Black History
60 Years Ago: Students Launched Sit-In Movement
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Violent episodes were the exceptions and not the rule of the massively spreading Sit-in Movement. In nearly all sit-in cities, black protesters made immeasurable efforts to avoid violence at all cost since the movement and training centered on non-violent demonstrations in confronting inequality.
Dr. Kelton Edmonds is a Professor of History at California University of Pennsylvania. His primary research is on Black Student Activism in the United States. He is a native of Portsmouth, VA and graduated from I.C. Norcom High school in 1993.
By Dr. Kelton Edmonds, Special to The New Journal and Guide
February 1, 2020 marks the 60th anniversary of the launch of the historic Sit-in Movement, when four African-American freshmen from North Carolina A&T State College (now University) in Greensboro, NC sparked the non-violent and student-led wave of protests that ultimately resulted in the desegregation of F.W. Woolworth and other racially discriminatory stores.
The brave freshmen from NCA&T, who would later be adorned with the iconic label of the “Greensboro Four”, consisted of David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan). On February 1, 1960, the Greensboro Four bought items at Woolworth’s, then sat at the ‘whites-only’ lunch counter and refused to leave until they were served. Although waitresses refused to serve them, in accordance with the store’s racist policies, the four would continue their protest and in the following days and weeks would be joined by more students from NCA&T, the nearby all-women’s HBCU Bennett College and students from other nearby colleges and high schools.
In a 2003 interview, Khazan (formerly Blair, Jr.) reflected on the daily threats of violence and verbal assaults from white antagonists, as one caller reached him on the dorm hall phone and bellowed, “…executioners are going to kill you niggers if you come back down here tomorrow, you and your crazy friends.”
Students from Norfolk’s Booker T. Washington High School stage set in at Granby Street’s Woolworth’s lunch counter. Photo: New Journal and Guide Archives
White student allies who protested alongside black students were not immune from death threats either, as Khazan recalled a white student protester explaining that their college president was threatened by an anonymous caller saying, “…if those nigger loving bitches come downtown again and sit with those niggers, we going to kill them and burn your school down.”
The Greensboro students persisted nevertheless, and soon, the protests that flooded the lunch counters of the segregated store would spread to other cities throughout the South beginning in North Carolina cities such as Elizabeth City, Charlotte and Winston-Salem, in addition to cities in Virginia.
In Virginia
Virginia played a primary role in the Sit-in Movement, as Hampton, Virginia became the first community outside of North Carolina to experience sit-ins on February 10th.
Initially, three students from Hampton Institute sat-in at the downtown Woolworth’s lunch counter in Hampton and were refused service. As a testament to the veracity of the movement, within two weeks, over 600 students in Hampton were sitting-in.
On February 12th, sit-in protests spread to Norfolk, as 38 black protesters staged a sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counters on Granby and Freemason streets.
Similar demonstrations were held in Portsmouth, in the mid-city shopping center at lunch counters in Rose’s Department store on February 12th and at Bradshaw-Diehl department store later that week.
Led by students from I.C. Norcom High school, the Portsmouth sit-ins would be one of the few cities that experienced violence, albeit initiated by white anti-protesters armed with chains, hammers, and pipes and resulting in retaliation from the black students after being attacked.
Violent episodes were the exceptions and not the rule of the massively spreading Sit-in Movement. In nearly all sit-in cities, black protesters made immeasurable efforts to avoid violence at all cost since the movement and training centered on non-violent demonstrations in confronting inequality.
Edward Rodman, high school activist in Portsmouth, admitted they were initially unorganized and untrained in passive resistance, which played a role in their reactions to the violent anti-protesters. The Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) connected with the Portsmouth student protesters and over the next few days conducted intense and successful non-violent workshops with the young people. Soon after, the Portsmouth students reignited their movement without incidents of retaliation toward violent antagonists.
North of Hampton Roads, Richmond, Virginia experienced sit-ins as well as Baltimore, MD, and dozens of other cities by the end of February. By mid-April, sit-in protests reached all southern states involving thousands of black student activists and sympathizers.
The coordinated demonstrations of thousands of black student protesters and sympathizers put insurmountable pressure on Woolworth’s, as it became nearly impossible for regular customers to purchase items, eat at the lunch counters and even enter the store in many instances.
