‘Blood can either be a connective tissue or something used for division’: Jordan Eagles on his show at Pioneer Works

Jordan Eagles has used donated blood and medical waste in his works since the 1990s, with health policies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people a central theme Photo by David Meanix
Although Jordan Eagles has been creating works using donated blood and medical waste since the 1990s, his interests counteract the shock-baiting machismo one might expect from that description. Eagles has long centred blood’s life-giving properties, spiritual dimension and symbolism of US health policies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.
His practice flows in a new direction in Bases Loaded, a solo exhibition at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works. There, Eagles examines both his personal history and the polarisation of American culture through the prism of his lifelong fandom of the New York Mets baseball team.
Three bodies of work emerged from his exploration: riffs on large-scale reproductions of New York Post covers about the team; cast-resin sculptures in the shape of home plate loaded with blood, family artefacts and clinical scraps; and T-shirts given to blood donors at the Mets ballpark that Eagles cropped, splashed with blood from HIV-positive gay men and arranged by colour into orange and grey factions. The results infuse stadium-sized themes with a new intimacy.
T-shirts given to blood donors were the impetus for Eagles’s latest show Courtesy Jordan Eagles Studio
The Art Newspaper: What was the starting point for this show?
Jordan Eagles: I was biking in summer 2023, and I saw someone in the opposite bike lane wearing a shirt that said: “The Mets are in our blood.” I was like: “Oh my God, what is that?” So I turned my bike around, chased this person down and asked where he got the shirt. He was like: “They were giving them out at Citi Field when I gave blood.”
I went on eBay that night and bought a shirt, innocently thinking I would cut it up into a studio workshirt. But I ultimately threw it in my closet and forgot about it until opening day of the 2024 season. The Mets got rained out, so their first game ended up being on Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified. Previous projects I’ve done revolved around Salvator Mundi and Jesus as the world’s greatest blood donor. I realised this was meant to be an artwork. I got chills, ran to the studio and marked that first shirt with blood.
An image of a young Eagles highlights how he and his father bonded over their passion for the Mets Courtesy Jordan Eagles Studio
What is the significance of the blood on these shirts coming from HIV-positive gay men?
I was so mesmerised by this shirt initially that it didn’t occur to me that I couldn’t have earned it because of biased blood-donation policy. I’m on Prep [pre-exposure prophylaxis], so I can’t donate blood without a three-month deferral. How could I feel so connected to the Mets, but I’m not even allowed to participate in this community? I should never have even considered wearing this shirt.
The US’s blood-donation policies have been a long-running theme in your work. What is different this time?
I’m moving from that jumping-off point into larger themes that we’re experiencing as a country, about belonging, identity and the rhetoric related to them. The two versions of this shirt struck me as a metaphor for what it means to be part of a team—especially in America, where politics is treated like sport. And then I thought about rhetoric like “immigrants are ruining the blood of the nation”. Blood can either be a connective tissue or something used for division.
A cast-resin sculpture of home plate is filled with blood Courtesy Jordan Eagles Studio
One work in this show involves a reprint of a front-page story about Mike Piazza, the Mets star who held a press conference in 2002 to quash rumours about his sexuality. How does that fit in?
I found this New York Post cover with him and the headline “I’m not gay”. It doesn’t sound like Piazza was homophobic in any way based on my research. What struck me is how the headline makes it seem that being gay is the worst thing in the world. It’s so sensationalised that someone would have to go through the trouble to reaffirm their heterosexuality. So I marked the “not” in blood.
Your sculpture The Goat (2026) submerges several family photos in blood inside a cast of home plate. Can you unpack it a bit?
A few years ago my mother told me that, throughout my father’s various medical situations, she’d been saving leftover tubes of his blood so that I could make an artwork with them. When I was looking for this old photo of me with a Mets player named Lee Mazzilli, I found all these beautiful childhood photographs of me and my father where I’m wearing little Mets outfits and he’s holding or hugging me. It immediately hit me that this was the artwork to make with his blood.
I had my blood drawn and merged it with his in this sculpture. I scanned all the photos, printed them on transparency and layered them inside so the view becomes a bit dreamy. All these themes layer on top of each other: “the Mets are in our blood”, blood-donation eligibility policy, home plate glowing red like a blood bag, my family ties being literally in my blood.
Eagles embedded numerous phials of blood in one work Courtesy Jordan Eagles Studio
Compared to your earlier work, does it feel more vulnerable to put your own life front and centre like this?
It definitely hits differently. I’m moving towards what feels like the most genuine expression of what I’m trying to communicate. But the project didn’t start because it was going to be art. It started because I couldn’t even be part of a team that I thought I was a part of.
Jordan Eagles: Bases Loaded, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, until 9 August
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9 Female Entrepreneurs Share The Secret Sauce To Their Success

May 21, 2026
Black Enterprise asked a handful of women small business owners to name the one thing that has made all the difference
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the best part of my workday is speaking to women entrepreneurs. Since I launched BLACK ENTERPRISE’s SistersInc. podcast for and about women entrepreneurs, back in 2020, I have been energized by conversation after conversation with resourceful, resilient Black women who are launching and growing businesses.
So I jumped at the chance to attend the How I Got Here Small Business Summit, a one-day event for women entrepreneurs across New Jersey, produced by WhitPR. And while there, I took full advantage of being in a room full of successful female small business owners to ask them about their secret sauce.
The answers ranged from inspirational to practical to completely unexpected. Here, nine women entrepreneurs answer the question: “If you could only name one thing, what would you say is responsible for your success?”

