lynching, North Carolina
by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

July 14, 2024

Howard Cooper’s Lynching And Legacy Before Emmett Till’s Tragedy Remembered

Now, the Maryland Lynching Memorial project honors Cooper's life, doing so annually on the anniversary of his death.

Before Emmett Till’s 1955 lynching, a Black teenager in Baltimore faced the same fate nearly a century before. However, Howard Cooper’s story remained relatively unknown until 2018.

Cooper, a 15-year-old from the Baltimore area, was accused of sexually assaulting a young white woman in 1885. After days of evading a racist mob, law enforcement found and charged him with assault and rape. While Cooper did not deny the assault, he claimed that he never raped the woman, a charge punishable by death by hanging. Despite this, an all-white jury took only one minute to convict Cooper of both crimes, as reported by The Baltimore Sun.

A potential federal appeal of his conviction, spearheaded by Rev. Dr. Harvey Johnson of Baltimore’s Union Baptist Church, led to the mob snatching Cooper from his cell in Towson Jail. In the early hours of July 13, Cooper’s body hung from a sycamore tree. He uttered his last words of “Goodbye, gentlemen.”

Where his body rests is an unmarked grave. As for the jail where he stayed, it now serves as an office building. While Till’s untimely death forced America to reckon with its racism, the tragedy of Howard Cooper stayed buried.

Now, the Maryland Lynching Memorial project honors Cooper’s life, doing so annually on the anniversary of his death. The work of this organization, part of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Remembrance Project, rectifies this forgotten history.

“Not only is the history not appreciated, and not known, but the connection of these legacies of lynching to the inequities we see today, and making that connection clear, is one of the reasons it’s important to do this,” said Will Schwarz, president of the statewide nonprofit, to the news outlet.

Cooper’s killing is among at least 38 lynchings in the state. Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued pardons for Cooper and 34 others during a 2021 ceremony. Cooper’s name and memory are also displayed outside the former jail with a historical marker. It remains one of two dedicated to lynching victims in the state.

The annual ceremony takes place in the park across the building where Cooper was last seen alive. The memorial serves as a remembrance of lynching victims whose lives were unjustly taken due to racism, within and beyond the Maryland community.

RELATED CONTENT: Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act

Cancer, Smoking
by Shanique Yates

July 14, 2024

New Research Shows 40% Of Cancer Cases Linked To Preventable Risk Factors Like Smoking And Obesity

The American Cancer Society reveals that preventable risk factors like smoking and obesity are responsible for more than 40% of cancer diagnosis and deaths.

A new study revealed that nearly half of adult cancer deaths can be avoided through simple lifestyle changes.

The American Cancer Society reported that its recent research shows that 40% of new cancer cases in adults ages 30 and up are linked to “preventable risk factors.” The leading risk factor at this time is smoking, which the study reveals is responsible for almost 1 in 5 cancer cases and roughly a third of deaths caused by the disease. 

“These are things that people can practically change how they live every single day to reduce their risk of cancer,” said Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer with the American Cancer Society.

Other risk factors linked to cancer diagnosis and deaths include “excess body weight, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity,” as well as “diet and infections such as HPV.”

The study, which analyzed 18 modifiable risk factors across 30 various cancer types, showed that more than 700,000 new cancer cases and over 262,000 deaths were linked to preventable risk factors in 2019. According to Dr. Kamal, cancer spreads due to DNA damage or a fuel source. While genetics and environmental factors play a huge role in the disease, preventable risk factors are the cause of a significantly higher amount of cancer-related cases and deaths than any known factors.

“With cancer, it oftentimes feels like you have no control,” Dr. Kamal explained. “People think about bad luck or bad genetics, but people need to feel a sense of control and agency.”

The second largest cause of cancer, behind smoking, is excess body weight, which the study says is linked to 5% of new cases in men and around 11% of cases in women. Moreover, this contributing factor is responsible for more than a third of cancer deaths caused by the disease spreading in a person’s endometrium, esophagus, gallbladder, kidney, and liver.

Additionally, it has been found that the risk of certain cancers has declined for those currently on popular weight-loss and diabetes medication like Ozempic.

“Obesity is emerging, in some ways, as just as potent of a risk for people as smoking is,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. 

Not only are experts recommending that people make lifestyle changes to prevent the risk of cancer and other deadly diseases, but they are also calling on health officials and policymakers to “create environments where it’s easier for people, where the healthy choice is the easy choice.”

Plescia says “It’s never too late to make these changes,” and urges people to get serious about making lifestyle changes around preventable risk factors like smoking, obesity, and diet to avoid a cancer diagnosis or death. 

