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From the University of Missouri to the University of Alabama, universities are gutting funding for minority student organizations in response to Trump’s anti-DEI push.

When the University of Missouri told its Black student government it was losing funding and university recognition, administrators framed it as a compliance issue, a necessary response to federal pressure. But for Amaya Morgan, the current president of the Legion of Black Collegians (LBC), it felt like something else entirely: erasure.
“We’re losing legacy,” Morgan said. “As long as we’re a student government, administration is required to meet with us and required to hear us out, and work with us on issues. And definitely, because [we’re not university-sponsored anymore] it gives them more of a reason to toss us to the wayside.”
Morgan is one of many Black students across the country now grappling with what it means to exist on a campus that is actively dismantling the structures built to support them and citing the Trump administration’s memos and directives on DEI as justification. Most recently, at the University of Missouri (Mizzou), the historic Legion of Black Collegians, the only Black student government in the nation, was stripped of its funding and university-sponsored status alongside four other minority student organizations. Founded in 1968—in direct response to the use of Confederate flags and the playing of “Dixie” on campus—the organization was formally recognized as a student government in 1969. Since then, it has played an important role in Black students’ experiences at the university. In 2015, the organization sparked the movement that led to the resignation of then-university president Tim Wolfe after her failed to adequately respond to racist incidents targeting students. For 57 years, LBC has been the reason Black students at Mizzou have had a seat at the table, and now their position is at risk. 
Starting in July, LBC and four other affinity-based organizations, including the Association of Latin American Students, the Asian American Association, the Queer Liberation Front, and Four Front, an Indigenous student group, will lose all designated funding and their status as university-sponsored organizations. In a public statement, the university reportedly stated the decision was made in order to remain in compliance with the Department of Justice’s new restrictions on DEI. 
“In the past, Mizzou allocated a portion of its student fees to fund certain affinity-based student organizations. These practices must be discontinued to align with federal law as outlined in the memo,” university spokesperson Christopher Ave told Inside Higher Ed. “As a public institution, failure to follow federal law will risk forfeiture of significant federal funds that we receive to support student financial aid, research, and other university programs.”
Students were quick to note that the DOJ memo is guidance, not a law. However, this is not the first time the university has tried to censor LBC. In July 2024, Mizzou dissolved its Division for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. Then, officials tried to force LBC to rename its beloved “Welcome Black BBQ” orientation event. When LBC refused, the university canceled the event altogether.
“The University is taking calculated steps to push minority students further away from the Mizzou stratosphere,” LBC wrote in an Instagram post. “LBC is hurt, frustrated, outraged, disheartened, and much more. But we promise, we’re not going down without a fight.” 
This comes weeks after students at the University of Alabama filed a lawsuit against the institution for suspending publication of its student-led Black- and women-focused campus magazines, “Nineteen Fifty-Six” and “Alice,” in December 2025. Like Mizzou, at the time, the University of Alabama cited Attorney General Pam Bondi’s non-binding memorandum on DEI when announcing its decision. And in March 2026, a group of students, represented by the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), the ACLU of Alabama, and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), filed a federal lawsuit challenging the suspensions as viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.
“The University of Alabama’s decision to suspend these publications is discriminatory and unconstitutional,” said Avatara Smith-Carrington, Assistant Counsel at LDF in a press release shared with theGrio. “Student magazines like Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice provide students with a critical space to explore culture, build community, bridge divides, and reflect on their lived and shared experiences. Silencing these students sends a troubling message that certain student voices and experiences don’t belong on campus.”
“I believe that freedom of expression on campus should neither be censored nor restricted because of its perceived value or audience,” student plaintiff Rihanna Pointer added. “Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice have always provided a platform for diverse voices and perspectives that are vital for fostering an inclusive community amongst students on campus.”
What’s unfolding at schools like Mizzou and Alabama are not isolated incidents; it’s a reflection of a pattern. And while institutions and corporations appear to be preemptively surrendering, there is something refreshing in seeing young people pushing for their rights. 
As LBC wrote: “This is the time to be loud, to fight, and to activate.” 

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Before his 8 p.m. Eastern deadline, President Trump announced a two-week pause on planned military strikes on Iran.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Before his 8 p.m. Eastern deadline, President Trump announced a two-week pause on planned military strikes on Iran.
Trump spoke with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, who both urged the President to hold back a “destructive force” that was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
“This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump said. “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
Trump said the agreement is subject to Iran agreeing to the “complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.” He added the U.S. has already reached its primary military goals and will spend the next two weeks trying to finalize a permanent agreement.
