life.

A NASCAR Truck Series driver made a pit stop at Martinsville High School on Friday.

The African American Legacy Tour series will gradually incorporate additional African American sites of memory and cultural significance that are located throughout the counties and cities of the New River Valley, providing a unique, visceral, and honest pathway for community members to reinvestigate Black histories and experiences in rural Appalachia in Southwest Virginia from Slavery to Civil Rights.

Americans have long had an intense conversation about what race and ethnicity says about who they are.

One family in Lynchburg is renovating a home that could be a hub for African American culture.

The official curriculum for a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies released Wednesday downplays some components that had drawn criticism from conservatives including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said the class would be banned in his state.

The pioneering Black performer Josephine Baker — who left the United States to find global fame in Paris in the 1920s — was Dior’s muse for an old school spring couture collection of archetypal classicism.

California law enforcement searched teenagers whom officers perceived to be Black youths between 15 and 17 years old at nearly six times the rate of teens believed to be white during vehicle and pedestrian stops in 2021.

A new statue at the Lynchburg Regional Airport was unveiled this weekend to honor an influential founding member of the National Airmen’s Association.

You can celebrate Roanoke’s African American culture this weekend in the Star City.

Marine Gen. Michael Langley took over as the top U.S. commander for Africa Tuesday, heading U.S. military operations on a continent with some of the most active and dangerous insurgent groups and a relatively small Pentagon footprint.

The Marine Corps has its first African American four-star general.

They are two of just 33 locations awarded a national grant to preserve African American history.

Emmett Till's Chicago home is one of more than two dozen historically significant sites that will share $3 million in grant money from a preservation organization.

Thanks to the award-winning film, the phrase “Hidden Figures” has become popular, and there is someone local who is a perfect example of that.

America’s hiring boom of the past year has narrowed racial disparities in unemployment.

The history of racial violence in the U.S. is the backdrop as President Joe Biden signs the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law.

Americans are starkly divided by race on the importance of President Joe Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

That man is James Mozee, who dedicated a half century to education, teaching African American students during segregation.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has apologized after mistaking one Black legislator for another in a text message.

Afrofuturism will be highlighted at Carnegie Hall, placing a spotlight on the movement as the bastion of New York City music and culture takes another step toward normalcy.

The University of Alabama is reconsidering its decision last week to retain the name of a one-time governor who led the Ku Klux Klan on a campus building while adding the name of the school’s first Black student.

Organizations took a moment to recognize the contributions Black Americans have made in American history.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says the criticism he received over a comment made about African American voters is outrageous and offensive.

When New York City voters this week chose Eric Adams as the city’s next mayor and Alvin Bragg as the Manhattan district attorney, they elevated two Black men into two of the city’s most powerful elected offices.

Virginia is dedicating a historical marker for Camilla Williams in Danville.

Black couple who escaped slavery in the U.S. state of Georgia and fled to Britain to campaign for abolition have been honored with a historic marker on their home in London.

A new state historical marker issued highlights the career of Alleghany County native R. Arliner Young.

For the first time, Carrol County High School has a new elective course on African American History this semester.

Virginia’s First Lady Pamela Northam visited Calfee Community and Cultural Center in Pulaski County today.

To celebrate Juneteenth, a local historian guides a group through Gainsboro on Friday, teaching about the neighborhood’s rich African American history.

On Saturday, you can commemorate Juneteenth by stepping back in time at a national monument celebrating one of America’s most prominent African American educators.

Another hidden treasure in Alleghany County is the Longdale Recreation Area, also known as Green Pastures.

A lot has changed since the 1960s. And the world can change quickly, too. If there has ever been a time when that is clear, it’s now.

Americans have commemorated a long-suppressed part of U.S. history.

As Virginia starts to loosen its COVID-19 restrictions, many businesses are still weathering the economic storm brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

April 23 was the last day to submit your ideas on ways Lynchburg should honor African American history.

The Democratic-led House has passed legislation to constrain a president’s power to limit entry to the U.S. The vote Wednesday was a response to former President Donald Trump’s travel ban covering five Muslim-majority countries.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lynchburg needs your help in shaping the future of the city. Leaders are looking at ways to honor African American history in the Hill City. A new survey wants your idea on who should be recognized and how. The city council considered renaming the roadway after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. last month. Once they collect all the data, the city council plans to hold a public hearing on it.

FILE - In this March 17, 2021 photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Biden intends to nominate three African American prosecutors to run the U.S. attorneys offices in New York, including the first Black man to run the Southern District of New York. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is expected to nominate three prosecutors to run the U.S. attorney’s offices in New York state, including the first Black man to run the Southern District of New York in Manhattan and the first Black woman to head the Western District in Buffalo. Ross, a longtime federal prosecutor, is expected to run the office in the Buffalo-based Western District. Brooklyn federal prosecutors have been examining the state’s handling of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes in a probe that drew public attention after a top aide to New York Gov.