RELATED CONTENT: Weight Loss Medications Linked To Lower Cancer Risk, According To Study

Al-Quadin Muhammad
by Daniel Johnson

July 14, 2024

NFL Veteran Al-Quadin Muhammad Honored With Key To The City From Newark, NJ, For Community Impact

'I’ve learned a lot of great things and I’ve done a lot of great things in giving back to the community, the kids in Newark, just to let them know that they can be successful, and they can make it out,' Muhammad said.

On July 12, the City of Newark, New Jersey honored eight-year NFL veteran Al-Quadin Muhammad with the key to the city to honor both his success on the football field and his generosity to the youth of Newark. Muhammad, who starred at Paterson Catholic School and Don Bosco Prep Academy before taking his talents to the University of Miami, is a hometown hero. 

According to Pix 11, Benjie Wimberly, New Jersey State Assemblyman and a former coach of Muhammad at Paterson Catholic, part of the reason Muhammad received the honor is his commitment to letting the kids in Newark know that if he made it out, they can too. The player hosts an annual youth camp for local kids.

“What he’s given back to the Newark community and even kids from Paterson who still know who Quan is, that is the most important thing I can say.” Wimberly told the outlet. 

According to Muhammad, the camp, which has taken place since he was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2017, is still ongoing even though he is currently a free agent. And, the camp has become an outlet for hundreds of Black youth in Newark, which is 47.03% Black, according to World Population Review.

But Newark was not always a majority Black city, according to Newark Changing. Like many cities in the northern part of the country, the demographics of Newark were altered by two phenomena during the 1960s: The Great Migration and white flight. 

“At least six million Blacks fled from poverty, unemployment, and racial tensions in the south to northern cities they hoped would be better. As internal immigrants within America and as a people at the bottom of the class system, these Blacks settled in the same Newark neighborhoods as earlier generations of white immigrants. Many of Belmont’s Jewish synagogues and Catholic churches were soon sold off and given new life as Black Baptist congregations,” according to Newark Changing.

According to History Reads, Newark, similar to Detroit in 1967, underwent an uprising centered on the abuses of its Black residents at the hands of the police. Newark’s uprising ended about a week before Detroit’s began, and the two events signaled to President Lyndon B. Johnson that there was a larger problem, which was further examined via the 1967 Kerner Report on Urban Riots commissioned by the Johnson Administration. 

“Now, five decades later, we are locked in the same old, stale arguments about the causes of riots. Liberals blame poverty and the need for massive federal spending; conservatives fault a lack of respect for authority and the need for tough law enforcement. Neither side has been willing to acknowledge that the disturbances are often justified, or that well-intended but poorly trained police officers sometimes turn minor disputes into major incidents of rebellion,” noted Steven M. Gillon, a senior fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia and a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma, in a 2018 essay for History. 

Muhammad, through his camp and inspiration, is addressing the challenges Newark youth still face.

“The camp is still going, I do a camp every year,” Muhammad told Pix 11. “What I would like to accomplish is letting kids in the city and all over, no matter where they come from, that they can be successful and they could do the same thing I’m doing, and more, and better, no matter the circumstances. Anything you want to accomplish or anything you want to achieve you got to consistently work at it on a daily basis.”

Muhammad continued, “I’ve learned a lot of great things and I’ve done a lot of great things in giving back to the community, the kids in Newark, just to let them know that they can be successful, and they can make it out.”

RELATED CONTENT: Mayor Ras J. Baraka Launches ‘Newark 40 Acres and a Mule’ Investment Fund To Support Black Businesses

James Baldwin, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian
by Daniel Johnson

July 14, 2024

James Baldwin Focus Of Special Exhibition At National Portrait Gallery As The Late Author’s 100th Birthday Nears

The exhibition examines Baldwin's legacy and positions it alongside his contemporaries in art, music, literature, and activism. 

James Baldwin, arguably the finest essay writer that this country has ever produced, will be honored through a new exhibit at The Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. The exhibit, curated by the gallery’s Director of Curatorial Affairs, Rhea L. Combs, and consulted by New Yorker critic Hilton Als, examines Baldwin’s legacy and positions it alongside his contemporaries in art, music, literature, and activism. 

According to Essence, the one-room exhibition titled This Morning, This Evening, So Soon: James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance will encompass Baldwin’s ideas about sexuality, faith, art, and masculinity. As Combs told the outlet, Baldwin’s legacy represents the unapologetic presentation of truth to power. 