Trump Announces ‘2-Week Double-Sided Ceasefire’ Before Iran Deadline was originally published on wibc.com

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Visitors will soon be able to book timed entry to explore exhibits highlighting Barack and Michelle Obama’s legacy.
Tickets for the highly anticipated Obama Presidential Center museum will officially go on sale in early May, offering the public its first chance to explore the landmark cultural site in Chicago—Founding Members of the Obama Foundation will be able to purchase tickets starting on April 21. The center is set to open on Friday, June 19.
According to NBC Chicago, the Obama Foundation announced that ticket sales will begin on May 6. The museum, located in Jackson Park, is expected to draw significant interest as it showcases the life and presidency of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
Visitors will be able to purchase timed-entry tickets, which grant access to all four levels of the museum, including immersive exhibit spaces and notable areas such as a recreated Oval Office and the Sky Room. Organizers say the experience is designed to highlight not just the Obamas’ journey, but also broader themes around civic engagement and democracy.
“The Obama Presidential Center Museum shares the remarkable story of President Obama and Michelle Obama and those who inspired their journey. Dynamic exhibits across four floors explore the promise of democracy and the work of the Obama presidency,” outlines the Obama Foundation website says.
Ticket pricing varies depending on residency and age. Illinois residents aged 12 and older will pay $26, while non-residents will pay $30. Children’s tickets range from $15 to $23, and admission is free for children under 2. As part of the Illinois Free Days Program, Illinois residents will also be able to visit for free on Tuesdays during select hours, starting on June 23.
The museum will feature thousands of artifacts tied to Obama’s life and career, including items from his early days as a community organizer to his time in the White House. Organizers say the exhibits aim to provide a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural impact of his presidency.
Additional discounts will be available for educators, students, military personnel, and first responders, reflecting the foundation’s broader goal of making the center accessible to a wide audience.
The opening of the museum marks a major milestone for the Obama Presidential Center project, which has been years in the making. Once fully operational, it is expected to become a key destination for both tourists and locals, as well as a hub for education and community engagement.
With ticket sales set to begin soon, officials anticipate strong demand as visitors look to experience one of the most talked-about presidential centers in recent years.
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Before she was fired, ICE Barbie, aka Kristi Noem, claimed that Sosa-Celis was “trying to kill the agent.” Video footage from a city-owned camera viewed by the NYT refutes those claims.
ICE agents lying about an incident they were involved in? No one should be surprised. A new video obtained by the New York Times contradicts claims made by the Trump administration, accusing an immigrant of attempted murder.
A new video obtained by the publication could potentially lead to two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents facing criminal charges.
Back in January, Venezuelan immigrant Julio C. Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by an ICE agent who accused him of beating him with a shovel and broom for three minutes.
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Before she was fired, ICE Barbie, aka Kristi Noem, claimed that Sosa-Celis was “trying to kill the agent.” Video footage from a city-owned camera viewed by the NYT refutes those claims.
The report also exposes that the Trump administration had access to the footage, and obtained it within hours following the shooting.
Per Raw Story:
“The agency’s acting director, Todd Lyons, said after the charges were dropped that two agents had appeared to have lied under oath about the events, adding that they had been placed on leave and could end up facing criminal charges,” the Times report reads.
Furthermore, the Times learned that the Trump administration “had access” to the video it had obtained “within hours of the shooting,” but that prosecutors “did not watch the footage,” according to an official who spoke with the Times on the condition of anonymity, “until nearly three weeks after they filed charges.”
“Bare due diligence would have shown that the agents were lying,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in a recent interview, the Times reported.
Bonkers.
Social media has been reacting to the news, spoiler alert, they are not surprised by ICE’s behavior at all.
You can see those reactions below.
Pretends To Be Shocked: New Video Catches ICE Agents Lying was originally published on hiphopwired.com

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J. M. W. Turner, SlaversThrowing overboard the Dead and Dying – Typhon coming on (The Slave Ship) (1840) which sits at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Photography © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All Rights Reserved
During the last four decades Sam Smiles has made an invaluable contribution to the literature on one of Britain’s great landscape painters, J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Yet his most significant text—in terms of the impact on our perception of the artist—is likely to be the article he published in 2007, revealing for the first time Turner’s involvement in a speculative scheme in Jamaica. Research into British families with a stake in the inhuman commerce of slavery indicated that in 1805, just when the abolition cause was gaining ground, Turner had invested in a “dry sugar work pen”, a type of property that centred primarily on raising livestock. The money he added to this collective endeavour helped pay off the mortgage on the plot and bought enslaved Africans to rear the cattle.