 
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Tell Your Own Story
I came from a place where I constantly felt like I had to shrink. So now I’m realizing the power of my voice and who I am, and I’m helping other women do that. What has worked for me is utilizing my story and allowing my life to be that representation and testimony to encourage other people. I live this, I walk it, and I make sure that every time I walk into a space, that I remind people.
It isn’t easy, especially when you’ve gone through certain challenges or when you feel like you’ve constantly been disappointed and let down. Sometimes you want to stay in your own bubble. We kind of create a safety net for ourselves. But I realized that that safety net wasn’t keeping me safe, and it wasn’t helping other people. So I had to break out of that fear, and that started with myself—doing the inner work. Sometimes we look at the finished product and we’re like, “I can never get there.” But you can, as long as you’re committed to the work.
Schivane Bonhomme of Dear Sis, Believe Again

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Promote Your Brand
My public relations and marketing background has been a catalyst for making sure the world knows that The Nourish Spot exists, and as a result, I’ve been able to leverage that.
Dawn Kelly of The Nourish Spot

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Put Yourself Out There
I would say breaking out of my shyness shell and speaking to people and telling people about my idea. That helps me to have my name be spoken in different rooms when I’m not even there. And people remember me and ask me for updates on my journey, and they’ve helped me along the way.
At first, I made my sister come out to networking events with me. I had the feeling in my gut like, oh, I don’t love this, but I would still go. That was two years ago, and now I can show up to these events by myself, but there are still times where I still don’t like it. Every time I go to an event, I sit in my car before, and I call my other sister, like, ‘I don’t want to go.’ And she’s like, “Just go. Every time you go, you meet somebody. You call me after, and you’re like, ‘I needed to be there.’” So I just have to remember those conversations and know I’m going to meet at least one person that I’m supposed to meet that day. So, just keep showing up.
Dre Harvey of Dre’s Beauty Supply

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Be a Resource
What makes me successful is my passion for building wealth and helping families navigate a big transaction with knowledge and confidence. That passion came from me being a single mom and needing an extra hustle to save for my first down payment. That extra job was me becoming a realtor, and after two years of saving my commission checks and learning the business, I was able to close on a home. That changed my life.
I host a lot of webinars. I also share resources with friends, family, and my community on ways to better prepare their finances for home ownership, how to apply [for] and get grants. I just want to share that it’s easier than we think, and with a little bit of structure, strategy, and proper financial resources, homeownership can be achieved.
Zulekha Gordon, Licensed Realtor

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Make It Easy for Customers
I think any entrepreneur will tell you that it’s not easy. But something that sticks out to me is when a client can tell me that they really enjoyed working with me, my professionalism, you know, the ease that I help them to figure out what they wanted. Creating those relationships means a lot. A lot of my business comes from referrals and repeat clients, so that makes a big difference.
Teisha Peralta of Brown Sugar & Spice Co.

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Embody the Right Energy
I am a very bubbly person, and I attract good people. My energy just attracts good energy; energy attracts energy. So be someone who constantly keeps a smile on your face and just be presentable and be open to collaborations.
Erika Wright-Rich of Myx Lokal

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Keep the Faith
One day, my fiancé said, “Hey, let’s get back into entrepreneurship and start something.” I said, “Oh, I love flowers.” I had no experience with flowers. But it grew from there. It’s been two years, and now this is my sole job.
A lot of times, I didn’t know how I was going to get it done, I didn’t know how to do it, I didn’t know who to connect with, but I had the faith that it would work out. And I had to persevere and get it done. Move in faith knowing that it will work out without actually knowing how it will work out.
Denaya Melvin of Rich Florals

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Build Community
Community is at the core of what we do, and also relationships. My husband and I, we really believe in just each other and pushing the culture forward, and that has been the success of where we are now.
Building community is a process, right? You have to get out and meet people, meet like-minded people. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people and let them know, like, hey, I want to build with you. I want to learn from you. I think that’s how you really build community, just showing interest and learning from others.
Jessica Barnes of Jumpcord Media

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Lean Into the Sisterhood
Black women supported me. I’m still standing because of Black women.
When you’re up against the Juggernaut, such as your Pampers and your Huggies, the only way you can survive when you’re an underdog is your community—having community and figuring out what our skill sets are and how to support one another/grow our businesses collectively. So if you have this resource and I have this resource, how do you put them together to make it easier on you, easier on me, especially when you’re starting out?
Nadiyah Spencer of TinkyPoo Diapers
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Everything You Need For The Perfect Cookout

From must-have foods, to grill masters and unwritten rules, Discover the aspects needed that make a traditional cookout perfect.
Summer season and summer holidays are quickly approaching, some would say it’s already here. This means it’s the season for backyard bar-b-ques, late summer nights, pool days with family and friends, but most importantly, the one everyone has waited all year for. The cookouts, it’s officially cookout season.
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A successful cookout is built on great food and the unwritten rules that come with it. It’s the smell of seasoned meat on the grill, foil pans filled with family recipes, and everybody crowding around the food table waiting for their turn. The best cookouts always have structure without anyone needing to explain it. The grill master controls the pit, the sides better be homemade, and nobody shows up empty-handed. 
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From perfectly cooked ribs to the unspoken etiquette around fixing a plate, every detail plays a part in creating the kind of cookout people talk about long after the food is gone.
Take a look at these mandatory foods that are a must at every traditional cookout, along with the unwritten cookout rules:
First unwritten rule:
You greet the family before heading to the food table.
The Mandatory Meat Lineup:
BBQ chicken
Unwritten rule:
Bland food will get talked about all night. Everything better have flavor before it hits the grill.
Ribs
Unwritten rule:
At least three people believe they make the best mac and cheese or ribs in the family. This dish needs to be tasked to one person only.
Burgers
Unwritten rule:
The person cooking usually feeds everyone before making their own plate.
Hot links
Unwritten Rule:
Somebody always saves a private tray of ribs or hot links for later.
Smoked sausage
Hot dogs
Brisket
Unwritten rules of the grill
The grill belongs to the grill master only. If you weren’t asked to help, stay away from it. This goes for in the kitchen with the sides as well.
Bonus Item:
Turkey legs
The Required Side Dishes:
Sides are where the real competition begins. Mac and cheese, potato salad, baked beans, greens, and pasta salad can make or break the entire function because everybody secretly judges the sides first.
Baked mac & cheese
Unwritten Rule:
Box mac doesn’t count. Real cookout mac and cheese comes baked with cheese on top.
Potato salad (no raisin preferred)
Baked beans
Greens
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Corn on the cob
Deviled eggs
Hawaiian rolls
Controversial but common items that are brought from time to time:
Spaghetti
Though delicious, its not needed at a traditional cookout
unwritten:
Don’t block the table being indecisive.
Vegan food
Healthy food options are good, just not at the cookout
Unwritten rule:
There’s always one dish people wait to see someone else try first.
Must-haves desserts:
Banana pudding
Unwritten Rule:
Even if they say “just come,” bring drinks, ice, chips, or something useful.
Peach cobbler
Unwritten Rule:
Store-bought desserts get ignored until the homemade cobbler disappears.
Sweet potato pie
Unwritten rule:
A good cookout ends with leftovers packed in foil and to-go plates.
Pound cake
Unwritten rule:
The First Plate Should Be Calm
People judge overloaded first plates. Save the big plate for round two

