By Nicole Tucker-Smith, Word In Black The Florida Department of Education’s recent decision to reject the AP (Advanced Placement) African American Studies course is deliberately divisive. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, knows how to stoke sentiment. The current media attention is only energizing his base and bolstering his, yet to be announced, presidential bid. DeSantis’
By Dánica Coto, The Associated Press Jamaica’s prime minister said his government is willing to send soldiers and police officers to Haiti as part of a proposed multinational security assistance deployment. The announcement comes a week after U.N. special envoy for Haiti Helen La Lime said she hoped that the U.N. Security Council would deal
By Beverly Richards, Special to the AFRO Political pundit and former mayoral candidate Catalina Byrd is a self-described “hopeless romantic” when it comes to Baltimore City. “It’s one of my first loves,” she said. Catalina has been loyal to Baltimore and has dedicated her entire adult life to its residents trying to “make what’s wrong
By Tashi McQueen, AFRO Political Writer, tmcqueen@afro.com A Montgomery County, Md. community and its students are pushing for a state appeals court to help preserve a Black cemetery that bears historic significance. As Black History Month gets underway, the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) said it wants to protect the final remains of an estimated
By Aria Brent, AFRO Staff Deanta Dorsey didn’t know that his life would end during his lunch period on Jan. 4. Hanging out with four of his friends outside of a fast food restaurant just across from his school, Edmondson–Westside High, the bullets came for him. “He was not in the wrong place and it
By Tashi McQueen, AFRO Political Writer, tmcqueen@afro.com Marylanders received their annual update on the status of the state’s affairs from a Black man for the first time in history on the first day of February this year. Governor Wes Moore opened Black History Month with his first State of the State address, delivering a call
By Jim Salter. The Associated Press As five Memphis police officers attacked Tyre Nichols with their feet, fists and a baton, others milled around at the scene, even as the 29-year-old cried out in pain and then slumped limply against the side of a car. Just like the attack on George Floyd in Minneapolis nearly
By DaQuan Lawrence, Special to the AFRO Rwandan natives now living in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world play a key role in fostering that turbulent central African nation’s future, Rwanda Ambassador to the U.S. Mathilde Mukantabana said recently. “I want the Rwandan diaspora to know that helping Rwanda is not a not a
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Maryland Board of Public Works on Jan. 25 approved $400 million in bond funding for the Maryland Stadium Authority’s (MSA) economic development of the Blue Line Corridor, which will result in the construction of sports and entertainment facilities in Central Prince George’s County. The memorandum of understanding
By Ralph E. Moore Jr., Special to the AFRO Change has been coming to Maryland for some time now. Voters in Maryland approved legalizing marijuana in the fall election last year. The results: 1,302,161 “yes” votes to 635,572 “no” votes. It was a landslide win, with 67.20 percent in favor of joining the many states