Smiles’s article charted the rickety venture’s ensuing failure to generate the anticipated profits. He then considered whether it was possible to reconcile this new information with our understanding of Turner’s celebrated painting Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying – Typhoon Coming On (1840, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). After its time in the collection of John Ruskin, it subsequently assumed the status of a sermon in paint, championed as a defiant stance against the objectionable practices of the slave trade in its unique depiction of jettison during the Middle Passage. Perhaps it was the potency of this reading of the picture that prevented Smiles’s article generating public outrage. It was, nonetheless, the seed for a haunting sequence in Mike Leigh’s biopic Mr. Turner (2014), and Winsome Pinnock’s powerful play Rockets and Blue Lights (premiered in 2018 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, and revivedin 2021 at the National Theatre, London), in which she—and the character of Turner—wrestle with the idea that The Slave Ship (as the painting is now widely known) constitutes an attempt at displacing or repurposing guilt.
Smiles’s new book is a much fuller exploration of these key elements of Turner’s life and art, unpacking the rich hinterland in which he lived and worked through meticulous archival research and vivid first-hand contemporary accounts. A chapter on the Jamaican investment adds greater detail and, to counter the inevitably one-sided presentation of this discussion, Smiles manages to resuscitate from the blunt and sketchy surviving records one of the enslaved Africans, called “Grey”, working on the estate. But the subsequent chapter follows the money back from Turner himself to his wealthy patrons and collectors, some of whom were passionate opponents of abolition, such as the notorious John “Mad Jack” Fuller, MP for Sussex.
The pervasive links to slavery, of course, go back to the start of Turner’s career. His first excursion as a teenager was to the deeply embroiled city of Bristol, and his first essays in painting country houses were focused on mansions built with money generated from exploitation on Caribbean plantations. And in the shift from the landed gentry, who supported Turner’s early career, to the northern English industrialists, the funds paying for his pictures were further tainted through connections with North American cotton production. Smiles, here, is unable to detect anything in Turner’s work that especially attracted these types of clients. Moreover, many of the painter’s most successful peers at the Royal Academy were also sought by the same collectors, whether for aesthetic or commercial reasons.
Moving steadily towards an extended discussion of The Slave Ship itself, two further chapters survey contemporary representations of slavery and the likely influences on Turner’s awareness of the campaign for abolition and emancipation, for which Smiles builds on a now extensive body of research that encompasses, most notably, Sarah Thomas’s compelling Witnessing Slavery: Art and Travel in the Age of Abolition (Paul Mellon Centre, 2019).
Since 1959, The Slave Ship, almost without exception, has been interpreted as a representation of the infamous case of the Zong (or Zorg) massacre of 1781, during which as many as 132 of 442 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard by the British crew when the water rations were running short towards the end of its transatlantic voyage. A new account of the ensuing court case by Siddharth Kara, The Zorg (Doubleday, 2025), repeats this idea and as recently as 2021 Smiles himself supported the Zong theory in the Turner’s Modern World exhibition catalogue (Tate Britain and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
In the present book, however, Smiles overturns the accepted idea that Turner was looking back to an incident almost 60 years earlier, instead persuasively arguing that the appalling practice by slave traders of jettisoning humans into the sea was an outrage of pressing concern in the years before the painting was exhibited, and therefore constitutes an act of contemporary artistic reportage—albeit one inevitably sublimated to Turner’s distinctive aesthetic characteristics. Smiles sets out and tests this proposal with an impressive close reading of the details in the picture, amplified by potential influences and resonances. However, it should be noted that this is not a completely new theory; in fact, the fundamental point had been made, using many of the same sources, by the late John McCoubrey in 1998, and it is curious that Smiles only cites this earlier article when he is refining its content.
Nevertheless, the scale of Turner and the Slave Trade permits Smiles to speculate on and open out the artist’s possible motives for painting The Slave Ship, ultimately challenging readers to evaluate for themselves how to assess Turner’s conflicted position both in his times, and our own.
Sam Smiles, Turner and the Slave Trade, Paul Mellon Centre, 224pp, 90 col. illust., £30 (hb), published 25 November 2025
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150 works produced from 1835 until his death in 1851 will dispel oversimplifications of this later works
A year-long event bonanza will mark the birthday of perhaps the greatest British artist ever

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April 8, 2026
Philadelphia’s upcoming WNBA expansion team is set to debut in 2030.
Will Smith is bringing his latest investment home, reportedly buying a minority stake in Philadelphia’s expansion WNBA team.
On April 6, sports business reporter Kurt Badenhausen revealed that the Oscar-winning actor had secured a minority stake in his hometown’s incoming WNBA franchise. The small stake is estimated at a humble 0.1%, enough to strengthen the ownership group’s local connection in a city deeply rooted in basketball culture.