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This Startup Is Using AI To Keep Oral History Alive

May 21, 2026
A college student’s personal loss has turned into a growing technology platform that helps families and communities preserve oral histories and generational stories before they disappear.
A college student’s personal loss has turned into a growing technology platform that helps families and communities preserve oral histories and generational stories before they disappear. Josiah Faison, a Maryland native and former finance student at Rochester Institute of Technology, started the cultural preservation company Oria after his grandmother passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Afrotech, this experience led Faison to rethink his career and create technology focused on archiving personal stories and family histories.  
Faison said the idea came to him while he was looking for ways to document his grandmother’s life experiences after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The pandemic’s travel restrictions kept him from returning home before her death, which made him feel as if important family memories and generational knowledge had been lost.  
This idea eventually became Oria, a platform that lets users collect and organize oral histories through video, audio, and written submissions. The startup officially launched its mobile app in 2024 and a web-based platform in 2025, according to Afrotech.
While taking part in the Simone Center Student Accelerator Program at RIT, Faison received $10,000 in seed funding to help grow the company. He also spoke with hundreds of people to see if other families faced similar difficulties in preserving memories of their loved ones.  
Oria’s platform is designed for families, nonprofits, and institutions that want to archive personal narratives and community histories. The company claims its software can create digital oral history campaigns in minutes and uses artificial intelligence tools to transcribe interviews, organize themes, and find connections between stories.  
The startup joins a growing group of tech companies dedicated to digital memory preservation and legacy storytelling, including platforms like Kinnect and HereAfter AI, which also use audio and digital archives to document family histories.  
According to Afrotech, Oria is now used in over 40 countries and has received further financial support from angel investors and startup initiatives backed by JPMorgan Chase.
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Quinta Brunson to develop and star in new ‘Betty Boop’ movie

The “Abbott Elementary” creator will bring the iconic animated character to life in a new feature film exploring Betty Boop’s origins and cultural legacy.
Quinta Brunson is heading from “Abbott Elementary” to Toon Town.
The Emmy-winning writer, creator, and actress is set to develop and star in a new feature film centered on the iconic cartoon character Betty Boop, according to a new report from Variety. The project is being developed through Brunson’s Fifth Chance Productions alongside Fleisher Studios, the company founded by Betty Boop creator Max Fleischer.
But this won’t simply be another live-action remake cashing in on nostalgia.
According to the official description, the film will explore the “origin and evolution” of Betty Boop through the perspective of animator Max Fleischer, examining the complicated relationship between an artist and the character he created as she evolves into a cultural phenomenon with a life of her own.
The framing feels especially exciting in the hands of Brunson, whose career has been built on understanding how performance, identity, and audience connect. From her viral internet beginnings to transforming “Abbott Elementary” into an Emmy-winning network hit, Brunson has a proven knack for formulating fresh takes on familiar formats.
Brunson has also been drawing recent comparisons to Betty Boop, thanks to her signature short curls, expressive face, and the animated icon’s classic silhouette. Social media reactions to the news were almost immediate, with many users calling the casting perfect. Others also noted the longstanding conversations around Betty Boop’s roots in Black culture, particularly the influence of Harlem jazz singer Baby Esther Jones on the character’s voice and performance style.
“Betty Boop is one of our nation’s most beloved cartoon characters, yet somehow still remains pleasantly niche,” Brunson said in a statement shared by Variety. She added that after learning more about the character’s origins, she realized there was “a much deeper story to tell” that could feel “refreshing, subversive, and timeless.”
The film also arrives amid a renewed cultural fascination with Betty Boop. The character recently returned to the spotlight through “Boop! The Musical” and a wave of fashion and nostalgia-driven merchandising that has reintroduced the nearly century-old icon to younger audiences.
While no release date has been announced, the project marks another major expansion of Brunson’s already impressive Hollywood résumé as she continues to balance acting, writing, producing, and voice work across film and television.
After the recent success of “Barbie,” we are really excited for the marketing, rollout, and reinterpretation of this iconic character!
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Elderly woman dies after altercation with worker at Indiana Tim Hortons

