Birmingham, Alabama, is on pace to close 2026 with its fewest homicides in roughly 75 years — a turnaround for a majority-Black city that for decades made national headlines for its murder rate.

Birmingham police counted 34 homicides through Oct. 1, down from 61 at the same point in 2025 and 129 at the same point in 2024, Police Chief Michael Pickett said at the department’s third-quarter briefing. The city’s lowest annual total on record is 44, set in 1951. Just two years ago, Birmingham recorded 152 homicides, its deadliest year.

“I did not think that we would have this much of a reduction but of course that’s always the goal,” Pickett said. He put the drop at 74% compared with 2024 and said the department has cleared 91% of this year’s cases.

“Birmingham is on track for our fewest homicides in 75 years,” Mayor Randall Woodfin wrote on Facebook this month, crediting the officers of the Birmingham Police Department, Pickett, and the city’s community violence intervention workers.

The city’s bet runs on two tracks. On the policing side, Pickett has pointed to the department’s crime reduction plan, enforcement targeting illegal firearms, and cooperation with federal agencies. On the community side, Birmingham has put about $5.4 million in American Rescue Plan money into violence intervention programs: a hospital-based partnership with UAB Hospital, the Jefferson County Department of Health, the Offender Alumni Association, and Violence Intervention and Prevention Partners that places specialists at the bedsides of people wounded by gunfire; a street outreach team run with the Urban League of Alabama; a Group Violence Reduction Strategy with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform; and One Hood. With the one-time federal dollars expiring, the city council extended the hospital-linked program through June 2027 with $1.15 million and put $3 million for community violence intervention — a $1.5 million increase — into the city’s fiscal 2027 budget. Whether every program is fully covered once the federal money runs out remains unclear.

The honest caveats: murders are falling across the country, too — crime analyst Jeff Asher projects the lowest U.S. murder rate ever recorded in 2026, after the FBI reported the national homicide rate hit a 75-year low in 2025 — and nobody can prove which piece of Birmingham’s approach drove the drop. One category is moving the wrong way: domestic violence offenses are up 18.3% this year, the chief said. “This is not something the police department can handle alone,” Pickett said of the domestic violence increase.

Two accounting notes readers deserve: the mayor’s latest post says homicides are down 46% from last year, while the police department’s own Oct. 1 numbers work out to about 44% — and a May fact-check by ABC 33/40 found an earlier Woodfin figure slightly overstated. Separately, Bhamwiki counts 38 homicides as of Oct. 1 because it includes police-involved and justified cases; the police count is 34. And the pace math matters: 34 homicides through Oct. 1 projects to roughly 45 for the full year — just above the 1951 record of 44. So “fewest since 1951” is within reach; a new all-time low likely isn’t.

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Drafted by News Observed Editorial AI, human reviewed and published.

Based on reporting by Bakersfield News Observer.

A mobilization is unfolding across tribal nations ahead of the November election. Driven by real data and a rising wave of young organizers, Native American voters are challenging systemic barriers to political power.

For generations, Native Americans have been treated as an invisible constituency in public life. Michael Roberts, president and CEO of the First Nations Development Institute, said that misrepresentations about native voters have clouded media narratives over recent years. Following the 2024 presidential election, relying on flawed national exit poll data, media placed some blame on Native Americans for the political shift.

“So while the media was trying to find a brown boogeyman on why Mr. Trump was in office … we had real data to show just the opposite,” noted Roberts.

A First Nations sample of 500 to 1,000 self-identified native voters revealed that 57 percent voted for Kamala Harris.

Roberts said the data showed attitudes reflective of the general public. Native voters are deeply concerned with inflation, the economy, affordability, and housing access. Yet they are also uniquely driven by tribal sovereignty, native languages, and cultural traditions. These cultural issues often drive them to the polls more than everyday pocketbook concerns.

Politically, Native Americans are not a monolith. With 475 tribes spread across 38 states and territories, traditional party lines are difficult to find. Roberts noted that analysts cannot view native voters through a simple black-and-white, Republican-or-Democrat lens.

Despite their potential to swing critical regions like Michigan and Alaska, native communities are largely ignored by major campaigns. First Nations data indicates that 50 percent or more of native voters have never been contacted by election campaigns. And nonprofit groups representing these communities remain severely underfunded.

