Featured
Obama blasts Texas GOP redistricting plan as a ‘power grab.’ By Joey Garrison / USA Today
Former President Barack Obama jumped into the nation’s cross-country redistricting fight, calling Texas Republicans’ push to add five new GOP congressional seats “a power grab that undermines our democracy.”
Obama’s remarks, made in a statement posted Aug. 5 on X, come as President Donald Trump has pressured Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans in the GOP-controlled Texas state legislature to approve new congressional maps to help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House during the 2026 midterm elections. Read more
Related: The Texas GOP’s Disturbing Request for the FBI. By Paul Rosenweig / The Atlantic
Related: 3 reasons Republicans’ redistricting power grab might backfire. By Charlie Hunt / The Conversation
Related: Beto O’Rourke Trashes Texas Republicans: ‘These Motherf**kers Are Panicking.’ By
Let Voters, Not Politicians, Decide Elections. By Jeffrey A. Mandell / The Progressive Magazine
Nothing good can come from President Donald Trump’s redistricting arms race. What’s happening in Texas is a travesty for democracy. The state capital building in Austin, Texas.
This triggered another troubling development: Democrats have publicly proposed that “blue” states respond in kind. They say California, New York, Illinois, and possibly other Democrat-led states should immediately redistrict to create more Democratic-leaning congressional districts. And there is talk that Republicans in Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and Missouri may re-tinker with their maps as well. Read more
Related: In Election Cases, Supreme Court Keeps Removing Guardrails. By Adam Liptak / NYT
Political / Social
Justice Dept. Subpoenas Office of Letitia James, Who Sued Trump for Fraud. Jonah E. Bromwich, Devlin Barrett, Glenn Thrush and Santul Nerkar / NYT
Letitia James, New York’s attorney general and a longtime nemesis of the president, is being investigated in two separate inquiries, in a remarkable use of executive power to pursue a foe.
The Justice Department this week abruptly escalated its pressure campaign on Letitia James, New York’s attorney general and one of President Trump’s longtime adversaries, opening a civil rights investigation into her office and appointing a special prosecutor to scrutinize her real estate dealings. Read more
Kamala Harris will not run for California governor, opening door for 2028 run. By Maeve Reston / Wash Post
Harris has not ruled out another run for the White House, according to confidantes.
Kamala Harris will not run for governor of California next year, she announced Wednesday, leaving the door open to another White House bid in 2028 as the former vice president considers her political future following her loss to Donald Trump last fall. Read more
Black unemployment rate jumps, stirring economic fears. By Bailey Schulz / USA Today
The surge in unemployment among Black Americans could be a troubling sign for the economy, since this segment is often the first hit by economic downturns.
The unemployment rate for Black Americans hit 7.2% in July, up from 6.3% a year ago and 6.8% the month before, according to the most recent jobs report from the Labor Department. The most recent surge follows an eye-popping 13% increase from May to June and puts the metric well above the total unemployment rate of 4.2%. Black women in particular have seen a dramatic increase in unemployment over the past year, from 5.5% to 6.3%. Read more
Related: What We Miss When We Talk About the Racial Wealth Gap. By Idrees Kahloon / The New Yorker
The Diversity Bell That Trump Can’t Un-ring. By Geraldo Cadava / TNR
The biggest problem with the history Trump wants to impose on us is that it never, in fact, existed.
The increasingly diverse students in the United States want to know the histories of their communities, and those who don’t come from those communities need to know their histories as well, because in doing so they are learning the stories of their neighbors and fellow Americans. The bell can’t be un-rung. Read more
The heir’s property: reclaiming family land lost in the Deep South. By Andrea Riquier / USA Today
“The Heir’s Property” is an in-depth look at the issue of land passed down through generations, told through the lens of one man’s struggle to retain land purchased a century ago by his great-grandfather, who was born into slavery during the Confederacy.