Police say surveillance footage captured a confrontation between a customer and employees before the woman was hospitalized and later died.
Police in Fort Wayne are investigating the death of a 75-year-old woman, Anita Grayson, following an altercation inside a Tim Hortons restaurant last week.
According to the Fort Wayne Police Department, as reported by Indianapolis’ WTHR 13, officers responded on May 13 to reports of a battery at the Tim Hortons location on Ice Way near Lima Road and West Coliseum Boulevard.
Police said Grayson entered the restaurant after experiencing an issue with a drive-thru order. Once inside, authorities say she began arguing with and “berating” a 17-year-old employee working at the restaurant.
A 20-year-old shift lead then stepped in and reportedly asked Grayson to leave the store. According to police, the employee placed her hands on Grayson in an attempt to prevent her from reaching the younger worker.
Authorities say Grayson then shoved the shift lead backward and struck her in the face. Security footage reviewed by investigators reportedly showed the confrontation escalating, with both individuals ending up on the floor during the struggle.
Police said the employee suffered scratches and had a portion of her hair pulled out during the altercation. Investigators noted that surveillance video appeared to show hair falling from Grayson’s hand during the fight.
Shortly after the incident, Grayson was transported to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Officials have not yet determined her exact cause of death.
As of Tuesday, no arrests had been made, and police emphasized that the investigation remains ongoing while detectives wait for medical findings and continue reviewing evidence.
In a statement, the Fort Wayne Police Department said any loss of life is tragic and stressed the importance of conducting a thorough investigation whenever the circumstances surrounding a death are unclear.
The department also released surveillance footage connected to the case as part of the investigation.
Police have not announced whether any charges could be filed pending the outcome of the medical examiner’s report and further review of the incident.
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Sainsbury Centre receives one of largest ever UK museum donations

The Sainsbury Centre in Norwich Photo: Andy Crouch
The Sainsbury Centre, an art museum in the east of England, has received a £91.2m donation from the British politician and businessman David Sainsbury through Gatsby, his charitable foundation. The money will be used to renovate the grade II* building, which was designed by Norman Foster and completed in 1978. It is one of the largest donations ever made to a UK museum.
“This incredible gift secures the future of the Sainsbury Centre,” says Sainsbury Centre’s executive director, Jago Cooper, in a press statement. “Foster’s vision for the most radical art museum in the world half a century ago is being revitalised for the next generation of visitors.”
David Sainsbury
David Sainsbury is the son of Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, who donated their significant collection of art and artefacts to the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 1973. The collection is known for the quality of its Modernist art, with works by Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, many of whom became friends of the Sainsbury’s. The collection also includes modern ceramics and a large number of cultural objects from Africa, Oceania and the Americas.
David Sainsbury funded the original building of the Sainsbury Centre, on the grounds of the UEA, which cost £4.2m. The 150m-long building, made from an engineered steel space frame, clad in white panels and eight-metre-high glass windows, was groundbreaking for its day and is described on the Sainsbury Centre’s website as “more aircraft hanger than conventional museum”.
Inside the Sainsbury Centre Photo: Kate Wolstenholme
The £91.2m renovation by Foster + Partners will involve improvements to the buildings envelope (the outer shell including the foundations, exterior walls, roof, windows and doors), which are expected to halve the amount of energy the museum uses. Photovoltaic panels will also be added to the new roof system, which will provide renewable energy, and renewed solar controlled blinds will bring more natural light into the gallery spaces. The project will contribute to the UEA’s commitment to achieving a net zero campus by 2045.
Updates will also be made to the entrances, lifts, signage, flooring, bathrooms, café, kitchen and staff spaces, while landscaping will better connect the building to the sculpture trails within the surrounding campus. Dates for the capital project are yet to be announced.
The architecture has received critical acclaim over the years—in the year the museum was completed it won the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Award, where the institute’s president Gordon Graham described it as one of the most outstanding buildings of the 20th century.
From left: Robert Sainsbury, Norman Foster and Lisa Sainsbury at the Sainsbury Centre Courtesy of the Sainsbury Centre
However, its innovative design has meant that upkeep of the building has been complicated and expensive over the years. In 2022, the museum received a £325,000 grant from Arts Council England to help repair its damaged glass panel structures that had left “the integrity of the building […] at major risk”, according to the museum website. In 2025, it received a further £1,276,711 grant from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) for urgent works to replace the environmental systems and add a service lift.
“My father always regarded his commissioning of Norman Foster to produce the Sainsbury Centre as one of the best things he ever did, and it gives me great pleasure to provide the funding to enhance its future,” David Sainsbury said in a press statement.
Despite the recession, the British Museum, Tate and V&A attract major donations
Show at Norwich’s Sainsbury Centre includes work by contemporary artists to aid a postcolonial interpretation of Egypt’s heritage
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Racist LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman, Who Lied During O.J. Simpson Trial, Dead At 74

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Mark Fuhrman found the bloody glove (that allegedly didn’t fit) at Simpson’s home, but his credibility took a huge hit after the defense raised the prospect of racial bias.
Mark Fuhrman, the racist former Los Angeles police detective who was convicted of lying during the O.J. Simpson murder trial, is no longer in the land of the living. He was 74.
Fuhrman was one of the first two detectives who were sent to investigate the 1994 grizzly murders of Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in Los Angeles. 
He famously found the bloody glove (that allegedly didn’t fit) at Simpson’s home, but his credibility took a huge hit after the defense raised the prospect of racial bias.
While being cross-examined, Fuhrman claimed he never made racial slurs. That turned out to be a big lie when Simpson’s defense team hit him with an epic “this you” moment by producing recordings of Fuhrman using the N-word to describe suspects.
The O.J. Simpson case became a huge flashpoint in American history and was labeled the trial of the century. While Black folks celebrated Simpson’s acquittal, mainly because the justice system treats Black people differently, white America took the moment hard and blamed Fuhrman partly for the verdict.
While Simpson was found not guilty of the murder, he was found civilly liable for wrongful death in the double homicide case and ordered to pay $33 million in damages to Goldman’s family. Unfortunately, they didn’t get all of that money because Simpson died in 2024.
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Fuhrman pleaded no contest to perjury charges and was placed on probation before he retired and moved his family to Sandpoint, Idaho.
His time out of the spotlight didn’t last long. Fuhrman did apologize for past racist comments, but insists no foul play regarding the bloody glove.
Social media has been reacting to the news of Fuhrman’s death, and no surprise, folks aren’t losing any sleep over his passing.
We are sure he, O.J. Simpson, and Hulk Hogan are having a ball in that place not called heaven.
Just saying.
You can see more reactions below.
Racist LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman, Who Lied During O.J. Simpson Trial, Dead At 74 was originally published on hiphopwired.com