Systemic barriers compound the neglect. Melissa Rogers, a professor of politics and policy at Claremont Graduate University, said upwards of 50 percent of native populations live within 20 miles of tribal homelands, debunking the myth of a sharp urban-rural Indian divide. Yet sadly, voting costs and distance barriers remain high on tribal lands.

Many reservations are so rural that residents must travel to distant county seats to collect mail or to register and vote. In Nevada, Duck Valley Reservation residents historically faced a 100-mile one-way drive to the Elko County seat just to cast a ballot or register in person.

Rogers noted that academic research shows tribal voting surges when registration and polling places are established directly on tribal lands.

Alternative options like mail-in voting face severe trust issues due to recent political attacks. Additionally, strict voter identification laws disproportionately disenfranchise native voters who often lack traditional physical addresses or state driver’s licenses.

In North Dakota, where the native vote is vital to a current Senate race, the state abruptly disallowed non-traditional addresses and post office boxes. Rogers warned that restrictive ballot deadlines, such as Arizona’s requirement that ballots arrive by election night, threaten to disenfranchise voters on the Navajo Nation due to slow rural mail delivery.

A historical skepticism remains, tied to past trauma. Rogers said federal government workers knocking on doors historically meant taking children, land, and resources from native households. The distrust extends to the census, which has long undercounted reservation populations.

A new crisis unfolds as federal proposals threaten to eliminate the American Indian and Alaska Native racial designations from official counts. Policy and funding decisions rely on these figures. Rogers warned that excluding native counts would devastate federal tribes.
In response, Native Organizers Alliance Executive Director Judith LeBlanc, a citizen of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma, said a national survey of 16,000 native people showed a fierce commitment to cultural continuity and essential human services.

When Congress pushed to try to make Big Cyprus into a wilderness area, which would have destroyed 11 traditional villages, burial grounds and medicine collection areas, her organization stood up for the rights of natives.

They also stood up for the rights of nature, and with the help of environmental groups, were able to document and mitigate the damage done by Alligator Alcatraz.

The organization’s surveys are fueling a new urgency among young voters. In Maine, Sage Phillips, co-coordinator of the Wabanaki Policy Youth Initiative, is leading youth to register voters, educate elders, and lobby the state house.

Wabanaki youth are pressuring candidates in gubernatorial, congressional, and local races to amend the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act, which currently blocks local tribes from accessing beneficial federal laws.

Activists say the movement is about fulfilling an ancestral responsibility to protect sovereignty, lands, and future generations. But, the final hurdle rests on the integrity of the polling places themselves.

Over the last decade, targeted attacks on the voting system have made access significantly harder, Rogers said.

For information regarding local polling place availability, hours of operation, and rules ensuring a secure voting environment, citizens should check with official county election authorities and state election boards.

Ensuring that future elections remain open, equitable, and free of intimidation is critical for all citizens—especially American Indian voters.

The post Ancestral Responsibility: Young Native Voters Fight Political Invisibility appeared first on North Dallas Gazette.

Based on reporting by North Dallas Gazette.

Median wealth among Black households fell 25% between 2022 and 2025, widening the racial wealth gap even as White, Hispanic, and Asian households saw their median net worth increase, according to a new analysis of Federal Reserve data.

Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) director of race and economic justice, Algernon Austin, shared in an analysis published Tuesday (October 13) that median wealth among Black households fell from $49,100 in 2022 to $36,800 in 2025, a 25% decline.

In comparison, median wealth reached $332,100 for White households, $79,600 for Hispanic households, and $677,600 for Asian households in 2025, according to CEPR.

While Black households lost wealth, these groups saw their median wealth increase between 2022 and 2025. In 2025, Black households’ median wealth was $179,100 below the national median, up from a $162,000 gap in 2022.

Austin’s analysis suggests declining home, vehicle, and retirement account values contributed to the drop. The share of Black households with nonfinancial assets also declined from 81% to 78.4%.

The findings come as broader household wealth gains slowed and financial strain increased.Reuters reported earlier this month that the Federal Reserve’s latest Survey of Consumer Finances found the share of families spending at least 40% of their income on debt payments rose from 6.5% in 2022 to 8.6% in 2025.