The news comes as Philadelphia was officially awarded one of three expansion teams, part of the league’s plan to grow to 18 franchises by the end of the decade. The new WNBA team will be operated by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, with Josh Harris serving as governor and leading an ownership group that includes David Blitzer, institutional investors, and Smith as a minority stakeholder.
Philadelphia’s WNBA team is expected to play at Xfinity Mobile Arena, with ownership committing at least $50 million toward a dedicated practice facility. Comcast is also set to take a minority stake as part of a larger arena partnership.
The expansion underscores the league’s continued growth, with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert citing record viewership and rising demand as driving forces behind the addition of teams in Cleveland (coming in 2028), Detroit (coming in 2029), and Philadelphia (coming in 2030). Each city was selected based on long-term viability, strong ownership groups, and infrastructure readiness.
Philadelphia’s WNBA expansion is expected to draw strong crowds, building on the more than 21,000 fans who packed Xfinity Mobile Arena for an Unrivaled 3×3 doubleheader in January—setting a record for a regular-season women’s pro game. The star-studded turnout, featuring celebrities, NBA veterans, and local figures, highlighted a demand that goes beyond individual players.
With solid ownership backing from celebrities and industry figureheads, along with the league’s growing momentum, Philadelphia’s arrival is part of a broader push to expand the WNBA’s national footprint.
RELATED CONTENT: Does Stephen A. Smith Have A 2028 Presidency Plan?

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The Migos rapper has become meme fodder in recent days, but from Drake to Lil Baby, rappers with high wage losses have become synonymous with America’s growing gambling fix.
When news broke on Monday that Offset, one-third of the Migos, had been shot outside of a casino in Florida, the immediate reaction was skepticism followed by prayers. His presence at a Florida casino seemed normal, typical for any adult visitor of the state wanting to have a good time and try to win a quick buck or two at the craps table.
However, as more details emerged, the story about the shooting quickly turned from peculiar to jokes and internet ridicule about a growing phenomenon in America: gambling addiction.
Almost immediately, the stories weren’t about Offset’s recovery or even his feud with fellow rapper Lil Tjay and a presumed $10,000 debt owed to him. Instead, it morphed into recollections from individuals across the spectrum, from former NFL star Dez Bryant accusing the rapper of owing him $8,000 and suggesting the rapper’s crew threatened him over it, to a report that Offset owed a Detroit casino over $100,000 and was sued over it days before he was shot in Florida.
According to TMZ, the MotorCity Casino Hotel filed a lawsuit against the former Migos rapper, claiming he opened a six-figure credit line with the casino back in March of 2024 to fuel a night of gambling fun. Both Offset and the casino agreed that it could withdraw funds from his account to settle the debt, but there wasn’t enough to cover the losses, which led to the lawsuit.
“We are working toward a resolution,” a rep for Offset told TMZ.
Offset’s recent streak of bad news echoes that of fellow Atlanta rapper Lil Baby, who sought an intervention after losing around $8 million to $9 million in a single day, just by gambling.
“Like one day, probably like 40 hours straight, I lost like $8 million, $9 million. I made myself stop gambling,” he told Lil Yachty in a 2024 interview. “I had (Fanatics CEO) Mike Rubin write a letter to every casino and ban me from the casino. I just do s–t. I don’t gamble no more.”
Lil baby speaks on quitting Gambling after losing 8 million dollars in one day pic.twitter.com/cXIStE46W2
As Lil Baby quit cold turkey, there are other rappers like Drake who have routinely thrown down major bets on sporting events, even prompting him to sign a reported $100 million endorsement deal with the online casino company Stake in 2022. However, that deal has come under scrutiny to the point that Drake and streamer Adin Ross were named in a federal lawsuit in Virginia, which alleges the company operates as an illegal casino that violates state and federal law.
Although the US arm of Stake does not allow players to gamble with real money, Drake and Ross are accused of deliberately misleading consumers into believing that the platform was legal and harmless.
The proliferation of gambling has become a siren for lawmakers in several states, even as ads for “daily fantasy” sites such as DraftKings. Underdog and Prize Picks become omnipresent, and prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi become more and more visible with every passing day. In Ohio, Republican lawmakers have introduced bills that would ban mobile betting for casinos such as FanDuel and DraftKings and require all bets to be made in person at one of the state’s legalized casinos. The bill would also ban parlays and prop betting.
“Americans are projected to lose $1 trillion in personal wealth to gambling by 2030,” State Rep. Jonathan Newman said. “[In] the state of Ohio, $1 billion of personal wealth was lost last year.”
In Offset’s case, his losses have turned into memes and jokes, with some fans arguing that his gambling debts are the reason for the delays in his divorce from estranged wife Cardi B. In reality, his issues aren’t too far off from those of everyday people, including his peers in hip-hop.
