“The date 13 May will be forever etched in my mind,” former Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode wrote in an article for The Guardian this past May. In the piece, Goode called on the city of Philadelphia to formally apologize for the infamous MOVE bombing that took place on May 13, 1985, which targeted the commune owned by members of the militant Black liberation group MOVE. “There can never be an excuse for dropping an explosive from a helicopter on to a house with men, women, and children inside and then letting the fire burn,” he wrote.

The pausing of SNAP benefits amid the government shutdown has low-income families worried about getting food and scrambling for help. Many food pantries now say they are being stretched to the limit, and need help staying stocked. If you'd like to help, several pantries in the Louisville region are asking neighbors for donations, either through drop-offs, drives or via online donation.

If the Black entertainment world is any kind of barometer of the state of Black America, something is amiss. Black athletes today are getting record NBA and NFL contracts. Black musicians like Kendrick Lamar and SZA are raking in millions — in their case, hundreds of millions of dollars — from globe-spanning tours. And after years of being denied film and TV’s top roles and highest honors, Black actors and actresses are now regularly cast in major projects as well as nominated for (and actually winning) major awards. On top of this, many of today’s top influencers are both young and Black, attracting legions of followers and large, coveted corporate sponsorships.