The latest findings add to longstanding concerns about the racial wealth gap. A 2017 report by Prosperity Now and the Institute for Policy Studies projected that median Black household wealth could reach zero by 2053 if existing trends continued, raising questions about the long-term financial security of Black families.

That figure was a projection based on trends at the time, not a confirmed outcome.

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Based on reporting by Michigan Chronicle.

WASHINGTON (HUNS) — “The future belongs to creators who are bold,” Everette Taylor, CEO of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, told students at Howard University during a recent visit.

As Taylor discussed his journey, he tested the boldness of students by inviting them to share their ideas during an impromptu pitch session at the Cathy Hughes School of Communications’ new speaker series in the Browsing Room of Founders Library. The inaugural speaker then shocked one group of students by pledging to invest in their thesis film, paying forward the opportunities that have lifted him as he struggled to pursue his dreams.

Taylor grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, where he frequently encountered gang violence and drug dealing amid periods of homelessness.

Not feeling as if he conformed to conventional ideas of success, he eventually found inspiration in Jay-Z who balanced being an artist and an entrepreneur. Similarly, Taylor carved his own route, launching and growing various businesses.

He gained enough recognition to land on the 2018 Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in marketing and advertising. In 2022, Forbes also named him as one of the top 50 most entrepreneurial CMOs when he was chief marketing officer of Artsy, an online art gallery and marketplace. That same year he took over Kickstarter, and the company reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 50% in the first quarter of 2026.

Taylor encouraged the audience through his story, but he also gave practical advice to help students who share his zeal to create and grow their business.

He explained that his mentor, Artsy CEO Mike Steib, helped him make the transition from being a CMO to becoming CEO at Kickstarter.

“These opportunities I don’t take for granted,” Taylor said, adding that Steib was “the first leader I had to take me under his wing.”

When he began his position at Kickstarter, Taylor said, “I had zero imposter syndrome, because I felt like I was ready for it, and it was because this person invested in me over the past few years.”

“A lot of my journey was me just hustling and being bold enough to ask for what I want, but I also need people to give me an opportunity.”

This idea of giving people opportunity impacts his business philosophy, as Taylor estimates that the number of African American employees grew exponentially since he’s been in leadership.

“Kickstarter was I think less than 2% Black, and at our peak I had gotten it to 20-something percent Black,” Taylor said.

Even then, Taylor also saw a need for representing other perspectives. “We still serve people globally, so we need people from different countries and cultures,” he said. “If you’re building a global company, it’s important to build a diverse base of people.”

With the success Taylor had after becoming CEO of Kickstarter, he also found a need to prioritize his health.

“This is the first year that I’ve started the year with zero business goals,” he said. “For the first time, my goals have been centered around my health.”

He cites the illness of a friend who appeared to be healthy. Seeing his friend, who is also a successful entrepreneur, endure illness pushed him to prioritize his health.

“Business, I can do that in my sleep, but for me right now I’m so much more focused on setting goals for myself, and I know that’s going to impact the work that I do by feeling healthier and being a better version of myself.”

Samantha Housen, a sophomore public relations major and interior design minor from Harlem, attended the event to gain knowledge to grow her non-profit and for-profit businesses.

“I’m here because I want to explore more of the details of entrepreneurship from an actual professional,” Housen said, and to “see how his mindset could help me in my entrepreneurship.”

“My biggest takeaway is that I’m bold, and it’s OK to be bold,” she said. “I very much have the authority to do whatever I seek to do.”

Kimberly Moffitt, Ph.D., dean of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications and host of the event, said she was excited about the speaker series.

“It’s because of students,” Moffitt said. “They felt like they weren’t hearing enough from people who are already post-graduation and successful. They wanted to hear those voices. So, this is an opportunity for me to bring folks to campus so they could reach out, talk and interact with folks that they aspire to be like or will be inspired by.”

Moffitt was excited for students to see someone who looked like them and carried themselves authentically in a position of high acclaim.

“He is showing you a different path, and letting you know that it’s OK to be who you are and show up in that space and not have to apologize,” Moffitt said of Taylor.