On May 25th, the sit-in movement received a major victory as lunch counters at Woolworth’s in Winston Salem, NC desegregated. Soon after, Woolworth’s in Nashville, TN and San Antonio, TX also integrated. Finally, on July 25, ground zero, Woolworth’s in Greensboro integrated its lunch counter. With the possibility of facing bankruptcy, F.W. Woolworth totally acquiesced and desegregated all of its lunch counters throughout the nation by the end of the summer of 1960.
The Legacies And Larger Significance Of The 1960 Sit-in Movement, Sparked In Greensboro
Similar to the successful 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, the students’ triumphant coordinated protests in 1960 further demonstrated how mass economic boycotts could lead to desegregationist social victories, particularly when targeting businesses that relied heavily on black patronage. The Greensboro Four only set out to challenge and change the discriminatory practices of the local Woolworth’s, yet their movement expanded exponentially to ultimately bring about the desegregation of all Woolworth’s lunch counters in the country.
Unidentified sit-in demonstration. Photo: New Journal and Guide Archives
The students of the Civil Rights era suddenly possessed a new weapon, the mass sit-in, which would continue to be used in Greensboro and around the country in various forms. The sit-ins combined with the freedom rides led to black students establishing their unique value and niche to the larger Civil Rights Movement. Black students understood their unique, collective power and desired to harness their efforts under a national apparatus. Consequently, another major legacy of the student movement that emerged in Greensboro was it also directly led to the birth of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in April of 1960 in nearby Raleigh, NC on the campus of Shaw University.
SNCC would soon emerge as one of the most formidable organizations of the decade, elevating students to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement.
After marveling at the magnitude and effectiveness of the student protesters during the sit-ins, major Civil Rights organizations such as the NAACP, SCLC and CORE pressured the students to collapse their meteoric movement into the youth wing of one of their institutions under their supervision.
The students however, decided to remain autonomous and formulate their own student-led organization, while still adhering to non-violent principles. The students’ decision to remain student-led received noteworthy support from several key adult Civil Rights leaders in Greensboro in addition to Ella Baker from SCLC.
SNCC would prove to be an indispensible organization that not only championed directly confronting Jim Crow racism on numerous levels through organized protests and massive voter registration drives, but SNCC also further popularized the concept of participatory democracy and was the first major Civil Rights organization to evolve toward seriously embracing principles of black power ideology under Stokely Carmichael’s (Kwame Ture) leadership in 1966.
Another legacy of the 1960 sit-in movement was that it offered the inspiration and blueprint for the second and more colossal wave of mass student protest in Greensboro in 1963. The 1963 student demonstrations in Greensboro would be even more locally successful than their predecessor as they desegregated all remaining businesses in downtown Greensboro and the student leader of the second wave of sit-ins, Jesse Jackson, would parlay his leadership in the student protests onto the national Civil Rights stage throughout the 20th century. Similar to Greensboro, other cities throughout the South would experience a second and even third wave of similar protests to successfully desegregate other remaining businesses throughout the decade.
Ultimately, all mass student protests of the 1960s and thereafter owe their viability to the student-led Greensboro protests of 1960, including student black power activists and anti-war activists of the late 60s and 70s. Although its origins predate 1960, even one of the largest and most noteworthy national student organizations, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), owe its resurgence and major elements of its effectiveness to the spark ignited by the Greensboro Four on February 1, 1960.
Even recent episodes of student activism exhibited in the Ferguson, Missouri protests of 2014-15, as well as the student protests led by black students at the University of Missouri in 2015, which ultimately led to the resignation of the chancellor, have attributes that correlate to the 1960 student movement. The student movement of 1960, ignited by the Greensboro Four, provided a blueprint for future students to build upon, perfect, and utilize in a variety of ways for a plethora of circumstances.
Most importantly, what happened in 1960 showed young people the power they possessed to address their grievances and ultimately bring about change on both local and national levels if they organized themselves and remained committed.
Unique Weapons for Non-violent Students
In addition to the typical traits that come along with youthfulness such as idealism and impatience, student success during the 1960 sit-ins and thereafter was directly affixed to two distinct assets possessed by students juxtaposed to their older adult activist counterparts. The first asset is condense demographics, as student-body populations were primarily located on campuses and/or nearby the colleges.
The fact that hundreds to thousands of students in a college town lived within a square mile of each other led to the expeditious mobilization of large numbers of people and efficient dissemination of information and strategy.
Although black churches proved to be invaluable throughout the Black Freedom Struggle from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement, there was still no equivalent amongst the older black generation to the college campus’ effectiveness as both a meeting place and as a domicile for housing and dispersing the shock troops of the movement.