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April 8, 2026
Tilray is accused of moving the liability for the Marley licensing payments into an empty business entity.
The Bob Marley estate has filed an $11.3 million lawsuit against the global cannabis company Tilray Brand Inc., Bloomberg Law reports. 
Marley Green LLC claims that Tilray and its partners owe licensing royalties for the Marley Natural brand. The lawsuit, filed March 27 in Delaware, alleges that Tilray engaged in a “scheme to defraud” to avoid its financial obligations to the estate.
The estate claims that after Tilray acquired Privateer Holdings, the original partner, in 2019, the company engaged in a fraudulent transfer by structuring corporate entities to shield assets. 
Specifically, Tilray is accused of shifting liability for the Marley licensing payments to an empty business entity that lacked the funds to pay the contractually mandated minimum royalties. That led to a breach of contract, prompting the estate to terminate the licensing deal after the unpaid balance reached nearly $13 million by 2023.
While $1.7 million was recovered from a subsidiary, the estate is seeking the remaining balance.
The partnership between Tilray dates back to 2014, when the Marley family partnered with Privateer Holdings to launch Marley Natural as the world’s first global cannabis brand. Under the leadership of Bob Marley’s daughter, Cedella Marley, the estate manages a massive portfolio of brands, including Tuff Gong, Marley Coffee, and House of Marley. 
Notably, Cedella has been successful in previous suits, including a 2015 trademark infringement victory and a 2017 award against a former coffee partner. Tilray argues that its primary business entities are not parties to the original agreement following corporate restructuring.
However, the Bob Marley estate is now challenging the move as a bad-faith effort to escape liability. The lawsuit is another setback, as 24/7 Wall Street that as of April 2, the company’s stock has declined by 4 percent.
RELATED CONTENT: Rohan Marley Became An Entrepreneur After His Brother Ziggy Gave Him An ‘Ultimatum’; Between ‘Business Or Football’

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The decision was reportedly made by the UK Home Office on the grounds that Ye’s presence would not be “conducive to the public good.”
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) has been barred from entering the United Kingdom, a decision that has led to the cancellation of a major summer music event in London.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, UK authorities denied Ye permission to travel to the country, where he had been scheduled to headline the Wireless Festival in July. The three-day event, expected to draw around 150,000 attendees to Finsbury Park, has now been called off entirely.
The decision was reportedly made by the UK Home Office on the grounds that Ye’s presence would not be “conducive to the public good,” a standard used in immigration and entry rulings.
 The move follows years of controversy surrounding the artist, including widely condemned antisemitic statements and public praise for Adolf Hitler.
Pressure had been building in the lead-up to the announcement. Several major sponsors, including Pepsi, Rockstar Energy, and Diageo, withdrew their support after Ye was confirmed as a headliner. British politicians also voiced strong opposition, with senior officials arguing he should not be given a platform.
In response to the backlash, Ye recently said he was open to meeting members of the UK’s Jewish community, stating he wanted to demonstrate personal growth following earlier controversies. He had previously issued a public apology, attributing some of his past behavior to a mental health episode.
Despite that, critics remained unconvinced. Community leaders emphasized that meaningful change would need to be demonstrated over time, not on a high-profile festival stage.
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One of the 33 sheets that make up the Lucknow scroll depicts a pink palace Courtesy Yale Center for British Art
Following two years of conservation, a 37ft-long, early 19th-century scroll is on public view for the first time at the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) in New Haven, Connecticut. Known as the Lucknow scroll, the object is part of the exhibition Painters, Ports and Profits: Artists and the East India Company, 1750-1850 (until 21 June), bringing questions of empire, commerce and artistic exchange into material focus. Due to the scroll’s size and fragility, half of it will be exhibited at a time and unrolled over the course of the show, giving repeat visitors a chance to see different sections. (Displaying the object in portions also helps reduce light exposure.)
Scrolls range in scale from handheld objects to ones even larger than the Lucknow example, and they have served a variety of purposes. “Within artistic traditions on the Indian subcontinent, narrative scrolls were popular forms of art,” the exhibition curators Laurel O. Peterson and Holly Shaffer tell The Art Newspaper. “These were made for people at all levels of society. They often tell devotional narratives, unfolding as the scroll is unrolled. In early 19th-century Britain, scrolls were used for entertainment at home and might be a souvenir.” Though printed in multiples, scrolls were considered luxury objects.
