Articles by this author
Local journalism across Texas, Florida, and national newsrooms — part of the Nexcom Media network of independent publications.
Recent reporting and curated coverage across every beat we cover.
In the lead-up to our country’s 250th anniversary, Errin Haines is writing a series of columns to contemplate the complicated expansion of our democracy. Subscribe to The Amendment newsletter . Joseph and Nellie Gamble were born in 1905 and 1910 in Jim Crow Alabama – which meant that for much of the…
Nominated for Album of the Year at this year’s BET Awards, Wale’s eighth studio album Everything is A Lot. is his most personal yet. “ It’s one of my best bodies of work and the recognition from a Black institution is important to me,” he tells ESSENCE exclusively.
For much of my life, I thought belonging was something you found: a place, a community, a passport, a home. Now I believe belonging may be something we build together. That realization took me 30 years—and not because I lacked an identity. I arrived in the United States carrying one.
The Supreme Court’s decision in CISCO Systems, Inc. v. Doe , announced on June 23, was not only, as expected, good news for corporations that facilitate government violations of international human rights. It was also an unexpected boon for government officials who do so as well.
Acting legend Danny Glover shared in an exclusive interview with TODAY that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease a few years ago. His speech is beginning to slow, as well as his movements and memories, but he’s doing ok. “I can live with it in a sense,” Glover shared when asked how he’s coping.
Just over one month after giving birth to her first child with her partner, 21 Savage, Latto is headed to New Orleans to perform at this year’s Essence Festival. But first, the busy rapper arrived at the BET Awards to perfect a classic style: the bun.
Donald Trump’s jingoistic whitewashing of the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country will no doubt celebrate the 1773 Boston Tea Party, where the Sons of Liberty protested oppressive British import taxes.
Unknown block type "pdfEmbed", specify a component for it in the `components.types` option The final stretch of the 2025-26 Supreme Court term looked different from the end of recent ones. Over the past several years, many of the court’s most anticipated decisions have ended with the familiar 6-3 id…
For 250 years, the story of American democracy has been a story of expanding who holds power and who gets to decide who yields it. The 15th Amendment, the 17th, the Voting Rights Act, the 19th Amendment and the 26th—each was a structural intervention, a deliberate redesign of the rules to bring more…
The Morales family is growing—yet again. Married at First Sight Season 12 success story Briana Myles and Vincent Morales , the only couple from their Atlanta-based season still together, are expecting their third child.
It was a busy Tuesday at the court as the justices released the final opinions in argued cases for the 2025-26 term and then orders from their Monday conference. Let’s get to it. But first, do you know an exceptional lawyer looking for something different? We're hiring to help build a new edito…
Coca-Cola will mark its 31st consecutive year as a partner of the ESSENCE Festival of Culture this July, bringing what the company calls its largest and most integrated festival activation to date, complete with musical performances, HBCU programming, and community-focused experiences a cross the Ne…
Since the nation’s independence, male sex workers have been intertwined with America’s history. Their existence has been reviled, criminalized, and scapegoated, but rarely acknowledged openly. Throughout history, both women and men hired male sex workers to act out the desires that they couldn’t saf…
PHILADELPHIA — Linda James-Rivera clutches a piece of paper and watches volunteers swirl around her at a food distribution warehouse in Northwest Philadelphia. The 62-year-old sits on a rolling chair — a heart valve replacement and lupus diagnosis make long periods of standing difficult.
The Supreme Court is deciding more consequential rulings than ever before in secret, issued in unsigned orders with little to no justification. Bryan Dozier/NurPhoto via AP In its term that ended last October, the Supreme Court passed an important milestone that went unnoticed: For the first time, i…
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist and first-time candidate, ousted Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado in a primary challenge on Tuesday. DeGette, a 15-term incumbent first elected in 1996, is the second member of Congress to lose her seat to a younger democratic socialist challe…
Click to expand Image Family members of “drug war” victims watch the livestream of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s initial appearance at the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, in Quezon City, Philippines, March 14, 2025.
In a highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship, reaffirming that children born in the United States are citizens under the 14th Amendment, regardless of their parents' immigration status.
When it comes to the last formal day of the term, when we know which cases are remaining, litigants and other interested parties have the chance to try to work their way into the courtroom to hear an opinion announced in a case of close interest.