People walk to the entrance of the National Museum of African American Music, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A new museum two decades in the making is telling the interconnected story of Black musical genres through the lens of American history. Even as Nashville has long celebrated its role in the history of music, the new museum fills a gap by telling an important and often overlooked story about the roots of American popular music, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and hip-hop. “Most music museums deal with a label, a genre or an artist,” said H. Beecher Hicks III, the museum’s president and CEO. She noted that the museum put gospel music in context with how it inspired social change, especially during the civil rights era.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations nominee Linda Thomas-Greenfield testifies during for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Washington. Johnson asked her why she had said the United States is not in a new Cold War with China. “This speech is cheerleading for the Chinese Communist Party” and makes no mention of China’s human rights violations, he said. Johnson asked her what the stronger language and tougher tactics would be toward China. “And yet, I had an extraordinary 35-year career, that culminated as the assistant secretary of state of African affairs,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

ROANOKE, VA – Kamala Harris will make history Wednesday when she is sworn in as the first African American and Asian American Vice President of the United States. Before most people knew her as vice president-elect, Americans knew Harris for her role as California’s Attorney General and later a U.S. Like Harris, Lori Baker-Lloyd, of Roanoke, is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) at Howard University. Baker-Lloyd said she’ll never forget how she felt when Harris officially became vice president-elect. “She’s coming into work, and she’s coming into work for the underserved.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Kwanzaa is going on right now. During the seven days of Kwanzaa, families and communities host activities surrounding seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The Legacy Museum of African American History in Lynchburg recorded a socially distanced Kwanzaa celebration for people to watch online during Kwanzaa. The pandemic does limit families coming together but it doesn’t stop wisdom being passed down to new generations, a main purpose behind Kwanzaa. I’m sure she has stories I haven’t heard yet, but that’s the impetus of Kwanzaa,” said White.

DETROIT – The Today Show weather anchor Al Roker is battling prostate cancer, and he’s not alone. Prostate cancer survivor Dr. Isaac Powell has treated thousands of cancer patients and has decades of research experience. When it comes to prostate cancer in Black men, the numbers are staggering. There’s also the fear of the diagnosis of prostate cancer, to many men the diagnosis is considered a death sentence. Powell and a team of researchers have identified a profile of genes responsible for a more aggressive prostate cancer.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – JPMorgan Chase said Thursday it will extend billions in loans to Black and Latino homebuyers and small business owners in an expanded effort toward fixing what the bank calls “systemic racism” in the country’s economic system. “Systemic racism is a tragic part of America’s history,” said JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in a statement. Citigroup announced last month it is committing $1 billion toward closing “the racial wealth gap” in the United States, including $550 million toward homeownership programs for racial minorities. He noted that there’s a 30% gap between Black and white homeownership, amounting to about 4.5 million households. JPMorgan was one of 27 major New York-based companies that joined a program to recruit 100,000 workers from the city's low-income, predominately Black, Latino and Asian communities over the next 10 years.

Sarah Palafox, an African American woman who sings regional Mexican music, poses in Moreno Valley, Calif., in this undated photo. Palafox, an African American woman raised by a Mexican immigrant family, has generated excitement online with her versions of regional Mexican music. Other videos of her singing banda — another form of regional music from Mexico’s southwest coast — also have been shared thousands of times. She would only say the music will be different and she’s not listening to critics who tell her she’s shouldn’t be singing regional Mexican music. “I was told you can’t wear braids, you can’t wear your Afro and go on stage and sing Mexican music,” Palafox said.

Black voters across Michigan will be pivotal in deciding who will win the battleground state in November. Biden visited Detroit earlier this month, and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, was spending time in Flint and Detroit on Tuesday. In an interview this month with longtime Detroit radio host Mildred Gaddis, Biden noted that Michigan, and its Black voters in Detroit, are “critically important." Democratic state leaders said they learned hard lessons and that the party has worked to connect with Black voters. But challenges remain in connecting with apathetic voters and with younger Black voters who might have more progressive leanings — key demographics that Branden Snyder, the executive director of Detroit Action, said his organization is trying to reach.

ROANOKE, Va. – Race, racism and its history in Roanoke were topics that a special panel of local experts explored on Monday. The panel kicked off a month-long educational program to teach people about the history of the African American community in Roanoke, which has deep roots in Gainsboro. The panel was hosted by the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. They talked about the changes they’ve seen over the years and the impact that change has had on the Black community, like segregation and urban renewal. That’s why the schools are offering 5K walking tours of Roanoke that will hit ten locations to delve into Roanoke’s African American history and talk about how to spark change.

AMHERST COUNTY, Va. 16 schools across the commonwealth, including some here at home, are offering a new African American history class this school year. Ralph Northam and the Virginia Department of Education recently launched the new course to ensure that all students will have a better understanding of African American history from the past to present. Amherst County High is one of the schools doing this. School officials said theyve always offered it as a partial credit elective, but this changes now that the Virginia Department of Education is involved. Franklin and Alleghany counties, as well as Covington, are other area schools who are offering the new class in person and online.

Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance, Sunday, July 19, 2020 in North Charleston, S.C. Rapper Kanye West, in his first event since declaring himself a presidential candidate, delivered a lengthy monologue Sunday touching on topics from abortion and religion to international trade and licensing deals. West delivered a lengthy monologue, touching on topics from abortion and religion to international trade and licensing deals, before a crowd in North Charleston, South Carolina. On abortion, West said that while he believes it should be legal, financial incentives to help struggling mothers could be a way to discourage the practice. Last week, he qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the first state where he met the requirements before the filing deadline. West, who is married to reality television star Kim Kardashian West, initially announced his candidacy on July 4.