“(Baldwin) has been a torch-bearer for so many things that still hold true for today. I think that his legacy is about being able to speak truth to power, and that it is important to be able to live in your truth, and to do that creatively, to do that unapologetically, and to make sure that you use your art or your time on this planet in a way that is seeped in love.”

The exhibition will be on display from July 12 to April 20, 2025, and will also feature the work of artists Lyle Ashton Harris, Richard Avedon, Beauford Delaney, Bernard Gotfryd, Glenn Ligon, Donald Moffett, Sedat Pakay, Faith Ringgold, Lorna Simpson, and Jack Whitten. In addition, work from creatives in Baldwin’s circle like musician Nina Simone, filmmaker Marlon Riggs, and poet Essex Hemphill will be displayed alongside images of Baldwin with gay civil rights activists who influenced him, like playwright and author Lorraine Hansberry and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. 

According to Combs, Baldwin’s impact has persisted as we approach what would have been his 100th birthday. “I realized that 2024 would be his 100th anniversary, a centennial for his life, and I wanted to acknowledge and recognize him, because he has such an important presence in contemporary life right now. And it wasn’t always the case, but at this moment, I thought on the heels of so many things that have been going on, especially in the last four years, and even when you scroll through social media, there’s rarely a day that goes past when there’s not a quote from him or an image of him that is sort of on your feed.”

Combs continued, “And it was within that moment in the zeitgeist that I thought, “Okay, this would be important for the Portrait Gallery.” But also I want to acknowledge that I was really taken aback and really moved by Hilton Als’ exhibition that he did at the Werner Gallery in 2019.”

Combs also told Essence that she feels like the exhibition honoring Baldwin is yet another way to honor him as his work continues to speak from beyond the grave. “Yes, and the thing is now that in the late ’80s and the ’70s, he was kind of persona non grata, and that’s another way in which we feel like this show becomes a bit of a reckoning for him. When you think about it, when he passed away in France, he was not getting all the love and adoration that he’s receiving now. He had seen sort of the rise and the fall, and so it is really special to be able to continue, like you said, to give him his flowers. They’re very well-deserved, I think.”

RELATED CONTENT: Billy Porter Slated to Produce and Portray James Baldwin in Biopic

Donald Trump, racist, Black friends, sued, lawsuit,
by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

July 13, 2024

Chaos And Mayhem: Trump Injured, Suspect Killed During Pennsylvania Rally

Reactions to Trump’s injury, the shooting and the election were varied.

On the evening of July 13, Secret Service agents hurried former president Donald Trump off stage during an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, following an unconfirmed alleged assassination attempt on the felony-ridden mogul. 

Secret Service agents quickly addressed the threat, with Trump taking cover behind the podium. Blood was visible on his right ear as agents escorted him off the stage to a waiting vehicle.

Trump is “fine,” according to a spokesperson. Police on the scene confirmed that the alleged shooter was killed by the Secret Service. The unnamed person reportedly fired multiple rounds from a rooftop adjacent to the rally location.

President Joe Biden took to the X app to share his thoughts and concerns regarding the harrowing ordeal.

“I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally as we await further information. Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” a tweet read from the commander-in-chief. 

Other reactions to Trump’s injury, the shooting and the election were varied – but here are the best tweets. 

And it wouldn’t be a Trump rally without supporters drinking his bath water.

https://twitter.com/VoteBidenOut/status/1812250104033591612
https://twitter.com/MsBlaireWhite/status/1812252919086936442

Eddie murphy, david Spade, SNL
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 13, 2024

Eddie Murphy Ties The Knot After 6-Year Engagement

The 'Beverly Hills Cop' star marries Australian model Paige Butcher.

Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy has just gotten hitched as he embarks on his second marriage.

According to People, the Saturday Night Live alum married Australian model Paige Butcher, who he had been engaged to since 2018. The couple has an 8-year-old daughter, Izzy, and a 5-year-old son, Max Charles. The nuptials took place on July 9 in a private ceremony in Anguilla. This is Murphy’s second time taking the vow while this is Butcher’s first marriage.

Murphy and Butcher started dating back in 2012 and had their first child on May 3, 2016. Their second child was born on Nov. 30, 2018. Max was born two months after the couple got engaged.

Murphy was previously married to Nicole Murphy from 1993 to 2006.

This wedding comes after the premiere of Murphy’s latest movie, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which came out on July 3 on Netflix. The movie is the fourth one for the successful Beverly Hills Cop franchise. The original was released in 1984, followed by two sequels in 1987 and 1994, and the franchise has grossed $735.5 million worldwide.

