Author: Emily Rahhal, DI

President Donald Trump awarded Tiger Woods a Presidential Medal of Freedom on May 6th for his transformation of golf in the face of injury. What We Know… The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor. Woods is the fourth golfer to receive this award, joining Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Charlie Sifford. This award comes just after Woods’s comeback victory at the Masters tournament in April. Trump called Woods a “true legend,” a “great person,” and a “great guy” when awarding him the Medal. The White House has explained that this honor is meant to award individuals…

Four Chicago high-school students posted a video in blackface on Sunday, April 29, and now one parent of a student involved is defending her son. What We Know… Four Homewood-Flossmoor High School students posted a video of them harassing Black employees at a McDonald’s drive-through in blackface. One involved student’s parent claims her son did not know what blackface was when he posted the video, explaining that her son was ignorant, not racist. Students staged a walk-out on Tuesday after the video was posted. Many students at the school, which is majority black, feel the school did not respond appropriately…

Baltimore Circuit and District judges denied Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s request to throw out thousands of marijuana possession charges on Friday, April 26. What We Know… Mosby was denied because she failed to prove the “disparate impact” caused by the possession charges, one of the five requirements to drop such convictions. Mosby wrote in an email to reporters she was disappointed in the courts’ inability to protect citizens who were “harmed by the discriminatory enforcement of marijuana laws in the city.” In January Mosby announced she would no longer try marijuana cases as Baltimore State’s Attorney because marijuana laws…

The city of Los Angeles renamed a four-mile stretch of Rodeo Road “Obama Boulevard,” officially unveiling the street sign at a ceremony on Saturday, May 4. What We Know… The stretch of Rodeo Road that was renamed runs through Rancho Cienega Park, where Obama held his first campaign rally in 2007. City Council President Herb Wesson submitted the motion to rename the street in 2017. In the motion, he explains that Los Angeles voters showed overwhelming support for Obama in 2008, and Obama has ties to the city as he began his education at Occidental College. Obama wrote in a…

Police shot and killed an unarmed, naked 17-year old black high school student in Oklahoma on Monday, April 29. What We Know… The teenager, Isaiah Lewis, was shot after a woman called 911 because Lewis was allegedly “beating up on” his girlfriend. Shortly after there were reports of a naked man running in the street a few blocks away from the first call. Edmund Police found Lewis breaking into a home. Police claim they were forced to shoot because Lewis fought with police. One officer suffered a head injury and both officers involved are now on paid administrative leave. Lewis…

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has been protesting injustice since her first year as a student at Howard University. What We Know… Harris participated, along with 150-200 students, in a sit-in in 1983 following the unfair expulsion of her classmate, Janice McKnight. While Howard University Administrators claimed McKnight’s expulsion was due to falsified information on her application, students believed McKnight’s expulsion was due to a story she had written about discrimination at Howard. The sit-in was successful and resulted in the reinstatement of McKnight. Friend and former classmate of Harris Gwendolyn Whitfield said, “Kamala had a fearlessness that, if it was…

The California Senate approved a bill to outlaw racial discrimination based on hairstyle on Monday, April 22. What We Know… The bill, called the Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, will update the state’s discrimination laws with more expansive language, updating the definition of racial discrimination to “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.” The bill bans schools and workplaces from having dress codes that disallow braits, twist and other natural hairstyles. The bill works to correct Eurocentric professional beauty standards that employers cannot discriminate against Black…

Seattle Seahawks Quarterback Russell Wilson and Grammy Award-winning Ciara Wilson launched their television, film and digital content production company, Why Not You, to tell “inspiring and aspiring narratives and human interest stories.” What we know: The two announced the launch of their company on Monday, April 29. Russell and Ciara made a statement about the launch that they “are excited to come together to collaborate and create stories that we hope will touch people’s lives.” The couple also founded a foundation by the same name, the Why Not You Foundation, which works to motivate and empower youth through scholarships, education…

13-year-old Kashala Francis died Wednesday, April 25 after being brutally beaten by three of her classmates on her way home from school in Houston. What We Know: Francis was walking home from school when she was punched and kicked in the head by three of her 7th-grade classmates on Thursday, April 18. Francis told her mother the attack was unprovoked. Francis came home after the attack with just a bruise on her face but complained of a headache the following Sunday, when she fell unconscious and into a coma. Doctors at the hospital found Francis had a brain tumor and…

Robert F. Smith and Angela Bassett will receive honorary degrees from Morehouse College this May at the school’s 135th commencement ceremony. What We Know: Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, Smith will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Academy Award-nominated actress Angela Bassett will receive an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree. Smith is being recognized for his financial contributions to the school and National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C., and his philanthropic efforts in his work as an African American business leader. Smith will also deliver the keynote commencement address.…