Emma Hartman, the assistant conservator of paper at Yale University Art Gallery, unrolling the Lucknow Scroll. Photo: Anita Dey, image courtesy of the Yale Center for British Art
The Lucknow scroll, or Lucknow from the Gomti, was made between 1821 and 1826 and comprises 33 joined sheets of laid paper, executed in watercolour, gouache and gold. It offers an expansive view of Lucknow in northern India, as seen from across the Gomti River.
“We can think about the Lucknow scroll in terms of storytelling, as it allows the viewer to follow a journey along the banks of the river,” the curators say. “The English-language key written in 1826 describes the work as a ‘Panoramic View of Lucknow’, suggesting a link between the two forms—but panoramas represent the landscape from a fixed viewing point, rather than a continuous one.”
Created during the reign of Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah—who declared independence from the Mughal emperor in 1819 and embarked on ambitious building campaigns—the scroll captures palaces and mosques, as well as workshops, warehouses and vernacular structures.
“The scroll has a fascinating story both historically and materially, in part because it’s so mysterious,” the curators say. “We don’t know the names of the artists who made it.” The patron is also unknown, they add, but its inscriptions “place little emphasis on the company, signalling that the scroll was likely made for, or in honour of, the ruler—perhaps at the request of an elite woman in his retinue”. It could also have been part of a military or political negotiation.
Anita Dey, the assistant paper conservator at the Yale Center For British Art, and Emma Hartman, the assistant conservator of paper at Yale University Art Gallery, examining the Lucknow Scroll under ultraviolet light. Photo: Jessica Makin, image courtesy of the Yale Center for British Art
Over the years, the scroll developed areas of pigment instability and structural weakness. “The primary conservation challenges stemmed from the scroll’s complex layered construction,” says Anita Dey, the assistant paper conservator at the YCBA. “It is composed of multiple sheets of paper joined together with subsequent linings of another paper layer and a cotton-textile backing. While this structure helped protect the scroll from wear associated with handling through its lifetime, it also introduced significant planar distortions that prevented the object from lying flat as originally intended.”
Conservation treatment at the YCBA began with stabilisation to prevent further loss and flattening the object, ensuring it could be safely unrolled and displayed. Among the noteworthy findings revealed during conservation was a watermark for the British mill of James Whatman, a discovery that helped narrow the scroll’s date and understand it within broader trade networks.
The London-based collector Davinder Toor holds one of the most significant collections of Sikh works in the US and the UK

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“The American people do not support this,” said the former Vice President of the United States.
Former Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is speaking out against President Donald Trump‘s latest threat against Iran, rebuking it as “abhorrent.”
“The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes and wipe out a ‘whole civilization’ — all because he started a disastrous war of his own making and had no plan and no strategy for how to end it,” Harris said in a public statement on Tuesday.
A post shared by Kamala Harris (@kamalaharris)
Earlier in the day, President Trump wrote on Truth Social, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” further escalating his Easter Day threat to bomb Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, if Iran does not open up the Strait of Hormuz. The blockage of the waterway, through which more than 20% of the world’s oil and gas is shipped, has resulted in skyrocketing gas prices in the U.S. and around the world. President Trump gave Iran a deadline of Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET to stop the blockage, telling Iranian leaders, “Open the F—kin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!“
Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election to Trump, arguably over the Biden-Harris administration’s involvement in Israel’s deadly military operation in Gaza that killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, said of Trump’s threat: “This is abhorrent, and the American people do not support this.”
The potential 2028 presidential candidate added, “Trump’s recklessness is needlessly putting our brave service members in harm’s way, destroying America’s global standing, and making life even more unaffordable for the American people. We must all stand against this and oppose funding this illegal war of choice.”
Since leaving office and returning to civilian life, Harris has remained a vocal critic of Trump and his second administration. While promoting her memoir “107 Days,” which details her personal reflections on her historic presidential campaign, and other public speaking events, Harris has slammed Trump’s domestic and foreign policies, including the deployment of U.S. military troops to American cities and the Trump administration’s aggressive and deadly immigration enforcement.
Many supporters of Harris have pointed out that the former vice president tried to warn American voters about many of Trump’s actions taken since returning to the White House. She herself has said as much.
“I predicted a lot about what’s happening right now. I’m not into saying I told you so, but we did see it coming,” Harris told a church full of mostly Black Americans at the funeral service for civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. in March.
Last week, in a video message ahead of Trump’s primetime address updating Americans on the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Harris said, as a result of Trump’s war, “Costs are rising by the day, and meanwhile, he has done nothing to address the needs of the people of America.”
She added, “I bet you, he’s going to try and claim victory tonight. But the reality is, we’re watching what he does instead of listening to what he says.”
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April 7, 2026
The two women are currently undefeated and plan one more fight before the two meet in the ring
A bout between two undefeated fighters is in the works, as a boxing promoter says a planned two-fight “home and home” series will feature boxers Claressa Shields and Lauren Price.