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KKKontempt: White Attorney Sentenced To Jail For Using N-Word ‘Numerous Times’ Confronted By Black Activists Who Warn They’ll ‘Make Him Taste The Ancestors’

Copyright © 2026 Interactive One, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
A Texas courtroom turned into a masterclass in how to behave like a klan member after Brazoria County attorney Michael Phillips was held in contempt for repeatedly using a racist slur during a child custody trial.
According to court records obtained by Click2Houston, Judge Chad Bradshaw found that Phillips used the slur “in a derisive manner” multiple times while arguing outside the presence of the jury during a custody modification case earlier this month. To be clear, this isn’t just some random “slur”—Phillips is accused of specifically using the n-word in court on the record.

What punishment befell Phillips for his bombastic bigotry, you ask? Three days in jail and a $500 fine. However, both penalties were suspended as long as Phillips submits written apologies to the court and to a Black attorney on the case named Brenda DeRouen by June 30. The idea that this blatant racist attorney can escape true accountability by writing letters is beyond disgraceful. This white man should have to sit and suffer in a cell.
“As a Black woman attorney practicing in Texas family courts, attorneys should be able to advocate fiercely for their clients without being subjected to racially charged conduct that undermines professionalism and dignity in the courtroom,” DeRouen said in an earlier statement to KPRC 2 News.
Phillips, meanwhile, attempted the classic “you don’t understand the context” defense, claiming he was referencing testimony and evidence during an argument and did not intend the remarks in a derogatory way. He also said he apologized immediately afterward. But apparently Judge Bradshaw wasn’t buying the “I was just academically workshopping racism” explanation. The contempt ruling made it crystal clear the court believed the comments crossed the line.
Atlanta Black Star is reporting on a couple of other folks who believe Phillips crossed the line. Activists Quanell X and Candace Matthews later confronted Phillips publicly over the incident, accusing him of trying to intimidate DeRouen after losing ground in the case.
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For the record, “I’ll make you taste the ancestors” is one of the greatest threats we’ve ever heard and would like it to be lionized by the culture now and forevermore.
In the end, DeRouen’s client still won the case, which actually makes Phillips’ courtroom meltdown even more embarrassing. All that performative hostility, and the jury still sided against him. So now, instead of celebrating a legal victory, Phillips gets to spend his summer writing apology letters like an ill-behaved elementary school student after momma had a meeting with teacher.
KKKontempt: White Attorney Sentenced To Jail For Using N-Word ‘Numerous Times’ Confronted By Black Activists Who Warn They’ll ‘Make Him Taste The Ancestors’ was originally published on bossip.com

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A Harvard professor built a public policy course around Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’

The course draws parallels between the album’s themes of erasure and gaps in the government safety net.
A Harvard Kennedy School professor, Ayushi Roy, is using Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” to teach future policymakers why good intentions in government programs so often fall short of delivering real help.
As theGrio previously reported, “Cowboy Carter” won Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammys, with critics noting how intentional every element of the album was in challenging who gets recognized and why, and the album’s cultural and economic footprint has become the subject of much discussion.
The Harvard Gazette reported that the adjunct lecturer teaches a course called “American Requiem: Beyoncé, Benefits and the Gap Between Promise and Delivery,” which uses the framework to examine how programs like Medicaid and SNAP fail the people they are designed to serve.
Roy said the connection took shape after she saw the star perform live and recognized a deeper argument in the album’s framing. “She frames the album as a conversation about the erasure of African American people from country music,” Roy said. “You realize that she’s actually making a commentary about Black erasure from ‘country,’ the body politic, not country as a genre of music, and that really inspired me.”
The course asks students to go deep inside the social safety net and identify the specific points where well-designed policies break down during implementation. In one recent class session, students heard from practitioners, including a former California health and human services secretary, about the state’s child welfare system. A student team then built a simulation program that walks users through the conflicting demands facing families trying to reunite with children removed from their care, including court hearings that can cost parents their jobs and parenting class requirements at inconvenient times or distant locations.
The connection may sound unconventional, but Roy argues it addresses a real gap in how the Kennedy School trains its students.
“A lot of the way the Kennedy School teaches policymaking is based on economics classes, econometrics classes, statistics classes,” she said. “What is often unspoken is that data, when aggregated and anonymized, isn’t really capturing both the commonplace as well as distinct experiences of the American public. And that is really what makes the difference between [delivering] good policy and standard policy.”
Roy, who served in government for over a decade before joining Harvard, says the solution is not more technology but better-prepared practitioners. “The building of technology is the easy part; managing the political feasibility and the implementation is the hard part,” she said.

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George Clinton Files Suit Against UMG For $1.1 M In Royalty Payments

May 20, 2026
George Clinton is suing Universal Music Group over claims the company withheld more than $1.1 million in royalties tied to his legendary music catalog
Funk pioneer George Clinton is taking legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG), alleging the record label withheld more than $1.1 million in royalty payments tied to his legendary catalog for over three years.
According to a federal lawsuit filed in Michigan on May 15, Clinton claims that UMG Recordings froze 100% of the royalties across multiple royalty accounts connected to his work with Parliament-Funkadelic and his solo work. The complaint accuses the label of breach of contract and alleges the payments were improperly withheld during an ongoing legal dispute involving the estate of late Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell. The lawsuit reportedly alleges that UMG used the separate dispute as justification for suspending Clinton’s royalty payouts entirely, despite Clinton maintaining that he remains contractually entitled to the earnings, reports Music Business Worldwide.
“This is a straightforward breach of contract case arising from UMG’s decision to withhold 100% of royalties payable to Plaintiff under governing recording agreements based on a third-party lawsuit to which UMG is not a party, in which UMG faces no claim, in which UMG could incur no liability, and in which the third party has now lost on summary judgment,” the complaint states.
Clinton, widely recognized as one of the architects of funk music, helped shape generations of Black music and culture through influential groups like Parliament and Funkadelic. His music has been heavily sampled across hip-hop, R&B, and pop for decades, making ownership rights and royalty payments surrounding his catalog especially valuable. Artists ranging from Dr. Dre to Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar have incorporated elements of Clinton’s sound into their work.
The lawsuit arrives as broader conversations continue around artist ownership, masters rights, intellectual property protections, and transparency within the music industry. For entrepreneurs, executives, and creators in the music business, Clinton’s lawsuit serves as a reminder of the importance of understanding contracts, protecting intellectual property, and maintaining visibility into revenue streams. As intellectual property increasingly becomes one of the most valuable assets in entertainment, media, tech, and branding, legal clarity and ownership rights can determine whether creators benefit from the wealth generated by their work.

