Joe Biden's exit, talk of the glass ceiling, a nod to Gaza protesters. Takeaways from DNC's Day 1
The Democratic National Conventionโs first night has showcased speeches from the last Democrat to lose to Donald Trump and the last one to beat him.
New leader of Jesse Jackson's civil rights organization steps down just months on the job
A Dallas pastor who took over leadership of the Rev. Jesse Jacksonโs longtime civil rights organization has resigned after just months on the job.
What to watch in primaries in Colorado, Illinois, elsewhere
Seven states are set to host primary elections Tuesday as the nation comes to terms with last weekโs stunning Supreme Court ruling eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion.
Jussie Smollett to learn fate after staged attack conviction
Jussie Smollett is returning to a Chicago courtroom for sentencing with just two questions hanging over his head: Will he admit that he lied about a racist homophobic attack and will a judge send him to jail.
In Selma, foot soldierโs kin boosts youth voting rights role
During a commemoration of the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Elliott Smith's great-aunt pushed him across the iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge in a stroller.
Biden closes out Black History Month with White House event
President Joe Biden welcomed Black leaders to the White House Monday for a jovial Black History Month celebration, where he used the moment to call on Congress to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, and pass voting rights bills.
After Trayvon Martin, Crump became civil rights go-to lawyer
Before Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and other Black people died at the hands of white police officers or self-appointed vigilantes, there was Martin Lee Anderson.
NAACP urges federal charges in Laquan McDonald's killing
The NAACP is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald.
MLK III: History to remember Sinema unkindly over filibuster
Martin Luther King III came to Arizona with harsh words for Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, whose refusal to change filibuster rules makes voting rights legislation unlikely to pass in the Senate.
In and outside court, Smollett fights for reputation, career
As Jussie Smollett fights criminal charges that he lied to Chicago police about being the victim of an anti-gay, racist attack, his supporters are also working on a broader strategy: Ensuring the 39-year-old emerges from the scandal with his reputation and career intact, whatever the outcome of the trial.
Protesters trace route Rittenhouse took in Kenosha
Several dozen people gathered below the wind-whipped Wisconsin flag at Kenoshaโs Civic Center Park and warmed up with chants for justice before taking to the streets in protest of the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.
Attorney likens Arbery rally to `lynching' of defendants
A defense attorney in the murder trial over Ahmaud Arbery's death is likening a large courthouse rally supporting the slain Black man's family to a โpublic lynchingโ of the white defendants.
Defense lawyer in Arbery slaying known for pushing limits
When a defense attorney in the trial of three men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery called for Black pastors to be barred from the courtroom, shock and outrage rippled across the country.
![Jesse Jackson and wife remain under observation for COVID-19](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/1OiBbtQsVNbW_96gM1bPmra6pzQ=/800x533/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/IJFD77NG6NGPLMFZ5XJJDOXNNM.jpg)
Jesse Jackson and wife remain under observation for COVID-19
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, and his wife, Jacqueline, remain under doctorsโ observation at a Chicago hospital and are โresponding positively to treatmentsโ for COVID-19.
![Guilty verdicts in Floyd's death bring joy โ and wariness](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/OZDvBQpPICr4rYanoOVbCr_STEI=/800x533/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/76IT2V4KPNHT7HYCGPKB2JIG24.jpg)
Guilty verdicts in Floyd's death bring joy โ and wariness
Many Americans reacted with jubilation but also with deep awareness of the progress left to be made after a jury convicted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the killing of George Floyd.
![Black hospital faces vaccine mistrust from unlikely source](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/e73djWVQX1Dub0nkEk9dIUWxmsc=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/EXZ2PCHS55BWTLVUHW4W7V34NI.jpg)
Black hospital faces vaccine mistrust from unlikely source
Dr. Rita McGuire, an obstetrician and infection control specialist at Roseland Community Hospital talks Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, with staff members about taking the COVID-19 vaccine. "Itโs not something that I trust right now,โโ says Bland, 50, who worries about how quickly the COVID-19 vaccines were developed. Many holdouts come from the mostly Black, working class neighborhoods surrounding the hospital, areas hard hit by the virus yet plagued with vaccine reluctance. She acknowledged "centuries of medical injusticeโโ against Black Americans but said COVID-19 vaccines resulted from years of solid research. Many workers โโhave not forgotten about those studies where they used us as experiments,โโ McGuire said, including the infamous Tuskegee research on Black patients with syphilis.
![Jesse Jackson released for therapy post gallbladder surgery](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/0amLWWOxNUizF7i3XkK4Nj7qwY4=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/7RHYGI52JVCYJCYHAXTDFSJVVI.jpg)
Jesse Jackson released for therapy post gallbladder surgery
Jackson has been released to a Chicago physical therapy center following gallbladder surgery and medical observation, a spokesman said Sunday, Feb. 7. Jesse Jackson has been released to a Chicago physical therapy center following gallbladder surgery and medical observation, a spokesman said Sunday. Jackson's longtime spokesman Frank Watkins confirmed Sunday it was gallbladder surgery. Jackson is continuing his civil rights and organizational work and is in high spirits,โ the organization's statement said. Martin Luther King, Jackson was key in guiding the modern civil rights movement on numerous issues, including voting rights.