On Tuesday, June 30, in a complete distortion of federal laws requiring equal opportunities in education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to further the Trump administration's political agenda to persecute, ostracize and erase transgender students.
Legal advocates celebrated on Tuesday after the Supreme Court upheld the long-settled understanding of the 14th Amendment’s right to birthright citizenship. But for some immigrant parents of U.S.-born children, the anxiety will linger.
On the second-to-last day of its 2025-'26 term, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along party lines President Donald Trump can fire Rebecca Slaughter, who served as commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2018 until her dismissal in 2025.
Want more stories like this? Subscribe to our menopause newsletter . Like many other political leaders in the United States, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton was thinking about affordability. That’s why she started hosting a series of conversations with women in her state about financial wellness …
Press Release SCOTUS Harms Trans Students June 30, 2026 Share https://prh.org/press-releases/scotus-harms-trans-students/ Click to print Print Icon Share this page via Email Mail Icon Rectangle in the shape of an envelope Share this page on Pinterest Share this page on Facebook Share this page on Tw…
Press Release SCOTUS Protects Birthright Citizenship Share https://prh.org/press-releases/scotus-protects-birthright-citizenship/ Click to print Print Icon Share this page via Email Mail Icon Rectangle in the shape of an envelope Share this page on Pinterest Share this page on Facebook Share this pa…
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that states can exclude transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports teams. The justices ruled unanimously that laws enacted by Idaho and West Virginia do not violate federal civil rights laws, but they divided over whether the West Virginia law violates the…
The U.S Supreme Court upheld more than 100 years of legal precedent on Tuesday that affirmed the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship to children born to immigrants lacking permanent status.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Idaho and West Virginia did not discriminate against two transgender athletes who had sued to be allowed to participate in sports alongside other girls and women.
People Be Gay. That is the meme I keep coming back to. People be gay. Mothers. Fathers. CEOs. Teachers. Aunties. Uncles. Abuelas. Grandparents. Sons and daughters. The woman leading the meeting. The parent packing lunch, checking homework, paying bills, and trying to get one quiet minute at the end …
The court has indicated that today will be the final opinion announcement day of the term. We will be live blogging beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT. The court has four cases left to decide: Trump v. Barbara (birthright citizenship); West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v.
When a major life event happens—whether it’s a career change, a loss, relationship challenges, or health issues—a number of Black men may find themselves asking: Who can I talk to about this without feeling like a burden ? For generations, many have been taught to push through challenges, suppress t…
A spokesperson for U.S. Health and Human Services confirmed to Stateline on Friday that the agency is canceling 53 out of 67 grants, worth about $68 million, under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, affecting grantees in more than two dozen states.
Vanessa Saba for ProPublica It took less than a day for the detective to give up on the case. A patrol officer had reported a harrowing, violent midnight rape in a Syracuse, New York, park. Hospital records recounted that the victim, an 18-year-old freshman at Syracuse University, was “crying uncont…
Across a two-lane highway from Florida State Prison, people prayed as an execution was carried out on June 2. Alec Soth/Magnum This spring, Father Dustin Feddon began waking up in the middle of the night.
The Supreme Court on Monday morning added six new cases to its argument docket for the 2026-27 term and turned down President Donald Trump’s request to take up his appeal of a $5 million award against him in a lawsuit brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll.
At the Supreme Court building, there is a small exhibition tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary, titled “Revolutionary Arguments: The Legal Fight for Independence.” The modest ground floor display focuses on how some of the “lawyers, statesmen, and soldiers—some of whom would later become Justices…
When Serena Williams stepped away from tennis in 2022, she refused to use the word retirement. Instead, in a farewell essay , she said she was “evolving away from tennis.” She wanted to expand business ventures and grow her family — her second daughter was born a year after her last professional mat…
The United States is on its way to banning or severely restricting birth control. I know this statement will be met with incredulity—but I would refer you to the disbelief so many of us in the reproductive health field faced when we warned that the constitutional right to abortion was in danger.
“It’s fun being able to see Black girls get to be rock stars and pop stars and not being put into one little box of what’s acceptable."
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a 2023 jury verdict that he sexually abused and defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll. The high court’s decision not to hear Trump’s appeal marks the president’s latest loss in a seven-year legal battle with Carroll,…
Free weekly digest. Local news that actually matters — no spam, no clickbait, easy unsubscribe.
By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. We never sell your data.
Local guides, business directory, and how to reach our readers.