March For Our Lives board member Mariah Cooley argues that the epidemic of gun violence against Black women is being ignored by the gun safety movement and political leaders, and calls for a movement that centers Black women before it is too late.
Black women
Posted inOpinion
Shame About Being Abused Silenced Me. Now, I’m Speaking Up.
A survivor of intimate partner violence shares her personal story and calls on Black women, friends and family to break the silence around IPV as Black women face disproportionate rates of abuse and murder by intimate partners.
Posted inBusiness
Why people are opting out of hustle culture, choosing lifestyle over work
Hustle culture and Black burnout explored by two therapists who say opting out is not failure but a necessary corrective to a system built on extraction and overwork.
Posted inOpinion
Black women are losing ground. Now inclusion is on trial.
EEOC DEI rollback and federal policy shifts are already costing Black women jobs as AFRO News CEO Frances Toni Draper exposes the dismantling of equity and access infrastructure.
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls Office steps into the light
Missing Murdered Black Women Girls Minnesota Day on the Hill 2026 brings impacted families to the State Capitol as Amarie Alowonle’s mother speaks out for justice.
Posted inOpinion
Beyond flowers: Black women deserve more than praise
Black women deserve more than praise. This Women’s History Month, two writers call for real investment in Black women leaders, founders and students.
Posted inOpinion
Stop co-opting #SayHerName. It was made for Black women
The #SayHerName movement was created to spotlight police violence against Black women and girls. This commentary explains why its original purpose must be preserved.
Posted inNational
The Best Things to Happen to Black People in 2025
The best things to happen to Black people in 2025 showcase excellence, progress, and joy across culture, sports, education, and community.
Posted inNothing but the Truth
Resist MAGA’s efforts to disempower Black women
The rising unemployment rate for Black women reveals deeper political forces shaping labor, power, and leadership in 2025, with clear implications for Minnesota and beyond.
Posted inOpinion
We need to talk about domestic violence
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time to honor survivors, remember those we have lost, and confront one of the most pervasive and deadly forms of violence in our society. Yet year after year, this month passes with too little outrage and too little action. As a Black man and the CEO of the […]
Posted inLocal & State
Courtroom protesters demand ‘No More Stolen Lives’
Families, activists expose gaps in domestic violence protections Allison Lussier’s life ended in a North Loop apartment in February 2024, but questions surrounding her death continue to reverberate through Minneapolis. Family members and Indigenous activists say the system failed Lussier, a 29-year-old woman with a history of domestic abuse, and are calling for accountability as […]
Posted inOpinion
What Black women want and what Virginia needs
All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk. This admonishment came from novelist and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most prolific Black literary figures of the 20th century. Tracy Chiles McGhee, a Zora Neale Hurston biographer, shares context, noting this reference is loosely drawn from Hurston’s 1942 autobiography, “Dust Tracks on a Road.” Zora unapologetically leaned into […]
Posted inBusiness
Joblessness spiking among Black women
Upcoming job fair addresses this emerging crisis Terace Johnson has her pulse on Minnesota’s employment picture. As CEO of Spotlight Staffing, Johnson heads a business that specializes in recruiting employees for multiple industries, including health care, finance, accounting, skilled labor, manufacturing and education. She’s spotting a trend that deeply concerns her. “I’m seeing a growing […]
Posted inOpinion
The unseen cost of our beauty obsession
Our culture’s obsession with Eurocentric beauty standards fuels a “beauty sickness” that devalues natural Black hair, skin, and bodies. This op-ed names the harm and makes the case for authenticity, self-love, and rejecting manufactured ideals.
Posted inOpinion
The B-word: Use with caution
The B-word is both wound and shield. This essay maps its history, Black women’s experience, pop-culture reclamation, and the boundaries that keep respect intact.
Posted inOpinion
I loved Essence Fest, but it doesn’t love us back
Once a beloved sisterhood experience, Essence Fest now feels like a corporate hustle. Sheletta Brundidge says the festival’s soul is gone — and so are the women who made it magical.
Posted inLocal & State
First ‘Madam Juneteenth’ crowned at 2025 Minnesota Pageant
The Miss Juneteenth Minnesota State Pageant crowned six new queens this year, including the first-ever Madam Juneteenth. Sannia Elzia now plans to use her platform to uplift the voices of Black women survivors.
Posted inOpinion
A seven-word phrase Black men should give up
“That’s why you don’t have a man.” In this commentary, Lawrence Ware calls out this tired, toxic phrase and why it’s time for Black men to do better.
Posted inNational
Congress honors Black female WWII unit
The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the “Six Triple Eight”, an all-female, all-Black unit that served in Europe during World War II, for their efforts to clear a backlog of 17 million pieces of mail in three months.
Posted inBooks
‘Happy Land’ unearths a forgotten Black kingdom in Appalachia
Author Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s latest novel, “Happy Land,” explores the often-overlooked world of rural Black communities in Appalachia, highlighting the legacy of a 19th-century kingdom built by formerly enslaved people.