Heirs’ property is usually defined as land handed down without clear, official documentation. Over the course of the 20th century, Black Americans lost roughly 80% of the property they owned at the peak of ownership a few decades after the Civil War because of theft and systemic injustices. This is the first in a two-part series. Read more
Related: Return To What?! Whites-Only Town In Arkansas Sparks Uproar. By Keenan Higgins / Blackamericaweb
‘I just couldn’t stop crying’: How prison affects Black men’s mental health long after they’ve been released. By Helena Addison / The Conversation
Mike returned home to Philadelphia after a 15-year prison sentence and suffered an emotional breakdown.
As a registered nurse and nurse scientist who studies how incarceration affects mental health, I know Mike’s experience after release from prison is not uncommon. Studies show that Black men who have experienced incarceration have higher rates of PTSD, depression and psychological distress compared with Black men who have never been incarcerated. Read more
Education
Trump Is Desperately Trying To Make Colleges White Again. By
“Woke is officially DEAD at Brown. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Donald Trump declared in a Truth Social post last week.
He was celebrating the fact that the prestigious Providence, Rhode Island, university had just agreed to a settlement with him. In order to restore its federal funding, the school agreed to implement anti-transgender policies and hand over its race and admissions data. And then on Thursday, Trump went further: He signed an executive order demanding that every college in the country hand over its admissions data, citing a 2023 Supreme Court decision prohibiting the use of race as a factor in college admissions. “Greater transparency is essential to exposing unlawful practices and ultimately ridding society of shameful, dangerous racial hierarchies,” the order reads. Read more
Related: Trump Wants Admissions Data on Grades and Race, but Who Will Collect It? Sarah Mervosh / NYT
Trump Escalates a Fight Over How to Measure Merit in American Education. Stephanie Saul, Dana Goldstein and Sarah Mervosh / NYT
President Trump’s most recent executive order wades into a debate over how elite colleges should weigh grades and test scores versus the obstacles students have overcome.
On one side, colleges have argued that considering students’ life experiences — including their races — creates diverse student bodies that are beneficial to everyone and corrects for decades of discrimination. But a conservative movement has questioned the use of such subjective criteria in admissions, arguing that the practice has led to discrimination against white and Asian students. Read more
The Only Hope Is Total and Unrelenting Resistance. By Arne Duncan / The Chronicle of Higher Ed.
Every university must join together to stop Trump, urges Arne Duncan.
Collectively, our higher-education sector is the intellectual and economic engine of the world. It has hoisted millions of people up the economic ladder, driven advances in every field from agriculture and astrophysics to manufacturing and medicine, and contributed in so many ways to our collective wisdom and understanding. All of us have a stake in the system: administrators, professors, employees who work in the field, parents and students who pay tuition, donors and alumni who fund scholarships and endowments, taxpayers who have invested trillions and trillions of dollars to build our universities and expand access to college, and communities that are economically anchored by institutions of higher education. Read more
Related: The Big Ten Rises Up Against Trump. By Virginia Hefferman / TNR
This ‘Chilling’ Right-Wing Movement Is Taking Over Classrooms — And It’s Only The Beginning. By
Across the United States, more parents are growing concerned as they witness a narrow religious ideology gaining influence over their children’s public schools.
While some argue that inclusive school curricula are threatening their religious freedom, many others are worried that one belief system is being imposed — dictating not only which books are available in classrooms but who gets to be represented in the school experience. Read more
World
Zelensky rejects Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine cede territory to Russia. By Siobhán O’Grady and Catherine Belton / Wash Post
Ukraine will reject any proposal that involves ceding territory to Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested “some swapping of territories” to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Trump had suggested a territorial swap as he and Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized details for an in-person meeting Friday in Alaska — symbolic as a former part of the Russian Empire. Trump did not say whether Zelensky was invited to the meeting. An official briefed on the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about sensitive political talks, said Zelensky had not yet been invited. Read more
Mouin Rabbani on Israel’s “Indefinite, Genocidal Military Campaign.” By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now
Israel’s security cabinet has announced the approval of a plan to occupy Gaza City, moving its ongoing military offensive north and displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians to camps in central Gaza.
Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani emphasizes that the new strategy is simply “the first phase of a larger plan” for the permanent displacement, occupation and annexation of the entire Gaza Strip, as confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent interview with Fox News. Read more
Related: Israel’s Settler Right Is Preparing to Annex Gaza. By Yair Rosenberg / The Atlantic
Related: Israel’s plan to take over Gaza “must be immediately halted,” U.N. says. By Haley Ott / CBS News
Haiti has new council leader as gangs threaten to overthrow government. By AP and NPR
Laurent Saint-Cyr (left) attends the ceremony for his appointment as president of the Transitional Council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday.
A wealthy businessman on Thursday became the head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council tasked with restoring order in the troubled country as a top gang leader underscored the challenges facing the nation by vowing to overthrow the government. Laurent Saint-Cyr’s appointment at the council’s heavily guarded office in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control 90% of the neighborhoods, marked the first time that members of Haiti’s private sector serve in both the rotating presidency and the post of prime minister, two positions that share the country’s executive duties. Read more
Ethics / Morality / Religion
Disturbed About Man. By Benjamin E. Mays / Amazon Books
At the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the eulogy was delivered by Benjamin E. Mays, former president of Morehouse College. The men had become close friends when King attended Morehouse.
This famous tribute forms the opening chapter of a book dedicated by Dr. Mays to his former student, “who too was disturbed about man.” In a forceful and straightforward style, Dr. Mays speaks to men of all races and faiths about how to counteract man’s inhumanity to man. His message is that man does not have to attack other nations or his neighbors. He does not have to be a slave to his environment. With God’s help he can overcome and improve his environment; he can “rise above the currently accepted practices and point the way to higher and nobler things.” Read more
Black Churches Can Apply For Grant To Preserve African American Heritage. By Mitti Hicks / Black Enterprise
The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation says grants range from $50,000 to $500,000.
According to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, eligibility for the program is limited to sites of historical significance to African American heritage. Some examples include active congregations in historic buildings that are at least 50 years old, as well as churches designed by Black architects and builders. Black churches that repurposed over the years for arts and cultural programming are also encouraged to apply. Read more
Hegseth promotes interview with avowed Christian nationalist. By Garrett Owen / Salon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promoted a CNN interview with Doug Wilson, who argues the US should be a theocracy
“All of Christ for All of Life,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. Hegseth, who is a member of Wilson’s Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches in Tennessee, also sends his children to schools associated with Wilson’s ministries. Wilson, whose ministry operates hundreds of churches around the world, is an outspoken right-wing evangelical, espousing extremely conservative views of Christianity, including the view that the U.S. should be a theocracy. Read more
Historical / Cultural
History Matters Now More Than Ever. By Françoise N. Hamlin and Charles W. McKinney, Jr / AAIHS
From Rights To Lives reminds people that the current social and political climate also has a history firmly embedded in the Black Freedom Struggle timeline.
The edited volume allows for a certain kind of accessibility with the case studies that approach the task in different ways and with different analytical tools within the social sciences and humanities. Together, these chapters demonstrate the extent of systemic white supremacy and the ways in which the system constantly maneuvers to subvert democracy. In this way From Rights To Lives helps readers understand both the legacies of white supremacy and Black struggle. Read more
Trump Is Putting Confederate Statues Back Up. Here’s Why They Must Fall. By Natasha Lennard / The Intercept
Monuments to racism license racist violence. White supremacists, for their part, know this well. The statue of Confederate Albert Pike, toppled overnight by protesters outside of Judiciary Square one street over from D.C. Police Headquarters, on June 20, 2020, in Washington.