The second major asset specific to students would be the relation between arrest and reprisal. At some of their demonstrations prior to 1960, older black activists strategically triggered their arrests for charges such as trespassing or loitering as a way to dramatize unjust treatment via media coverage and to pressure white officials to change discriminatory laws.
Once mobilized per the sit-ins however, student activists were able to invite and withstand incarceration for far longer periods of time and in extremely larger numbers. Students vastly elevated this critical strategy of the overall movement. During 1960 and beyond, the enormous numbers unleashed by black student activists put unyielding pressure on local law enforcement, political officials and jail facilities. In many cities like Greensboro, there were not enough jail cells for all of the students arrested, particularly since the students refused bail and chose to remain incarcerated.
This action severely drained local municipalities of money and resources, forcing local governmental, business and law officials to dramatically adjust policies and sometimes change discriminatory laws. Student activists were able to perfect this strategy because they could endure prolonged imprisonment without fear of major job or housing reprisal.
Comparably, many older activists, whose families depended on their incomes, could not sacrifice prolonged periods of incarceration, as it would threaten their livelihood. Furthermore, angry employers or landlords, who disapproved of their protest activities, could threaten to fire them or abruptly remove them from property they were renting.
Students were not confronted with the same ramifications of these economic, employment and housing reprisals, as the majority of them lived on campuses and perhaps had part-time, albeit replaceable, minimum wage jobs, often with no dependents.
Drawing the contrast between student activists versus the older activists is not synonymous with drawing divisions, as the older activists understood the assets that students solely possessed to further the movement along. In fact, many of the older activists encouraged the younger activists and actively supported them in numerous ways.
For example, when Bennett College students, who were the heroines on the 1963 Greensboro protests, were arrested and refused bail during the 1963 sit-ins in Greensboro, their professors came to the jail facilities and gave them their classroom and homework assignments every week. This scenario personifies the symbiotic relationship between both generations in the fight against racism, as the professors showed their appreciation for the young people’s unique and valiant position for the benefit of the entire race and future generations, yet not removing the students from their responsibilities and academic requirements.
Altogether, students endured countless hardships that included incarceration, verbal assaults and physical violence. Sometimes, attacks from white antagonists were compounded by disproportionate responses from law enforcement, as Portsmouth activist, Edward Rodman explained, “…the fire department, all of the police force and police dogs were mobilized. The police turned the dogs loose on the Negroes-but not all the whites.”
Students also understood that they could pay the ultimate price for protesting against the status quo of racial inequality, as numerous activists were murdered throughout the Civil Rights era. Nevertheless, over 50,000 black students and sympathizers participated in the sit-ins of 1960. As historian Clayborne Carson highlighted, “Nonviolent tactics, particularly when accompanied by rationale based on Christian principles, offered black students…a sense of moral superiority, an emotional release through militancy, and a possibility of achieving desegregation.”
A movement within a movement was born on February 1, 1960 and that movement evolved into its own distinct force by the middle of the decade. Soon after the sit-ins began, students realized their collective prowess, as student activism consistently helped define the decade of the 60s in forcing monumental political, legal and social changes throughout the nation.
Finally, the black student activists of the 1960 sit-ins did three important things, albeit unintentional: they helped lay the foundation for all collective student activism in the 60s and beyond, they played a legendary role in the larger African-American Freedom Movement that began as early as Africans’ arrival to colonial America, and they cemented a valuable place in one of America’s most significant traditions, the protest tradition, which has continuously defined and propelled our country since its inception.
Our society, and all post-1960 social movements, have undeniably benefited from the audacity of those four brave freshmen and their actions on February 1, 1960.
Dr. Kelton Edmonds is a Professor of History at California University of Pennsylvania. His primary research is on Black Student Activism in the United States. He is a native of Portsmouth, VA and graduated from I.C. Norcom High school in 1993. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Secondary Education-History from North Carolina A&T State University. He earned his Ph.D. in 20th Century US History from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Black History
Federal Agents Search Ilhan Omar’s Home Just 22 Days Before Election
WASHINGTON INFORMER — Federal agents searched the D.C.-area home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Monday, 22 days before Election Day. This extraordinary step involved executing a criminal search warrant against a sitting member of Congress.
Federal agents searched the D.C.-area home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Monday, taking the extraordinary step of executing a criminal search warrant against a sitting member of Congress just 22 days before Election Day, as the Trump administration investigates allegations involving her family’s immigration records.