And speaking of weddings, Murphy may be involved in another one soon. Murphy’s son Eric has been dating Bad Boys actor Martin Lawrence‘s daughter Jasmin for several years.

People reported that Murphy discussed the relationship between his son and Lawrence’s daughter on a recent episode of CBS Mornings earlier this month. He spoke to Gayle King and mentioned that he thought it was “cool” that their kids were in a relationship. He anticipates that if the two have a baby, with the comedic genes from him and Lawrence, the child is destined to be funny.

“They’re both beautiful,” Murphy told her. “They look amazing together. And it’s funny [because] everybody [asks], ‘What is that baby going to be funny?’”

“Just our gene pool is going to make this funny baby. If they ever get married and have a child, I’m expecting the child to be funny.”

RELATED CONTENT: Eddie Murphy Reflects On David Spade’s ‘Racist’ SNL Joke About Him From ’90s

Tim scott, GOP, Black Jobs, Trump, Black republicans, Black voters
by Daniel Johnson

July 13, 2024

Tim Scott Defends Trump’s ‘Black Jobs’ Remark In Interview

Scott also took aim at the media.

Republican Tim Scott continues to defend Donald Trump; this time the South Carolina Senator claimed that the criticism Trump has received for a remark made during the presidential debate on June 27 is misdirected. During a July 12 interview with The Root, Scott said that Trump was actually trying to defend his record on job creation. 

According to The Huffington Post, Scott offered up a defense that when Trump said that those coming into the country were allegedly taking “Black jobs” the former president really meant that he created jobs for Black people.

“I think what he meant to say was the fact that two-thirds of the jobs he created…went to African Americans, Hispanics, and women,” Scott told The Root. “I think we should take a whole look at the picture, and I don’t think that happens.”

Scott also took aim at the media, attempting to hold publications responsible for creating a “biased” perspective of himself and the Republican Party at large.

“Whoever they [media outlets] say I am, they’re not just trying to distort my picture, they’re trying to lie about my record,” he told the outlet, before adding that it’s “incredibly unfortunate” that the media makes “Black success today about liberal success.”

Scott was not the only Black conservative to try and rescue Trump from the criticism he faced post-debate. According to Politico, Diante Johnson, the president of the Black Conservative Federation said that Trump’s “Black jobs” comment was self-explanatory.

“He meant the jobs of Black people. And we’ve been using that term for a while,” Johnson told the outlet. “It’s any job. Instead of Black people having unlimited accessibility to all types of jobs, illegal immigrants are taking their jobs from them.”

Despite Johnson’s defense of Trump’s statement, Michael Blake, the founder and CEO of the Kairos Democracy Project, placed the onus on those who believe in diversity to defend its merits from fearmongering. 

“It is the responsibility for us to then tell the story of the benefits of diversity, rather than the fears of it. And the notion that those people are taking from you is a fear-only message as opposed to asking: How do we all win? When you embrace all races, we all win. We should not allow fear of the past to supersede the prosperity of the future, because we all can win.”

In contrast to Scott’s statement, however, the media is not to blame for the Republican Party’s negative reputation. According to Tasha Philpot, an assistant professor of Government and African American Studies at the University of Texas and the author of Conservative but Not Republican: The Paradox of Party Identification and Ideology among African Americans, it is the company Republicans keep that has earned them a negative reception from Black Americans in general.

“Certainly, we see based on presidential approval ratings that it has not translated into support for the Republican party. And a lot of it has to do with the heightened racial tension that we’ve been experiencing over the last four years.” Philpot told the Niskanen Center in 2020.

Philpot continued, “You see a lot of racial rhetoric being used, not just among Donald Trump but other Republicans. And of course, the rise in white nationalist groups, neo-Nazis, the Klan that have endorsed the republican party and have become tightly aligned with the Republican party in the eyes of African Americans, which ultimately would prevent blacks from voting republican even if they agree with the Republican party on a number of other dimensions.”

RELATED CONTENT: Tim Scott Connected PAC To Spend $14.3 Million For Black Voter Outreach In Support Of Trump

Suspect, Revenge Killing, Woman, Brother's Death
by Stacy Jackson

July 13, 2024

Woman Struck By Gunfire In Encounter With Two Police Deputies

An investigation by the Illinois State Police is ongoing after the two deputies responded to a call at Sonya Massey's home.

The Illinois State Police has started an investigation after Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Illinois woman, was allegedly shot and killed while two deputies from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office were responding to a prowler report.