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Guatemala stakes claim to stone lintel by ‘the Michelangelo of the pre-Columbian era’ that was repatriated to Mexico

The stone lintel by Mayuy that was recently repatriated to Mexico Courtesy the Consulate General of Mexico in New York
A Maya stone lintel was recently returned to Mexico after it was taken to the Mexican consulate in New York by an unnamed US businessman. But hours after its official repatriation on 16 April, experts determined the piece had actually come from Guatemala. Guatemala’s cultural ministry has now formally requested the object’s repatriation from the Mexican government through diplomatic channels.
Guatemala’s cultural ministry said in a statement that technical analysis based on bibliographic research, comparative studies and consultations with archaeologists had concluded that the lintel came from the country’s Petén Basin. Consequently, it is considered part of Guatemala’s cultural heritage.
Guatemala’s cultural minister, Luis Méndez Salinas, said the government has already begun formal efforts to recover the artefact. The process is being coordinated through Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “There is a very positive attitude, as has been the case in recent years, towards this type of collaboration,” Méndez told local media in Guatemala, “so that cultural heritage can return to its place of origin.”
The limestone lintel, dating from the Mesoamerican Classic period (AD600-AD900), shows a complex ritual scene associated with the Maya ruler Cheleew Chan K’inich. The lintel remained hidden from public view for decades and passed through private collections before recently reappearing in New York.
The repatriation ceremony at the Mexican consulate in New York Courtesy the Consulate General of Mexico in New York
According to the archaeologist Stephen Houston, one of the world’s leading experts on the Maya civilisation, the lintel is indeed from Guatemala—created by an elite artist known as Mayuy. The artist, originally from the ancient Maya city of Piedras Negras, was “the Michelangelo of the pre-Columbian era”, Houston tells The Art Newspaper. Mayuy’s signature remains visible on the stone more than 1,200 years after it was made.
“He is one of the only artists in ancient America who can be named and whose oeuvre can be studied,” Houston says. “He signed his sculptures. He was extraordinarily inventive, fusing in his carvings relationships among gods, the ordering of the cosmos and dynastic machinations. Kings and aristocrats mapped their identities onto those of gods, and Mayuy shows this masterfully. He rendered stone as living flesh, deployed colour on his carvings with verve and imparted an almost unparalleled sense of vital, dynamic energy.”
In Houston’s 2021 book A Maya Universe in Stone, he devotes the opening chapter to this particular lintel, bringing together historical records and research related to the piece and its provenance. The artefact was documented by explorers in the 1950s, before it was illegally removed from the Guatemalan jungle and entered the international antiquities market. It is part of a series of four Maya lintels now divided between private collections in the US and the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas.
According to Houston, the lintel was originally discovered on the Guatemalan side of the Usumacinta River. Maya territory once extended across both sides of the river, now part of the border between Mexico and Guatemala, explaining the confusion surrounding the object’s exact origin.
In all, 83 artefacts scheduled to be sold in Paris next week are protected under Mexican law, authorities say
A skull relief carving hailing from the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá has been repatriated
The delicately carved choker necklace was found during excavations for the Maya Train project in the Yucatán Peninsula
Objects ranging from the 1st century to the 15th century were handed over at the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles earlier this month

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It’s More Than A ‘Black Woman’s Disease’: Advocates Push Congress to Take Fibroids Seriously 

