Capital B

02/10/2025

Alumni are losing trust in the process and say the state’s Higher Learning Board of Trustees has missed the mark three times.

Alumni are losing trust in the process and say the state’s Higher Learning Board of Trustees has missed the mark three times.

30/09/2025

LaPorchia Collins, an agricultural economist, professor and researcher, answered five questions on the agency’s decision to halt data collection.

LaPorchia Collins, an agricultural economist, professor and researcher, answered five questions on the agency’s decision to halt data collection.

30/09/2025

Veteran Black lawmakers, some say, are increasingly out of touch and don’t have what it takes to lead the most important civil rights battles of today.

Veteran Black lawmakers, some say, are increasingly out of touch and don’t have what it takes to lead the most important civil rights battles of today.

29/09/2025

Marquitrice Mangham opened two grocery stores to improve food access in her home state of Mississippi.

In rural areas, particularly in the Delta, residents face some of the highest rates of food insecurity and unemployment in the state, resulting in poor health outcomes such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. These communities have high populations of Black people. They often struggle to attract grocery stores and are overwhelmed by a striking growth of dollar stores.

From grocery stores to food distribution services, Black women are leading efforts to feed their communities.

Associated Press data reporter Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report, which is part of a series called Sowing Resilience, a collaboration between the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Rural News Network and The Associated Press.

https://capitalbnews.org/black-women-mississippi-delta-food-deserts/

27/09/2025

The forests that once sheltered the small town of Roseland are turning brown. Now, many residents are left wondering: Is what was left behind after the Aug. 22 blast safe? If it’s making the trees ill, what about them?

After the industrial explosion in rural Louisiana town, the EPA still says there is no health threat.

26/09/2025

Tennessee State University said students were respectful and the group, ‘Fearless Debates,’ did not provide advanced notice of their arrival.

Tennessee State University said students were respectful and the group, ‘Fearless Debates,’ did not provide advanced notice of their arrival.

20/09/2025

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the headlines. But news can be more than tragedy and crisis. At Capital B, we highlight the people, solutions, and strategies shaping a better future for Black communities.

Our end-of-summer campaign goal is $6,500. If you believe in news that reminds us change is possible, please support: https://capitalbnews.fundjournalism.org/donate/?campaign=701VM00000TNURJYA5

19/09/2025

Many Black immigrants in the Chicago metro area have settled in majority-Black neighborhoods where earlier generations of their families already live — including Evanston and Rogers Park on the North Side, and Woodlawn and South Shore on the South Side. There are 69,484 Black immigrants in the Chicago metro area originally from a country in Africa, making up 5.2% of the city’s population, according to an American Community Survey analysis of the 2023 Census.

Trump escalated his administration’s immigration crackdown by signing executive orders to deploy the National Guard into sanctuary jurisdictions that were seen as defiant. These largely Democratic-led municipalities, including Chicago, have policies that limit cooperation from local police with the federal government to identify and assist with removing an undocumented person.

As the federal takeover of Washington, D.C., neared its end on Sept. 10, Trump turned his attention to Chicago, again calling for a crackdown on violent crime despite both cities reporting their lowest homicide rates in decades. In response, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, publicly condemned the threat of federal intervention. Days of peaceful protests erupted downtown, and Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, signed an executive order directing local police not to cooperate with ICE.

While some Black Chicago residents praised Illinois officials’ pushback against the federal crackdown as a sign of unity, many people that Capital B spoke to remain uneasy. With Operation Midway Blitz keeping ICE agents active in the city, they worry it’s only a matter of time before more federal troops line their blocks.

Nearly 70,000 immigrants from African countries live in the city, making up 5.2% of the population according to 2023 U.S. Census data.

17/09/2025

The Department of Education announced the funding boost just days after cutting $350 million from other grants.

The Department of Education announced the funding boost just days after cutting $350 million from other grants.

16/09/2025

Demartravion “Trey” Reed, a 21-year-old from Grenada, Mississippi, was discovered at Delta State University the morning of Sept. 15.

The Cleveland Police Department notified the Bolivar County Coroner’s Office at 7:32 a.m. that the student, later identified as Reed, was found unresponsive.

Bolivar County Coroner Randolph “Rudy” Seals Jr. wrote in a report that, based on a preliminary examination, Reed did not suffer any lacerations, contusions, compound fractures, broken bones, or injuries consistent with an assault.

“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest the individual was physically attacked before his death,” Seals added in the report.

The university’s chief of police and director of public safety said that investigators found no evidence he had been attacked before his death.

16/09/2025

Hurricane Harvey's relentless rainfall was only a small part of a larger crisis: Between 2010 and 2023, the region’s factories and oil refineries released 364 million tons of climate-warming gases into the air, according to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.

Scientists now trace Harvey’s flooding, in part, to these emissions. Airborne particles of gases from these plants acted as rain cloud “seeds,” supercharging the downpour. The storm had denser, darker clouds, which triggered hours of blinding, flood-causing rainfall that researchers now say was fueled by Southeast Texas’ own pollution, according to a landmark study published in 2020.

Nearly a decade since Harvey, residents are afraid history might be repeated. As Black Texans face compounded harms from polluters and unjust disaster relief, federal rules that require thousands of facilities to report these emissions are suddenly at risk.

On Sept. 13, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed axing the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. This means that the nation’s more than 8,000 major polluters will no longer have to track their annual emissions of climate-warming gases. Other facilities, like pipelines, would not have to have their emissions tracked until 2034.

When the data disappears, so do defenses for Black neighborhoods surrounded by smokestacks and floodwaters, advocates warn.

16/09/2025

Capital B Atlanta toured the infamous facility along with the sheriff to get a closer look at the conditions where nearly 2,000 incarcerated people are being housed and 30 have died.

Capital B Atlanta toured the infamous facility along with the sheriff to get a closer look at the conditions.