The event unfolded at a Springfield residence around 12:50 a.m. on July 6. According to ABC News, the sheriff’s office stated, “Deputies reported that shots had been fired, resulting in a female being struck by gunfire.” The two deputies “immediately” provided first aid until emergency services arrived. Sangamon County Coroner, Jim Allmon, confirmed Massey was pronounced dead at 1:47 a.m. after being transported to St. John’s Hospital. “An autopsy was performed, and preliminary findings show Ms. Massey died from a gunshot wound,” Allmon stated.

The Illinois State Police is conducting an independent investigation into the shooting in collaboration with the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office, aiming for a thorough and transparent process.

“It is extremely hard to imagine how a woman who calls the police out of fear of an intruder ends up shot in the head by the police at her own home,” said Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, retained by Massey’s family. Crump is demanding the release of all body camera footage from the two deputies involved in the incident. However, the Illinois State Police has stated they will not yet share the footage, to maintain the integrity of the legal process. They assured that “when appropriate, additional information, including the video, will be shared with Sonya Massey’s family before releasing further.”

The incident involving the two deputies has sparked community action, with supporters of Massey’s family organizing a protest in Springfield, calling for justice and accountability. As the investigation continues, the Illinois State Police remains committed to a comprehensive examination of the events that led to this outcome. According to the sheriff’s statement, no deputies were reported injured during the incident.

RELATED CONTENT: Family of Man Killed By SWAT Officer Call For Murder Trial

NCAA, HBCUs Allen University and Edward Waters University
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 13, 2024

HBCUs Allen University And Edward Waters University Elevated To NCAA Division II Status

Both institutions have completed the provisional membership process necessary to join the division.

Two HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) have been selected to join the ranks of teams in the NCAA Division II.

According to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association), HBCUs Allen University and Edward Waters University are being welcomed along with Emory & Henry University and Westmont College to become NCAA Division II members. All four schools have completed the provisional membership process necessary to join the division.

HBCU Game Day reported that both HBCUs have completed the four-year process and are members of the (SIAC) Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

In a written statement, Allen University President Dr. Ernest McNealey said, “I am pleased to announce that Allen University is now a full-fledged member of NCAA Division II. Becoming so was a long-standing goal of the Board of Trustees and decades of alumni, and as President, I am particularly pleased to share this news with them. I commend AD Jasher Cox, and his staff members, present and past, and others on the campus who worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome.”

All 12 varsity sports at Allen will be eligible for postseason and championship competition.

“We are on the brink of a thrilling era in Allen’s Athletics history,” said Allen University Director of Athletics Jasher Cox. “Throughout the reclassification process, the university has demonstrated excellence at every turn. I am incredibly proud of the past three years and the hard work that has brought us to this moment. An exhilarating chapter now begins as we are officially eligible for postseason play and championships.”

With the four schools being approved by the Division II Membership Committee the total number of Division II schools has risen to 293 in 2024-25. An upcoming meeting of the Division II Management Council will review all membership decisions. The changes are expected to take effect on Sept. 1.

RELATED CONTENT: Stu Jackson Appointed To NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee

Jerry Rice, reporters
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

July 13, 2024

Jerry Rice Curses At Reporters During Recent Celebrity Golf Tournament

'If you want some, come get some!'

Former NFL player Jerry Rice confronted a couple of reporters, telling one of them that he would “f**k him up.”

TMZ Sports posted the video of the incident that occurred at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada, on July 11. The footage shows the two reporters asking Rice a question, visibly displeasing the former wide receiver. He confronts one of the men, stating, “I will f**k you up!” As he walks away, he shouts, “If you want some, come get some!”

Rice stated that he felt the reporters were being disrespectful by asking him a question about the Kansas City Chiefs, who earlier this year defeated his former team, the San Francisco 49ers (25–22), in the Super Bowl. He observed that the men asked the question with “smirks on their faces,” knowing it would provoke him.

“I’m going to defend the San Francisco 49ers,” he told the media outlet. “This is my history.”

The two men, Noah Gronniger and Clint Switzer of Starcade Media, responded to the incident in a social media post on July 12, a day after the confrontation.

“We meant absolutely no disrespect to Jerry or the 49ers when asking this question as we have a profound respect for the great players that have played this game, especially (in our opinion) the greatest receiver of all time.”

The men explained that they were not trying to “elicit a negative reaction” when approaching Rice and stated they had no smirks on their faces when posing the question. No apologies were offered, but they said they were open to speaking to Rice to “clear the air” about what took place that day. They also offered another video that shows Rice calling one of them “an a**hole.”

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