The search immediately drew accusations of political intimidation from Omar’s supporters, who pointed to President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the Minnesota congresswoman and questioned the timing of an investigation targeting one of his most outspoken critics.
“Representative Omar is a dedicated public servant and a true ally for working families, and Donald Trump has done nothing but use racist tropes and stereotypes to attack her,” said Joel Payne, MoveOn’s chief communications officer. “Now, he’s abusing his power to physically intimidate and harass her.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman acknowledged that Homeland Security Investigations agents, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, searched a District residence as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
The spokeswoman declined to provide additional information or publicly identify the person under investigation.
According to published reports, the warrant identified possible violations involving false statements, immigration document fraud and conspiracy. Federal investigators have also examined questions concerning Omar’s finances, campaign funds and interactions with foreign citizens.
No criminal charges against the congresswoman were identified, but Monday’s search occurred less than four weeks before voters decided whether to return Omar to Congress.
The investigation follows months of public accusations from senior Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, who previously claimed that Omar committed immigration fraud.
In an interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Vance asserted, without publicly presenting evidence, that the administration believed Omar had broken immigration laws. He also said he and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller had discussed how to pursue the allegations.
“What are the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud?” Vance asked during the interview. “How do you go after her? How do you investigate her?”
Omar has repeatedly rejected the accusations, including claims that she married her brother to facilitate immigration fraud. Her office dismissed Vance’s allegations in March as fabricated and defamatory.
Questions about the investigation intensified in August when Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to release records sought under the Freedom of Information Act concerning allegations surrounding Omar’s 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
The agency cited an exemption allowing law enforcement authorities to withhold records when disclosure could interfere with enforcement proceedings. The refusal did not establish that Omar committed fraud or, at the time, confirmed that she was personally under investigation.
Omar, who came to the United States as a refugee from Somalia, was elected to Congress in 2018 and became one of the first two Muslim women to serve in the House. She represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis, and has frequently challenged Trump over immigration enforcement, civil rights, and his administration’s treatment of immigrant communities.
Her confrontations with the administration have made her a recurring target of the president’s political attacks. The criminal investigation also follows a frightening incident earlier this year in which Omar was physically attacked during a public appearance.
On Jan. 27, a man attacked Omar during a town hall meeting at the National Urban League’s Twin Cities headquarters in Minneapolis. The incident prompted condemnation from the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and its Black Women’s Roundtable, which demanded accountability and warned against political violence.
“We are shocked and extremely disturbed by the attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar yesterday while she attempted to address the critical issues and chaos swirling around in Minneapolis,” Melanie L. Campbell, president and CEO of the coalition and national convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable, said in a Jan. 28 statement.
Campbell praised Omar for continuing to speak out despite threats against her.
“We believe that NO public official should be threatened or physically attacked, especially when they are serving in the best interests of their constituents,” Campbell said. “Political violence and intimidation have no place in our democracy.”
MoveOn, the progressive advocacy organization, accused Trump of using federal law enforcement to intimidate a political opponent and urged voters to respond at the ballot box.
“On Nov. 3rd, we get our chance to fight back and hold him and his corrupt administration accountable,” Payne said.
Based on reporting by Washington Informer.
Black History
‘We Are Ready’: NAACP Launches Voter Protection Hub Ahead of Midterms
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — The NAACP is launching a voter protection hub to protect voting rights ahead of the midterm elections. Voters can report intimidation and suppression via phone and online, with NAACP attorneys and legal volunteers investigating complaints and seeking emergency court intervention.
The NAACP is launching a voter protection hub ahead of the 2026 midterm elections as voting rights groups prepare for potential challenges at the polls.
Voters will be able to report allegations of intimidation and suppression by phone and through online submissions, while NAACP attorneys and legal volunteers investigate complaints and seek emergency court intervention when necessary.
According to The Washington Post, the hub is scheduled to launch October 24.
“We are ready,” NAACP General Counsel Kristen Clarke told The Washington Post. “We have an army of legal volunteers across the country and are prepared to activate and seek emergency relief on Election Day where necessary.”
The effort comes as organizations are also working to increase Black voter participation ahead of the midterms. BIN reported in September that the Congressional Black Caucus Institute launched its “SO VOTE” campaign, which plans to spend at least $4.5 million registering and mobilizing Black voters, young voters and rural voters.
