🧵 News can be overwhelming. It can leave us feeling powerless. At Capital B, we want our stories to inspire action and hope. A thread on how to support this work: capitalbnews.fundjournalism.org/donate/?camp...

The Virginia Department of Health has issued a standing order so that people can get the COVID vaccine without a prescription. You can print out the order here: www.vdh.virginia.gov/content/uplo...

Looking forward to being on this panel with @brigidbergin.bsky.social, @neonflag.bsky.social, and Elizabeth Estrada about democracy and journalism in 2025. If you're in NYC on Sept. 15, come join us! give.wnyc.org/event/front-...

So to say music critics have lost their edge bc fear (of fans or of direct diatribes from artists) makes no sense. Music writing was always freewheeling AND beholden to the industry. Critical writing ALWAYS existed next to fan service puff pieces! Poptimism did not make criticism weak tea

The violins was whooping Bobby V ass all over “Tell Me” 🤣🤣🔥🔥

“There are all of these issues percolating around the Voting Rights Act,” said Valencia Richardson of the Campaign Legal Center. “And they raise these existential questions about the future of the greatest voting rights legislation this country has ever passed.”

This week marks 70 years since the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. I spoke with family and supporters about their efforts to preserve his memory as attempts to whitewash history escalate. capitalbnews.org/emmett-till-...

As attempts to whitewash history escalate, family and supporters traveled by train to mirror the 14-year-old’s path to Mississippi to keep his memory alive. capitalbnews.org/emmett-till-...

Since a 2013 case that scaled back federal approval of voting changes, Black access to the ballot box has become increasingly uncertain, advocates say.

"Everybody deserves responsive and accountable leadership. Because it has a ripple effect: It can help to increase health-care access. It can help to remedy disparities in education." I wrote about some of the biggest present-day threats to Black voting rights. capitalbnews.org/black-voting...

BREAKING: National Guard troops in D.C. to begin carrying weapons tonight, including rifles, a Defense Department official said.

NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s defense team says that the government is attempting to coerce him to plead guilty to his criminal charges. Per filing, the government promised to deport him to Costa Rica if he pleads guilty — and is now threatening to remove him to Uganda if he doesn’t accept the deal.

Fox 17 Nashville reports that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from criminal detention in Tennessee and is on his way home to Maryland. “Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free,” his attorney, @sean-hecker.bsky.social, said in a statement. fox17.com/news/local/k...

Visitors have felt drawn to the National Museum of African American History and Culture recently, angered by the president’s actions. capitalbnews.org/trump-smiths...

"We need to see all of it. The pain and the joy." @aleciareports.bsky.social and I wrote about the many Black tourists who have felt drawn to the Blacksonian in recent days, as the administration threatens to sanitize history and continues its takeover of D.C. capitalbnews.org/trump-smiths...

New polling finds very broad opposition in D.C. to the city police takeover. One number I find remarkable in demonstrating the tangible effect: 55% say they've *personally* noticed more federal law enforcement officers in D.C. (with most of those feeling less safe for it). Not abstract policy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana becomes sixth GOP-led state to authorize troop deployment to DC as part of Trump show of force.

“I don’t know how local businesses are going to survive this" — a co-owner of a bar in DC, referring to reduced business due to increased police and military presence in the city, talking to @washingtonpost.com over the weekend. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Mississippi is sending 200 National Guardsmen to DC. Had seen this in the ether but now confirmed. That's 900 outside National Guardsmen to DC (W. Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, now Mississippi) plus the 826 active from the DC Guard. www.wjtv.com/news/politic...

"What we're seeing here is mobilization for more conventional policing," @owasow.bsky.social told me. We spoke about the long history of the National Guard being called in to address crises — and why what's happening in D.C. is different. capitalbnews.org/dc-national-...

BREAKING: D.C. officials balk at Bondi's order claiming powers over D.C. police A.G. Schwalb told D.C.'s police chief that Bondi's order — purporting to make the DEA administrator D.C.'s "Emergency Police Commissioner" — is "unlawful." Overnight, at Law Dork —>

The devaluation of skill, experience, and expertise is a crisis across cultural journalism right now--it's being felt profoundly in theater. It's great that anyone can post a review, but that does not, even in the smallest way, replace what's being thrown away.

“With ‘Secrets,’ Braxton was legitimately breaking away from something—a sheltered upbringing, religion, expectations—and finally centering pleasure.” Love this Sunday Review of an underestimated album. pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...