The Trump administration announced this week that it would be restoring two Confederate monuments in Washington. One, a statue of Confederate general and likely Ku Klux Klan member Albert Pike was torn down by protesters with ropes and chains during the 2020 George Floyd uprisings. The other, the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, originally commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was removed on the recommendation of an independent commission in 2022. Read more
Related: Trump’s Cultural Revolution Is Just Getting Started. David Firestone / NYT
Related: Confederate memorial will be returned to Arlington Cemetery, Hegseth says. By Joe Heim / Wash Post
What if Dred Scott Had Been Decided Correctly? By Jamelle Bouie / NYT
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column that included a brief discussion of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, the 1857 case that both invalidated the Missouri Compromise and closed the door to Black citizenship in the United States — until it was effectively overturned by the outcome of the Civil War and officially overturned by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
To write about Dred Scott meant I had to read — that is, reread — Chief Justice Roger Taney’s infamous opinion for the court, in which he tried to root his anti-Black constitutional vision in the nation’s history. And while I did not write about it in the column, I also read the major dissent in the case, written by Justice Benjamin Curtis. Read more
Wendell Pierce Secures $10M Investment For ‘Legacy Theatres Of Color.’ By Kandiss Edwards / Black Enterprise
Pierce, a veteran actor, is partnering with Caesars Palace Times Square. The organization, a 501(c) (3) entity called the New York Coalition of Legacy Theatres of Color Fund, will target marginalized institutions.
Its specific goal is to boost production, marketing, and awareness for historically Black operations, Playbill reported. These include the Billie Holiday Theatre, the Black Spectrum Theatre, and The Negro Ensemble Company. Read more
Related: Hollywood Is ‘Hot, Horny and White’ Again. Sharon Waxman / NYT
Sports
Browns’ Shedeur Sanders throws 2 TDs, leads 3 scoring drives in preseason debut. By Zac Jackson / The Athletic
Despite what it may have looked like early, Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders said he didn’t feel any extra nerves ahead of his professional debut Friday night.
His first pass sailed high, and the Browns’ first three series produced more misses than hits. But a Carolina Panthers turnover led to a well-placed 7-yard touchdown pass from Sanders to Kaden Davis on the first play of the second quarter. Late in the first half, Sanders finished an efficient drive with an even better touchdown toss than his first, again to Davis, this one from 12 yards out. Read more
Related: Deion Sanders reacts to Shedeur Sanders performance vs Panthers. By Joe Rivera / USA Today
Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America’s Game. By DeMaurice Smith / Amazon Books
An NFL insider’s explosive account of the ruthless power struggles between owners and players over the future of football.
Drawing from his 14 years of unprecedented access and unparalleled knowledge of America’s favorite sport, Smith documents his years leading the NFLPA and explains how the NFL distorts the truth, telling partial stories to insulate itself and grow its $20-billion-a-year brand—and the players’ battles to protect themselves. Read more
WNBA players are fighting for their rights. Don’t make them dodge dildos. By Christina Cauterucci / Slate
At first, WNBA players took the dildo as a joke. The first time a fan threw a green sex toy onto the court, as the Golden State Valkyries played the Atlanta Dream, on July 29, the players were inclined to laugh it off. “Sorry I did NOT mean to throw that so far y’all,” Indiana Fever point guard Sydney Colson wrote on X, where she and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese made light of the situation.
No one wants to be the prude running for the fainting couch at the sight of a dildo, or the scold telling people to put their sex toys away. But in the days since, several more people have hurled green dildos from the stands at WNBA games. It happened last Friday in Chicago, and on Tuesday at games in New York, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Read more
Trump would pull the Commanders back toward an ugly history. By Kevin B. Blackistone / Wash Post
More than a year after the Washington Football Team rebranded as the Commanders, a change.org petition asked the NFL franchise to return to the name it used for 87 years, one that Native Americans complained to the team was a slur against them as early as the 1960s. Read more
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