![Questlove uncovers 'Black Woodstock' in his hit Sundance doc](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/C4vFvB0943WUw8nF7dThonaBhTU=/1600x900/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/BZ7KHMBBWBDJRGF4YKWEV72DSM.jpg)
Questlove uncovers 'Black Woodstock' in his hit Sundance doc
The film will debut at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. (Sundance Film Festival via AP)Sundance Institute programs. Known as โBlack Woodstock,โ the festival occurred during the same summer as Woodstock โ and just 100 miles away โ but received far less attention. It debuted Thursday night at the Sundance Film Festival where it spawned immediate acclaim and countless at-home dance parties for virtual festivalgoers โ a party Questlove extended with a live-streamed after-party DJ set. Morris Park for a celebration of soul, gospel, funk and, most of all of Black identity at a pivotal point in African American culture.
![Voting nearly impossible for eligible voters behind bars](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/cGvo0q2AqRo1yBBEQ-I9v4PCRr8=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/MWVKKGXF6FASLHSW2GPFUBETSU.jpg)
Voting nearly impossible for eligible voters behind bars
The advocacy organization released a report detailing voting access for jail inmates with Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group formed by the Rev. The advocacy organization released a report detailing voting access for jail inmates with Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group formed by the Rev. โThe way to avoid that is to not get arrested or get sentenced to jail.โEfforts to increase voting access for incarcerated people aren't new. A 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision upheld the voting rights of some incarcerated people without government interference, though some lower courts have allowed more restrictive absentee voting deadlines for detainees in some states. In March, the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois became one of the first in the nation to operate as a jail polling station.
![Californians to vote on racial, gender preference programs](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/XrllXepHKWsltV1lKLOqI523JIE=/1600x1067/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/L32T7SVTTBDIJPTFP6CSOLUHUA.jpg)
Californians to vote on racial, gender preference programs
Jesse Jackson asks a crowd for donations to the advertising fund to stop Proposition 209 during a rally in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. The U.S. Supreme Court has long outlawed racial quotas, but it has ruled that universities may use tailored programs to promote diversity. Opponents include Ward Connerly, an African American businessman and former University of California regent who pushed for the 1996 ban. They say government should never discriminate by race or gender, and the only way to stop discrimination is to end it. The numbers of Latino and Asian American residents โ and voters โ have grown, although likely voters are still disproportionately white.
![NASCAR meets with minister pushing for racial equality](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/M8VgoLqPrMTkDZk1DD_v064PJyI=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/R6JONMQYARHUJI64B6GKE2NCFE.jpg)
NASCAR meets with minister pushing for racial equality
Greg Drumwright, a minister at the Citadel Church & Campus Ministries, helped organize a group of Black fans to attend the NASCAR race at Talladega and support driver Bubba Wallace. We want to see that the call for diversification and true equity in the sport extends beyond the banning of the Confederate flag, Drumwright said. The group was about two dozen strong but only one had been to a NASCAR race before. We were there to stand with Bubba but what we learned through the media coverage is that it seems as if were standing with NASCAR, Drumwright said. Theres a willingness to listen and engage that NASCAR has that I dont believe they were sincere about earlier, said Bill Lester, one of at least seven other Black NASCAR drivers before Wallace.
![AP Exclusive: Black Lives Matter groups plan convention](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/cW5MTGlDt48o632aD5EvdQebVHw=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/AW5ZG6F32FFMLO5IZROCLE43EA.jpg)
AP Exclusive: Black Lives Matter groups plan convention
The 2020 Black National Convention will take place Aug. 28 via a live broadcast. The first-ever Black Lives Matter convention was held in Cleveland in 2015. Convention organizers said this years event will pay tribute to the historic 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana, which concluded with the introduction of a national Black agenda. Somewhat similarly, the Vision for Black Lives platform and its characterization of Israel as an apartheid state committing mass murder against Palestinian people drew allegations of anti-Semitism from a handful of Jewish groups, which had otherwise been supportive the Black Lives Matter movement. We dont just say Black lives matter and beg people to care.
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Warren's outreach to black voters could help VP standing
But some black leaders say Warren's progressive politics, economic populism and specific policy proposals addressing everything from maternal mortality to the coronavirus could put her in a strong position. But some black leaders say Warren's progressive politics, economic populism and specific policy proposals addressing everything from maternal mortality to the coronavirus could put her in a strong position. She gave a memorable speech in Atlanta in November on empowering black women and combating institutional racism that some African American leaders laud as prescient. I think that she could be an interesting and compelling pick for Vice President Biden in regards to reaching out to African American voters, Garvin said. Some 61% of African American voters supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast surveys in 17 states that voted between Feb. 3 and March 17.