The Associated Press reported that the campaign is targeting Georgia and Mississippi statewide, along with 16 congressional districts.
The NAACP is particularly focused on voter intimidation, changes to election rules and the impact of redistricting on Black voting power.
The organization filed a lawsuit against Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on Friday (October 2), seeking records about the department’s plans to deploy election monitors at polling places during the midterm elections.
“To be clear, there is no federal statute that gives the U.S. Department of Justice the right to send their so-called ‘election monitors’ to polling sites across the country,” Clarke said in a statement.
The NAACP’s voter protection hub will give voters a centralized way to report problems and connect with the organization’s legal team during the election.
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Based on reporting by Atlanta Daily World.
Black History
Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church Celebrates 100 Years of Spiritual, Mind, Body, and Soul Ministries
LOUISIANA WEEKLY — Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church, located at 3317 Toledano Street in uptown New Orleans, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a Centennial Weekend on October 17-18.
The legacy of the African-American church in the United States is that of a refuge, a caring and welcoming institution, a port in the storm, that has fed African Americans spiritually, economically, mentally and physically, and has nurtured the souls of people of African ancestry throughout their existence in America.
Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church has carried on that legacy for the past 100 years. Established in 1926, Pleasant Zion MBC, located at 3317 Toledano Street, is a cornerstone of faith in uptown New Orleans and a beacon of hope for the Hoffman Triangle/Central City neighborhood.
Pleasant Zion MBC continues its mission of faith, education and empowerment for future generations. The church celebrates its 100th anniversary with a forward-looking Centennial Weekend, October 17-18.
Throughout its long history, Pleasant Zion has served its community by providing religious training and cultural, educational and recreational activities for children and adults. For decades, PZMBC has worked with neighborhood leadership to address issues such as neighborhood blight, housing and safety concerns.
Many have sought Pastor Kenneth E. Thompson’s confidential, wise counsel and comfort.
Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church’s Centennial Celebration focuses on youth. “Our Centennial is not just about looking back – it’s about investing in our youth and building the future of our community,” Pastor Thompson affirms.
For decades, PZMBC has worked with neighborhood leadership to address issues such as neighborhood blight, housing, and safety concerns, Pastor Thompson adds.
During the summer, PZMBC sponsored summer enrichment camps for children with a range of activities, including culinary arts, STEM, music and field trips to museums and Black historic sites such as Armstrong Park.
The church has provided free food baskets, placed homeless women in hotel rooms, and provided financial assistance to people at risk of eviction or homelessness.
“Throughout its long history, Pleasant Zion has served the needs of its community by providing religious training, cultural, educational and recreational activities for both children and adults.
This upcoming Centennial Celebration honors a century of spiritual leadership while investing in the next generation, uplifting youth voices, education and sacred music.
Special guests at the celebration include the famous Zion Harmonizers. The world-renowned gospel group celebrated 87 years in gospel music with a special anniversary performance in March 2026 at St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Sanctuary.
The program also features acclaimed Bishop Tyrone Jefferson, Voices of SUNO and the NORD Choir.
This article originally published in the October 12, 2026 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
Based on reporting by Louisiana Weekly.
Black History
Cash for Moms: As Medicaid Cuts Loom, Cities Test a New Approach to Black Maternal Health
LOUISIANA WEEKLY — WORD IN BLACK — A maternal health crisis continues to disproportionately impact the Black community, with Black mothers experiencing significantly higher mortality rates during childbirth and their infants facing increased risks of prematurity and death. Data indicates Black moms die at three times the rate of white moms, and Black infants are about twice as likely to die as white infants in some states.
By now, there’s little question that a maternal health crisis is rocking the Black community. The data tells the story: Black moms are dying during childbirth at three times the rate of white moms, a disproportionately high percentage of Black children are born prematurely, and Black infants are about twice as likely to die as white infants in states like Louisiana.
But new data from a handful of pilot projects also suggests a potential solution that could significantly improve outcomes for Black mothers and their babies: cash payments, no strings attached.
Studies show the unrestricted money led to fewer preterm births, higher newborn birth weights, and fewer critical-care infant hospitalizations. It also reduced stress among new moms who would otherwise struggle to attend prenatal check-ups, pay for food and formula, or keep a roof over their heads.
“This makes so much sense to me,” says Tamara Mason, an official with the nonprofit March of Dimes who worked on an Atlanta project distributing money to low-income pregnant women. “Why isn’t everyone doing this?”
Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, is among several sponsors of legislation that would provide direct financial aid to new mothers, similar to the expanded child tax credit in 2021. The credit sent monthly payments of up to $300 per child straight to most families’ bank accounts; experts credit it with lifting millions of children out of poverty.
When it expired, child poverty rose again.
“I believe that we need to, for moms, flood resources to them through things like the child tax credit,” Booker said during an August press briefing on the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. “We were able to cut child poverty virtually in half for our communities, and that actually does affect child outcomes.”
Those positive outcomes in part spurred the March of Dimes to launch trial programs providing universal basic income, or UBI, to pregnant women and new moms in two cities: Atlanta, which Bloomberg ranked as the most economically unequal large city in the country, and New Orleans, which March of Dimes gave an F grade.
No strings attached
In Atlanta, the Guaranteed Basic Income Program gave each participant $1,000 a month during pregnancy and her baby’s first year. Women most likely to live in poverty in that city are Black women of reproductive age; 25 pregnant women in two of the area’s highest-need ZIP codes received the cash.
March of Dimes ran the pilot through an Atlanta collective-impact partnership known as the collaborative. It is modeled on San Francisco’s Abundant Birth Project and, organizers say, rooted in an idea the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. championed decades ago.
Funders Skeptical at First – Then All In
Mason said she spent months pitching foundations on the idea, which some considered outside her organization’s lane.
“I was honestly surprised that a couple of foundations,” Mason says. “Funders were like, ‘Why is March of Dimes in this space? You all are the birth defects people. You’re the preterm birth people.’”
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta signed on as the primary funder. The Liz Blake Giving Fund and the Jesse Parker Williams Foundation funded data gathering and evaluation Emory University conducted.
The nonprofit Center for Black Women’s Wellness handled recruitment, and more than 110 women applied for the 25 spots, Mason said. Applicants had to live in one of the two ZIP codes, earn no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and be 12 to 28 weeks pregnant.
Cash, Diapers and a Network
Stipends were paid through a prepaid card, letting evaluators track spending without restricting it. Helping Mamas, a nonprofit focused on diaper insecurity, supplied 300 diapers and eight packs of wipes a month, plus a car seat and other essentials. The Georgia Black Doula Network encouraged, but didn’t require, participants to hire doulas.
Early results from Emory’s evaluation, as described by Mason, show a 20 percent decrease in financial stress and a 66 percent decrease in hopelessness, a figure she called striking. Prenatal outcomes trended better than average.
Mason was careful not to oversell what $1,000 a month can fix. Several participants lost housing; one or two dealt with domestic violence.
Even though GBI reduced financial stress, “it still is one piece of the puzzle,” Mason said.
New Orleans: Overcoming Crisis
March of Dimes runs a similar program in New Orleans, GBI Rx, offering pregnant patients in their first or second trimester $12,000, as a lump sum or $1,000 a month. Two partner medical clinics enroll patients for healthcare, and the payment card blocks cash withdrawals and spending on liquor and gambling.
In Louisiana, “we have a maternal and infant health crisis – specifically, a Black maternal and infant health crisis,” said Robin Gruenfeld, director of collective impact for March of Dimes in New Orleans. ”And it’s been that way for a long time.”
Black infants there died at about twice the rate of white infants from 2021 to 2023. Gruenfeld said Orleans Parish has the state’s lowest prenatal care utilization rate.
Gruenfeld said the program’s city seed money, federal pandemic relief funds, and foundation funding were “zeroed out” without notice. Most funds were later restored at a lower level, forcing organizers to scale down to 94 participants instead of the 100 planned. They also enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Recipients spent lump sums on housing, cars and insurance. But spending priorities for the participants changed when the federal government stopped paying out SNAP food benefits during last fall’s federal shutdown.
“During that time, more than a quarter of the funds that we gave folks was going to groceries,” Gruenfeld said.
Several New Orleans city government officials are now weighing a program modeled on Michigan’s Rx Kids, which a study credits with nearly halving neonatal deaths in Flint, one of the poorest cities in the state.
“We are seeing policies pushed by the political will of predominantly Black women come into effect, and then also the backlash,” says Danielle Atkinson of Mothering Justice Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy organization. “In Michigan, we have Rx Kids, which is extremely popular [and] the data on the impact is undeniable.”
But recent changes are endangering the success of such programs, particularly amid President Donald Trump’s hostility towards programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.