According to a BBC News interview, promoter Ben Shalom said that Price, whose record stands at 10-0 after her latest bout against Stephanie Pineiro, will be in line to fight Shields in the very near future. The deal is expected to feature one fight in the United States and the other in Price’s hometown of Cardiff, Wales.
Shalom spoke to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast and told the media outlet about the tentative boxing plans for the two women: “Once in the US, and then hopefully once where we can come to either Cardiff City Stadium or Cardiff Castle and do that in June next year. She’s selling out that (Utilita) arena too fast. She needs somewhere bigger.”
Though there has been no talk of the women fighting for titles, the unblemished records of both women will be at stake.
DAZN reported that Shields was at Price’s recent fight, which Price won by unanimous decision. Shields spoke to Price and confirmed that the matches are in the works, and acknowledged that both she and Price will have another fight before they meet in the ring.
“When you are an Olympic champion, you are a special fighter,” Shields told her. “Me and you have talked online and me and you can make it happen, you did great tonight. No disrespect to you, you’ve got a little bit of time. I’ve got one more fight, and then we can fight at the end of the year.”
Shields is 18-0 with three knockouts after her last fight, which happened in February 2026 when she defeated Franchón Crews-Dezurn in a unanimous decision. 
Price also wants the fight and believes it will be a “great” one.
“It makes for a great fight, but not just one fight. I said to her tonight, ‘Let’s do it, I’ll come to America, and then you come to Wales,’ and she shook on it. So hopefully we can make that happen.”

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Michigan claimed its first NCAA men’s basketball championship since 1989 over UConn on April 6, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Michigan claimed its first NCAA men’s basketball championship since 1989 with a thrilling 69-63 victory over UConn on April 6, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The Wolverines, ranked No. 3 nationally and the top seed in the Midwest, capped off a historic season with their second-ever national title, joining the 1989 squad that triumphed in Seattle.
Led by standout performances from Elliot Cadeau (2026 Final Four Most Outstanding Player) and Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan showcased resilience and teamwork to overcome UConn, a program vying for its third title in four years.
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The Wolverines’ journey to the championship was marked by dominance, with an average margin of victory exceeding 20 points in their tournament games.
Their victory also ended a 26-year title drought for the Big Ten Conference, which last celebrated a men’s basketball championship in 2000.
Michigan’s success reflects the evolving landscape of college basketball, with all five starters transferring into the program, a first for an NCAA champion.
Coach Dusty May’s leadership and the team’s chemistry proved pivotal in their title run.
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The win not only solidifies Michigan’s place among college basketball’s elite but also brings significant financial rewards to the Big Ten, with the conference earning $58 million in NCAA tournament payouts.
For Michigan fans, this victory is a long-awaited celebration.
Michigan Ends Title Drought with Thrilling NCAA Championship Win Over UConn was originally published on 1075thefan.com

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Felipe Baeza, Ahuehuete, 2018 The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection. © Felipe Baeza. Courtesy Maureen Paley, London; kurimanzutto, Mexico City/New York.
Following a dozen museum shows around Latin America exploring the deep and destructive consequences of colonial dispossession, the Chicago institution Wrightwood 659 is staging a cumulative survey that explores the loss of land, culture and language in the region and its consequences today.
Dispossessions in the Americas: The Extraction of Bodies, Land, and Heritage from La Conquista to the Present will include works by more than 35 contemporary Latin American artists, some of whom have never shown in the United States. Participants include the Guatemalan performance artist and poet Regina José Galindo, the Indigenous Peruvian artist Rember Yahuarcani, the late Cuban American conceptual artist Ana Mendieta, the Ecuadorian trans activist Purita Pelayo and the Colombian conceptual artist and film-maker Miguel Ángel Rojas. Altogether, their work seeks to show the impacts of dispossession on Indigenous, Afro-descendant, queer and trans communities.
“Very rarely do we find American exhibitions foregrounding aspects of dispossession,” says Jonathan D. Katz, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who co-curated the show with the independent curator Eduardo Carrera. “Yet this country was built on it.”
Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, Monumento al pasado para el futuro, Sol, 2024. Courtesy of RGR Gallery and the Artist.
The exhibition series is just one part of a $5m Mellon Foundation-supported research project of the same name at UPenn featuring studies, analyses, story-mapping, podcasts, films and curricula shown on an interactive map of the region. The arts portion, led by Katz, commissioned museums including the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago, the national museums of modern art in Bogotá and Mexico City, and the Fundación Klemm in Buenos Aires to stage and curate their own shows between 2021 and 2024.