Moffitt also wants to encourage students to make the most of the speaker series. She gives details on upcoming speakers and the importance of hearing these people tell their stories.

“Those of you who want to be in TV and film, those jobs are different now,” she said. “You have to hustle in a different way.”

“I need our students to think about entrepreneurship in all that they do,” Moffitt added. “I want students to leave with that so that they have it in their back pocket should they need to draw on it.”

After the event. Taylor explained why boldness is essential to his success at Kickstarter.

“It’s for the grind and the ambition — not settling for status quo and mediocrity, and really going for it,” he said. “I always want to impact more lives, and that always leads to more results.”

Solomon Goins is a reporter for HUNewsService.com.

Based on reporting by Howard University News Service.

By Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey, Senior Pastor, Bethany Baptist Church, Brooklyn, New York

For generations, the Black church has stood strong in our communities through every historical change this country has experienced. During the civil rights movement and in recent times, faith leaders have helped uplift Black sanctuaries to register voters, keep food pantries open for people in need, and sit with families in hospital rooms in their most desperate moments. When our people faced new trials, they could always look to our faith leaders and the church to lean in to help us be included in these transformative changes.

Artificial intelligence is the latest revolutionary change to impact our society, and much like other transformations before us, underserved communities often get left behind.

I was recently featured in a report entitled “Faith, Community & AI” and it found that people send ChatGPT more than 70 million messages a week about religion. Nearly 22 million involve studying sacred texts, and 16 million ask about religious practices and holy days. Our members make up part of those numbers. They bring questions of faith to these tools every day.

Pastors have noticed, and according to a September 2025 Lifeway Research survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors, 42 percent said they use or experiment with AI in ministry. I count myself among them.

I write my sermons by hand, through prayer and study. When I finish a draft, I ask ChatGPT this question: “Where might this sermon become unclear or difficult to follow for someone early in their walk of faith?” It shows me gaps in my preparation, like where I incorrectly assumed everyone would know the context of who the Pharisees were. Then, change comes from my own pen, not the robot. The tool helps me reach the person in the back pew while the message still comes from me.

If I could have my wish, our whole community would take a similar posture. We must use these tools, understand them, and most importantly be present to help shape them if we want to be included in the coming change.

I implore my fellow faith leaders to use these tools. Start now and use them with wisdom. We count on each and every one of you to make sure our communities help write the next chapter of this story. This rapid change is not as unfamiliar as it may sound. My first understanding of AI came from using a calculator for the first time in grade school. We did not call it AI, but it was a tool that helped me work through mathematical equations hours more efficiently.

It starts with training; there is no involvement without understanding. Free AI trainings have begun in our churches and community centers across the nation. Every faith leader should sign up and, when possible, encourage members of your congregations to join you. By learning how to use AI, we can better understand what it can do, make up our own minds about its impact, and have a say in how it shapes our communities.”

Next, we must be at the tables where the builders of these tools make decisions. Presence is the first step toward understanding, and that gap is only bridged through a coordinated effort. How can any tool serve a community well if that community is not part of the conversation? Our traditions, needs, and concerns must be accounted for, and Black faith leaders are already making that happen. OpenAI’s recent Faith report states plainly that AI should never become an arbiter of religious truth. I fully intend to hold the company to its word, and the most effective way I can do that is from inside.

I will close with this––we must diligently protect what only the church can give. A believer in Seoul, Korea quoted in the report warned, “if you pour every struggle into a private chat, your pastor and your friends may never learn you need help.” A chatbot will not sit with a grieving family or pray with you at two in the morning. As we adopt this technology, it is up to us to ensure it keeps people connected to each other and to their church.

Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey is senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York.

Thank you, St. Louis! ❤️

To everyone who came out and celebrated with The St. Louis American at the 39th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala at St. Louis Union Station, thank you for making the night unforgettable.

We celebrated excellence, education, community and the people helping shape the future of St. Louis. Your support continues a legacy that has honored educators and students for nearly four decades.

We appreciate every honoree, sponsor, supporter and guest who helped make Salute 39 special.

#Salute39 #STLAmerican #StLouis #ExcellenceInEducation #BlackExcellence