Fibroids are noncancerous growths in or around the uterus that are common, but for Black women, they can cause many problems.
For months, Catherine McNeil bled without a clear answer.
The 46-year-old mother of three had not experienced heavy bleeding like that since using birth control. By late 2024, her menstrual periods had become longer and heavier. At first, she believed the problem might be connected to her intrauterine device, or IUD, stress, or changes connected to age. But as the bleeding continued, McNeil knew something was wrong.
“Your IUD may be faulty. You have about three years left on it. Maybe that’s the issue. We’ll swap it out,” McNeil said her provider told her, without first conducting a scan or ultrasound.
Eventually, after receiving a CT scan and an ultrasound, McNeil learned that she had a uterine fibroid.
Fibroids, also known as uterine leiomyomas, are noncancerous growths in or around the uterus. They are common, but for many women, especially Black women, they can cause heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pressure, pain, anemia, fertility issues, pregnancy complications, and, in some cases, major surgery. 
Research has found that Black women face a higher risk of developing fibroids, and tend to experience them at younger ages, often havimg more severe symptoms than white women. According to the National Institutes of Health, studies have shown the cumulative incidence of fibroids can be as high as 80% among Black women, compared with 50% to 70% among white women. 
Now, as May marks National Menstrual Health Awareness Month, advocates are again pushing lawmakers to treat fibroids as a public health issue, not a private burden women are expected to silently manage. The Fibroid Foundation is hosting a National Menstrual Health Awareness Month Congressional Briefing on May 19 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., bringing together advocates, clinicians, patients, and policymakers to discuss menstrual health equity, research gaps, and policy action. 
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For McNeil, the issue became personal when she had to decide what kind of treatment would allow her to live without constantly worrying about bleeding, scans, repeat procedures or whether her youngest child would have to watch another parent navigate serious health challenges.
Her OB-GYN initially gave her the option of receiving a myomectomy, a surgical procedure that removes fibroids while preserving the uterus. But McNeil said a hysterectomy was not first presented as an option.
A hysterectomy removes the uterus, permanently ending menstruation and the possibility of pregnancy. A myomectomy removes fibroids but leaves the uterus in place, which may be important for patients who want to preserve fertility. However, fibroids can return after myomectomy, and recurrence rates vary based on factors such as age, number of fibroids, family history, treatment type, and other health conditions.
For McNeil, who already had three children, the decision came down to quality of life and stability.
“Fibroids return. Every single woman that I have talked to, that has been the consistent scenario,” McNeil said. “Anything that keeps my son from having to worry about a parent and me having to consistently come back for removals, scans, tests, or whatever the case may be, we’re doing that.”
With private insurance, McNeil was covered and scheduled for hysterectomy surgery on March 18. She said she felt comforted by her decision because it gave her the best chance of ending the cycle of uncertainty.
But not every woman has McNeil’s access via insurance coverage, family situation or ability to make an informed choice. For younger women, women who want children, women without adequate insurance or women who have never been told what fibroids are, the diagnosis can come with fear, confusion and limited options.
That was the case for Sateria Venable, who was diagnosed with fibroids at 26.
Venable said her provider told her she needed a hysterectomy but did not fully explain what fibroids were, why that procedure was being recommended or what other options might exist.
“Given my age and the fact that I didn’t have kids, or she didn’t even ask if I wanted to have kids. So I left the appointment very fearful because I didn’t know if fibroids were cancerous,” Venable said. “I just had not been informed by a caring provider. And so that kind of started my journey.”
In 2013, Venable founded the Fibroid Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on patient advocacy, education, and research for people living with fibroids. The organization now reaches patients in more than 180 countries, hosts annual summits, supports local chapters and works to make menstrual and uterine health easier to discuss publicly.
“I think there’s more of a climate to have more open conversations and to feel more comfortable advocating for yourself and demanding care, where perhaps in previous generations, you were just expected to do what the doctor told you to do,” Venable said.
The foundation calls for providers to listen closely to patients, explain all treatment options, and refer patients to other specialists when they cannot provide certain services themselves.
That issue is especially important because fibroid care has long been shaped by silence, stigma, and assumptions about Black women’s pain. Many patients report being told that heavy bleeding is normal or that they should not worry about fibroids unless they are trying to get pregnant. Others are only offered invasive procedures without a full explanation of less invasive options.
The larger public conversation around fibroids has also grown this year. Actress Lupita Nyong’o recently shared that she has experienced 77 fibroids in her lifetime, including 25 that were surgically removed and more than 50 still growing. Nyong’o has since helped launch the Make Fibroids Count campaign to call for more awareness, research and less invasive treatment options. 
For advocates like Venable, the point is not only that fibroids affect Black women. It is that diseases associated with Black women are often treated as less urgent, less deserving of research and less politically important.
In 2019, the Fibroid Foundation introduced the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Fibroid Education and Research Act, which sought to increase research, education and data collection around uterine fibroids. The effort has continued in Congress, but progress has been slow.
The current version, the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2025, was introduced in the 119th Congress as H.R. 4395. According to the Society for Women’s Health Research legislative tracker, the bill was introduced on July 15, 2025, by Rep. Yvette Clarke and would fund and expand research on uterine fibroids and public education. The tracker lists 49 Democratic cosponsors. 
The bill is part of a larger legislative package on uterine health that also includes the Uterine Fibroid Intervention and Gynecological Health Treatment Act, known as the U-FIGHT Act, the Uterine Cancer Study Act, and a resolution designating July as Uterine Fibroids Awareness Month. 
Venable told BisonOne that the lack of bipartisan support has been frustrating.
“We had zero bipartisan support in the House. And minimal bipartisan support in the Senate,” Venable said. “And there’s a misnomer that it’s a Black woman’s disease. And even if it were, it’s very important. So it should pass, even if it only impacted women of African descent, but it impacts all women of every ethnicity.”
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke and other lawmakers have continued to push legislation to strengthen research, education, and awareness of fibroids and uterine health. But advocates say the issue remains stalled despite the number of women affected and the severity of symptoms many patients experience.
When policy moves slowly, some physicians are trying to close gaps in care through their own practice.
At Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., Dr. Jordann-Mishael Duncan and Dr. Alyssa Small Layne specialize in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery for conditions such as endometriosis and fibroids.
Their practice offers minimally invasive treatments such as laparoscopy, robotic-assisted procedures, and vaginal surgery. They also expose medical students and residents to these options so future doctors know how to discuss more than one path with patients.
Dr. Layne said fibroids are common, but that does not mean patients should be dismissed.
“I think fibroids are very common, and so I feel like often providers will say, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it,’” Layne said. “Most fibroids are actually asymptomatic, and technically, you don’t need to worry about them, but you should still be cautious about your symptoms. They don’t tell them what to look for.”
Those symptoms can include heavy bleeding, periods lasting longer than usual, pelvic pain, frequent urination, pressure in the lower abdomen, anemia, fatigue and fertility concerns. Patients experiencing those symptoms can ask their provider about imaging, including an ultrasound, and request a full discussion of treatment options.
Duncan said the goal is not to push every patient toward surgery, but to give patients individualized care based on their symptoms, fertility goals and quality of life.
“We just want to give patients the options and have individualized care,” Duncan said. “But additionally, just exposure for the residents and medical students, because that’s how you train competent doctors.”
For McNeil, that kind of information mattered. Her decision to have a hysterectomy was not simply about removing fibroids. It was about ending uncertainty and choosing the treatment that made sense for her life.
For Venable, the fight is larger. She wants fibroids to be treated as a condition that deserves research funding, early education, better provider training, and full patient choice.
As advocates gather on Capitol Hill this month, the demand is not just awareness. It is action.
Black women should not have to bleed for months, fight for scans, search for answers online, or depend on luck to find a provider who explains every option. Fibroids may affect women across racial and ethnic groups, but Black women have carried the heaviest burden of pain, dismissal, and delay.
Until research, policy, and medical care catch up to the scale of the crisis, fibroids will remain more than a diagnosis. They will remain another measure of how long women, especially Black women, are expected to suffer before the system decides their pain is worth funding.
Tatiana Allen is a journalism student at Howard University with a passion for local news reporting and international affairs. You can follow her on Instagram @co.cobeloved.
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It’s More Than A ‘Black Woman’s Disease’: Advocates Push Congress to Take Fibroids Seriously  was originally published on newsone.com