RICHMOND, Va. – A statue of African American tennis legend Arthur Ashe on Richmond, Virginia’s, Monument Avenue has been vandalized with the words “White Lives Matter.”Photos show the monument base tagged with white spray paint and the words “white lives matter” as well as the initials “WLM.”Those initials were then later painted over with “BLM.”Richmond Police said they were alerted to the vandalism Wednesday morning. Police said they have information on possible suspects. The Arthur Ashe monument was dedicated in 1996 to memorialize the Richmond native and counterbalance the string of statues on Memorial Avenue dedicated to Confederate leaders.

- A white supremacist group filmed a video in front of the Emmett Till Memorial in Sumner, Mississippi, over the weekend, officials say. "We are all here are the Emmett Till monument that represents the civil rights movement for blacks," a man is heard saying. The memorial sign marks the spot where 14-year-old Emmett Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in 1955. The sign has been vandalized in the pastThe Emmett Till Memorial was recently rededicated and made bulletproof after multiple acts of vandalism -- including getting riddled with 20 bullet holes. The photo prompted their fraternity, Kappa Alpha, to suspend them and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to launch an investigation.

Allan Hammons via CNNSUMNER, Mississippi (CNN) - A memorial sign marking Emmett Till's death that was riddled with bullet holes earlier this year was rededicated Saturday -- this time with bulletproof glass. Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, said more than 100 people, including members of Till's family from Chicago, attended a ceremony near Sumner, Mississippi, rededicating the new and improved sign. Weems said the sign, which cost more than $10,000, weighs more than 500 pounds and is surrounded by security cameras. The sign appeared to be riddled with bullet holes in the photo, which was first published by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica. When the marker was replaced, it was riddled with bullet holes.

MADISON, Wisconsin (CNN) - An African American security guard told a student to stop calling him the N-word. Marlon Anderson was a security guard at Madison West High School in Wisconsin. Anderson is represented by a union, which filed a grievance with the school district this week on his behalf. He has two sons who attended Madison West High School. One is a current senior and the other is a graduate of the high school.

BLACKSBURG, Va.- - It's homecoming week at Virginia Tech and there's a new celebration on campus for the African American experience. Students and faculty came together to create Sankofa, Virginia Tech's first black homecoming week. Organizers say the inaugural event is designed to help students feel included while celebrating events this week. "The students wanted to have event tailored to them and their liking and to feel like they can be heard, to be in community with one another during the Virginia Tech's homecoming celebration. Other events during the week include BSA Homecoming concert featuring Megan the Stallion on Thursday, Pajama Gym Jam on Friday and Tailgating on Saturday.

CNN VideoHAMPTON, Virginia (CNN) - Four-hundred years ago, a ship carrying enslaved Africans arrived in Point Comfort on the shores of Virginia. The landing marked the beginning of slavery in British North America, forever transforming the modern world. They whispered prayers for the enslaved Africans on that ship and for those who did not survive the voyage, and sent flower petals floating out into the Chesapeake Bay. She said one of her ancestors was enslaved at a plantation in South Carolina and could be traced back to Cameroon in the 1700s. "400 years ago my ancestors started a passage to America.

United States Department of Education building, named in honor of President Lyndon B. Johnson, in Washington, D.C.WASHINGTON, D.C. - The office of an African American diversity change agent at the Department of Education was vandalized this week, department employees told CNN on Friday. One employee said the woman's diploma had been knocked down and that some figurines in her office had been broken. A department official confirmed to CNN that the incident targeted an African American woman's office. Education Department spokesperson Angela Morabito confirmed to CNN that there was an incident "involving an employee's personal belongings on the third floor" at the agency. The diversity change agent program "trains employees involved in the program to foster a more inclusive workplace," Morabito said.

Three University of Mississippi students were suspended from their fraternity after a photo showing them posing with guns in front of a sign memorializing Emmett Till surfaced. (CNN) - A bullet-riddled memorial sign for Emmett Till at the center of a photo showing three white University of Mississippi students posing with guns is now gone. Patrick Weems, the executive director of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, said the group began to mark every site that was part of Emmett's story after community leaders offered his family an apology for the first time about 10 years ago. "For 50 years our community didn't want to talk about Emmett Till, they just wanted to forget it," Weems said. "That Emmett Till did not die in vain.

CHICAGO - The Chicago Defender, the influential African American newspaper that has told the stories of black residents of Chicago and beyond for the last 114 years, has ceased printing and moved to a digital-only format. The storied African American newspaper's final print edition went out on July 10, and it became completely digital the next day, according to the Defender's website. Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded the Chicago Defender in 1905 in the kitchen of his landlord's apartment, according to the Defender. Civil Rights activist and author Timuel Black told CNN affiliate WBBM-TV his family was among the millions of black families to migrate north because of the Defender. "It was a unifying factor," Black told WBBM.