“We felt that it was very important not to essentially reify the dispossession by coming in and doing the exhibitions ourselves,” Katz says. One requirement, however, was for each institution to acquire the work of an Indigenous artist not previously in its collection. The resulting shows, he says, were thoughtfully curated, including at the Lima Museum of Contemporary Art, where Amazonian artists travelled down the river to different villages with their works, rather than solely exhibit them in Lima.
At Wrightwood 659, the works will include an ink and tempera painting by the Mexican artist Felipe Baeza showing foliage bursting from a figure’s mouth; pillows stitched by the Dominican artist Lizette Nin featuring the names of Chile’s family dynasties and the enslaved people in their employment; and a video performance piece by the Mapuche artist Seba Calfuqueo, in which she suspends her body above water, meditating on the privatisation of Chile’s water supplies under the dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Seba Calfuqueo, Kowkülen (Ser líquido), 2020. Courtesy of the artist.
In addition to the photographs, sculptures, paintings, performance and installations housed inside Wrightwood 659, there will also be a video art series at the nearby Park Presbyterian Church, showing on weekends on a biweekly schedule.
Though the featured works in Dispossessions in the Americas date back to the 1960s, a turbulent period marked by US intervention in Latin America, they capture centuries of history. The show “fundamentally is about the continuing toll of colonialism and how ideas that date, after all, from the 1500s continue to animate so much of what goes on”, Katz says.
That toll has only become more apparent in the lead-up to the show, as Donald Trump’s administration deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, conducted and supported military operations in Mexico and Ecuador, and has signalled a potential intervention in Cuba as well.
Saskia Calderón, Lunas que no vi, 2020. Courtesy of the artist.
“We have gone back over 100 years in our foreign policy thinking, and we operate the way colonial nations once freely operated,” Katz says. “And what I find astounding is that it doesn’t seem to be troubling to the American people.”
He hopes that visitors will understand the continued threat of dispossession for Latin American heritage as they sit with the works. “What we need to do is stand in solidarity with these people, often against the interests of American corporations and their colonial aiders and abettors towards a kind of generative freedom in Latin America that is, unfortunately, more and more distant.”
From Seoul-born artist Dabin Ahn’s first solo show with Document to dancehall and reggaetón at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
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This will be the largest show of modern Latin American art to be presented in the United States

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April 7, 2026
Rev. Al Sharpton has acquired a century-old building in Harlem to redevelop it as the new headquarters for the National Action Network.
Rev. Al Sharpton has acquired the Faison Firehouse Theater on Hancock Place in Harlem as part of a redevelopment effort to establish a new headquarters for his National Action Network.
The renowned civil rights leader, who recently spoke at the funeral of his longtime friend and mentor, Rev. Jesse Jackson, announced plans to relocate the National Action Network, the organization he founded in 1991, to the newly acquired Faison Firehouse Theater, which will be transformed into the House of Justice Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Workshop.
“I ain’t gonna be no more famous,” Sharpton told The New York Times. “The question is, what do I leave?”
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s connection to the project goes beyond its name. Sharpton’s civil rights organization, long based in a rented West 145th Street office that Jackson affectionately called the “House of Justice,” is now moving into a permanent home. Jackson’s son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said the shift to ownership reflects his father’s long friendship with Sharpton and his vision of securing lasting stability in the fight for justice.
“My father saw Reverend Sharpton as one of his best students,” Jackson Jr. said. “He called him disciple No. 1.”
The century-old building, originally designed by Howard Constable in 1909 as a firehouse, was later transformed into a community theater and residence by choreographer George Faison in 1999. In March 2025, Faison approached Sharpton about selling the property to a non-developer, leading to the deal. According to NAN Vice Chair Jennifer Jones Austin, the organization expects to invest between $5 million and $7 million in the purchase and renovations.
Sharpton said he envisions the space as a hub for arts and activism rooted in the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance. The project is also part of a broader effort to push back against gentrification in Harlem, where the Black population has steadily declined from about 77% in 2000 to roughly 50% in 2023, while Hispanic and white populations have grown.
“Harlem was the place of political power, and that’s been decimated,” Sharpton said. “I hope the House of Justice represents people that will print their roots and stay right there.”
Kevin McGruder, author of “Race and Real Estate: Conflict and Cooperation in Harlem, 1890–1920,” noted that while neighborhood change is natural, gentrification is different—especially when race plays a role, making it more than just a neutral market shift. Meanwhile, Stephen Wilder of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and principal at Think Wilder Architecture in Harlem emphasized that developers must understand and respect a neighborhood’s history before pursuing new development.
“When you’re in a community, the question is how do you add without taking away,” Wilder said.

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