Trump’s chilling effect on Big Law firms taking on pro bono work has “been a nightmare,” said the president of a small nonprofit that investigates civil rights violations. “People don’t want to stand up, and because of that, people are suffering.” By @mtredden.bsky.social

NYC opens first-in-the-nation homeless shelter for transgender people Ace’s Place will offer 150 beds and services including counseling, financial literacy workshops and a work-study program in the culinary arts. For @nbcnews.com: www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...

Sixty years ago today. I wrote about the status of the Voting Rights Act's most significant sections and the ongoing challenges to Black access to the ballot box.

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The battle could have national ramifications, with several Democratic states vowing to act in kind should the new map go into effect.

Really illuminating piece that pairs well with our story that includes some of the present-day actors fighting to preserve Black political representation: capitalbnews.org/voting-right...

Six decades after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, advocates say, Black political power is hanging by a thread.

The Voting Rights Act turns 60 this month. I wrote about the status of its most significant sections — and the ongoing challenges to Black access to the ballot box. capitalbnews.org/voting-right...

Six decades after the most important federal statute protecting the right to vote was signed into law, advocates say, Black political power is hanging by a thread.

NEW: August marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, but its shadow is still cast over Black New Orleanians. New Orleanians are more vulnerable to “deaths of despair” than 99% of the U.S., as Black residents navigate hopelessness in the face of neglect. capitalbnews.org/hurricane-ka...

Happy 15th anniversary of the peak achievement of literary criticism, to all who celebrate

Records obtained by ProPublica show the Trump administration is preparing to shut down seven major investigations of alleged housing discrimination and segregation, including some where HUD already found civil rights violations had occurred. By @jessecoburn.bsky.social

“We’re hearing from people in the remaining offices that their caseloads have exploded. They’re saying that the workload is impossible — they’re going to do their best, but it simply isn’t humanly possible, and cases are getting dismissed.”

trash movies from the 70s are art trash movies from the 80s are camp trash movies from the 90s are fun trash movies from the aughts are nostalgia trash movies past that are trash

The Amistad Research Center, one of the largest repositories of Black history, cut half its staff after the Trump administration ended four federal grants

ProPublica obtained data showing the Trump admin. knew at least 197 of the men hadn't been convicted of crimes in the US and only 6 had been convicted of violent offenses. Nearly half had ongoing immigration cases that should have protected from deportation. projects.propublica.org/venezuelan-i...

NEW: On March 15, President Donald Trump’s administration sent more than 230 Venezuelan immigrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Last week, the men were released as suddenly as they’d been taken away. These are their stories.

One attorney said that when they file complaints on behalf of Black students, they're often seeking "an acknowledgement that slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and mass incarceration inform how Black children receive their education in 2025." My latest on the cuts: capitalbnews.org/civil-rights...

Really proud to win a first place Green Eyeshade Award, sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists, for my elections reporting! www.greeneyeshade.org/2025-winners/

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson continues to break the fourth wall as the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. And she has made one thing plain: There are moments when she sees the majority opinion as an “existential threat to the rule of law.” capitalbnews.org/kbj-supreme-...

"Her point is clear: This is not a drill. The court, in her view, appears to be putting a thumb on the scale of this administration and applying the rules unevenly." I spoke with @profmmurray.bsky.social for this story on how KBJ is breaking the fourth wall. capitalbnews.org/kbj-supreme-...

Just had a thought: Is Whitney’s I’m Your Baby Tonight the most perfect vocal song ever? Because the range in this song is absurd.

Many fear that the move could have a chilling effect on rangers who simply want to do their job. capitalbnews.org/trump-censor...

he shone right off the screen even in his smaller roles, like in Thelma & Louise and Sin City. RIP Mr. Blonde

"I don't know how you can tell that critical civil rights moment about a 14-year-old who was lynched without making some people feel uncomfortable," one historian told me. I wrote about new signage at NPS sites encouraging visitors to report "negative" history. capitalbnews.org/trump-censor...

NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers seek permission to file an amended complaint in his civil case in Maryland. Among other things, the amended complaint “includes Abrego Garcia's first-hand account of torture and mistreatment at CECOT…”

The U.S. Senate has just approved a massive reconciliation bill. Analyses by the CBO show it would lead to million of peoples losing Medicaid coverage. Among other effects, research has shown that when Medicaid has been cut, crime rates have gone up: boltsmag.org/medicai...