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Meet Olivier Audemars, The Black Executive Shaping The Luxury Watch Industry

May 19, 2026
The fourth-generation descendant of Audemars Piguet’s founding family is drawing attention as the iconic watchmaker prepares for a highly anticipated collaboration with Swatch
Luxury watches are known for being associated with wealth, exclusivity, and prestige. But amid growing conversations about Black representation in elite industries, one executive is quietly reshaping perceptions of who holds power inside one of the world’s most influential watch brands.
Olivier Audemars, vice chairman of the board of directors for Swiss luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet, is gaining widespread attention in light of the company’s upcoming collaboration with Swatch. According to CassiusLife, Audemars is not only a top executive at the company but also a descendant of one of the luxury brand’s founders.
Founded in 1875 in Le Brassus, Switzerland, Audemars Piguet is one of the most prestigious names in haute horology, known for high-end timepieces such as the Royal Oak. Today, it is still privately owned by its founders’ descendants. Audemars is the great-grandson of Edward Auguste Piguet, one of the company’s founders. However, his path into the family business was not immediate. According to CassiusLife, Audemars initially pursued a career in materials science and launched his own laboratory before joining the company in 1997. He later became vice chairman of the board in 2014.
His growing visibility comes as Audemars Piguet prepares to partner with Swatch on a new collaboration reportedly tied to “Royal Pop,” which dropped with much anticipation on May 16. The partnership marks a notable culture shift for a brand traditionally associated with scarcity and exclusivity.
For watch enthusiasts and collectors alike, Audemars’ story represents more than luxury. Rather, it highlights the often-overlooked presence of Black leadership in industries historically viewed as inaccessible to people of color.
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Gov. Wes Moore vows to continue push to redraw Maryland’s voting map: ‘I’m not backing down’

EXCLUSIVE: After the fall of the Voting Rights Act and subsequent Republican maps targeting Black voters, Moore decries “the greatest assault on civil rights.”
Governor Wes Moore isn’t giving up on his push to get Maryland into the nationwide redistricting battle ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“I’m not playing…and I’m not backing down,” Moore told theGrio during a phone interview on Monday.
For months, the Maryland governor has been fighting to have his state redistrict its congressional map in response to a nationwide gerrymandering battle launched by President Donald Trump, who demanded that Republicans in states favorable to him redraw maps in an unusual mid-decade fashion ahead of anticipated defeats for his party in November’s midterm elections. At stake is control of the United States House of Representatives and Washington’s policy direction for the final two years of Trump’s second term.
As a result, Democratic governors and legislatures in California and Virginia followed suit, drawing new maps that gave them a more competitive edge. However, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Republican-controlled states in the South quickly moved to eliminate majority-Black districts once protected by the 1965 law.
Since November 2025, Moore has pushed for Maryland to get into the fray, but has encountered opposition from fellow Democrats in the Maryland State Senate, led by Senate President Bill Ferguson. Moore now has more political momentum amid public outcry over the Supreme Court’s Callais ruling.
“I called it in January, and it happened,” Moore told theGrio about testifying before the Maryland House of Delegates about the redistricting effort, warning that the Voting Rights Act was “going to fall.”
On May 8, Democrats were dealt another blow when the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a ballot measure approved by voters to redraw the state’s map, a major victory for Republicans in what has become a redistricting race for a House majority and, thereby, power.
As millions of Black Americans stand to lose representation in Congress as a result of the VRA ruling and subsequent gerrymandering, diluting their voting power, Moore says the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“There is no way that we are just going to sit there and watch the world change and somehow think it’s OK for us to just stay quiet and just be the recipient and not be the ones who are helping to drive the conversation,” he told theGrio.
“We are watching a robbery happen in broad daylight,” Maryland’s first Black governor said of the VRA ruling and subsequent targeting of majority-Black districts, adding, “This is the greatest assault on civil rights.”
Moore added, “The answer can’t be do nothing…just sit on our hands because it’s too dangerous.”
The Maryland governor said he was “inspired” by the thousands of people who attended the “All Roads Lead to the South” mass demonstration in Montgomery this past weekend. Participants marched across the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge, where voting rights protesters, marching to end racial discrimination in voting, were brutally beaten by white police officers.
Moore said he would’ve also attended; however, he was already scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Showing that force, showing that idea that we are the ones who are in control of our democracy, not an administration, not a president, and not a White House, we are the ones in control…it was really powerful,” he told theGrio. “It reminded people of our own power, which I think we need in this moment.”
Moore said the nation is in a place of urgency. He said as much at Sunday’s commencement to JCCU graduates, “We need you all to soldier up.”
Reflecting on his addresss to the HBCU scholars, the governor told theGrio, “The world that they are walking into right now is fundamentally different than the world that they walked into when they started college. In many ways, it’s fundamentally different from the world they had just a couple years ago.”
Moore continued, “This is shifting, and it’s shifting fast, and we are at risk where their kids are going to have less freedoms, less rights, less voting responsibilities than their parents.”
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