Since returning to office in January, President Trump has ramped up efforts to increase the deportation of immigrants, setting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants a day. In response, ICE raids have surged across the country. High-profile workplace operations in cities like Los Angeles have led to widespread protests and federal deployments. According to The Independent, demonstrations have erupted in more than 40 cities. Many of the recent detentions involve individuals with no prior criminal record. Immigrants now face the risk of arrest in
The Redemption Holding Company, a Black-led investment group, has completed its acquisition of Utah-based Holladay Bank and Trust, a woman-led bank that’s operated one brand in Salt Lake City since 1974. The acquisition marks the first time a bank has been owned by a Black-led investment group in the Rockies and Mountain West and also the first time Black investors have acquired a white-owned bank. The first Black-owned bank west of Texas The newly formed Redemption Bank will also be the first Black-owned financial institution to be located outside of
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), representing the NAACP, has sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue to Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, over its unpermitted use of gas turbines at a data center in South Memphis. The letter, dated June 17, alleges that xAI violated federal law by installing dozens of methane gas turbines without the required permits or pollution controls. This notice is a necessary step before filing a lawsuit under the Clean Air Act. “Over the last year, these turbines have pumped out pollution that threatens
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that slavery had been abolished – two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The first Juneteenth was observed in 1866 and has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations before finally being recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. Corporations Pull Support This year, many traditional Juneteenth celebrations are being scaled back or canceled due to declining support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, according to AP
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Black Chamber of Commerce is launching a new Innovation Center to support Black-owned businesses and address food inequality in Charlotte, NC. “Think of it as a one-stop shop for professionals and small businesses,” Cathay Dawkins, a local entrepreneur and chairman of the chamber, told The Charlotte Observer. What is the innovation center? The property, located at 2601 Wilkinson Blvd, near Interstate 77, will feature spaces for business meetings, co-working areas, an agri-tech program to assist farmers in utilizing advanced technology, and a retail store distribution center for small
Khaby Lame has left the US after being briefly detained by immigration agents for allegedly overstaying his visa, according to The Guardian. The TikTok star, whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was detained on Friday, 6 June, at an airport in Las Vegas. A spokesperson for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told the Guardian in a statement that he was released on the same day and has since left the country. Lame had arrived in the US on 30 April and had allegedly overstayed the terms of
The Trump administration is looking to issue a contract worth up to $25 million to DNA-test families targeted for deportation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as stated by Bloomberg. Campaigners are concerned that these tests could be used to separate children from their caregivers, such as non-biological family members like godparents. Additionally, advocates worry that there’s a broader plan by the administration to collect genetic data at US borders for other purposes, like criminal investigations. $25 million contract to DNA test families In mid-May, the agency issued a contract
Google has agreed to pay $50 million in a racial bias lawsuit against Black staff workers. On Thursday evening, a preliminary settlement covering over 4,000 Google employees in California and New York was filed in Oakland, California federal court, which requires a judge’s approval, according to Reuters. The lawsuit In 2022, the plaintiff, April Curley, proposed a class action lawsuit from the California Civil Rights Department, stating that management gave opportunities only for lower-ranked roles, paid them less, gave them lower performance ratings, and stopped them from opportunities for development
Alondra Nelson, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey, has announced her resignation from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. In an op-ed for Time Magazine, Nelson detailed the hostile environment at the Library of Congress since January 2025, the month President Trump commenced his second term. “We’ve also seen civil servants fired and accused of not making the mark, vendors’s contracts ignored, and grants and fellowships cancelled,” she wrote, detailing rising political interference and a breakdown in the integrity of US knowledge institutions. Normalization
Atlanta-based entrepreneur and activist Kiandria Demone is leading a campaign to prevent a white Minnesota woman from receiving over $750,000 in donations after she was filmed hurling a racial slur at a young Black child. The incident Shiloh Hendrix was caught on camera calling a five-year-old Black boy the n-word while at a playground in Rochester, Minnesota. She later launched a campaign on GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding platform known for hosting fundraisers for Daniel Penny, Luigi Mangione, and Kyle Rittenhouse. She claimed she needed the money for her safety and