“We’re getting this pushback around identifying race and parental status as systemic areas of oppression,” Atkinson says. It remains to be seen, she says, “whether or not we are going to be able to prevail with the political power and the popular will of these issues, or the rhetoric and the history of racism in our country.”
Washington Looks Elsewhere
That includes the Republican-controlled Congress, which has shown little appetite for cash aid tied to pregnancy.
The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, which Booker reintroduced along with Democratic Reps. Lauren Underwood of Illinois and Alma Adams of North Carolina, bundles 14 bills on housing, nutrition, WIC and the perinatal workforce, but not direct cash.
Still, signs suggest the issue – providing cash aid to low-income mothers and their babies – may stay on the front burner as the midterm elections approach in November.
This month, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, both Democrats, hosted a Black maternal health roundtable in Detroit. Danielle Atkinson of Mothering Justice took part.
“Black mamas deserve access to quality healthcare that sees us, listens to us, and understands us at every step of the way,” Atkinson said afterward. “The responsibilities we carry do not end at pregnancy, nor do they disappear when we give birth and want to spend time with our newborn. They stay with us throughout all that we experience.”
Based on reporting by Louisiana Weekly.
Black History
Jamika Phillips: Software Engineer Turned Manicurist Entrepreneur
HOUSTON DEFENDER — Jamika Phillips transformed a two-decade-old dream into Shades The Nail Bar, a Sienna-area salon she opened in January 2022. Phillips, who spent over 20 years in software engineering and global process management, envisioned a nail salon that fosters community, quality care, and client education, aspiring to be the “Cheers” of nail salons.
For Jamika Phillips, getting your nails done should feel like more than another appointment squeezed onto an already crowded calendar.
She wanted a place where the person doing your nails knows your name, remembers what you drink, what colors you like, and maybe even what was happening in your life the last time you sat in their chair.
“I kind of wanted to be the ‘Cheers’ of nail salons,” Phillips said. “I wanted clients to be able to have a community where they could come and know their nail techs, know that they were getting quality care with their nails, and know that we would give them education.”
That vision became Shades The Nail Bar, the Sienna-area salon Phillips opened in January 2022 after leaving a career that had nothing to do with the beauty industry.
A dream decades in the making
Phillips spent more than 20 years in corporate America, working in software engineering and global process management. Her background is in computer science, but the idea of owning a nail salon wouldn’t go away.
“I have notes back from probably 2000 where I would think about the names of the salons that I wanted,” Phillips said. “I still have these pages, and I look back at them and thank God for them every day.”
While still working full time, Phillips enrolled in manicurist school, working her corporate job during the day and attending classes at night and on Saturdays until she earned her license.
“I would work from 9 to 5. I would go to school from 5 to 9 Monday through Friday, on Saturdays from like 8 to 2,” she recalled.
“There were a lot of people that said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’…’ `There’s a lot of competition’… ‘Typically, not a lot of Black people own nail salons.’ I refused to let that stop me.”
Jamika Phillips
After moving to Houston with her husband, Phillips prepared to open a salon in the city. She had signed a letter of intent and was about a week away from signing a lease when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“I thank God I did not sign the lease,” Phillips said.
The setback redirected her closer to home. While driving through Sienna, where her family lives, Phillips spotted an available space, pulled over, and called the number. The space was available. Shades The Nail Bar was on its way.
Creating a different kind of nail salon
Phillips knew she was entering a crowded industry, but she also saw an opportunity as a Black woman entering a business where few salon owners looked like her.
“There were a lot of people that said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’” she said. “There’s a lot of competition. There are nail salons every two miles from each other. Typically, not a lot of Black people own nail salons.”
Instead of discouraging her, Phillips said the skepticism became “ammunition” to keep going.
“Black women spend tons of money in the nail care industry,” Phillips said. “So it was something that I said, we got to do this.”
Even the name Shades was intentional.
“I wanted shades to represent not just the nail polish colors, but I wanted it to represent different shades of nail technicians as well as clientele,” she said.
Today, her staff includes Black, Hispanic, and Asian nail technicians, reflecting the diverse community the business serves.
The salon is also acrylic-free, offering alternatives including builder gel, polygel, and Gel-X. Phillips researches products and often tries them herself before introducing them to clients.
“I’m always looking at new ways to make Shades different.”
Those differences extend beyond nail services. Shades offers complimentary beverages, cleans clients’ rings during appointments, and emphasizes sanitation and nail health.
@shadesthenailbar 50 looks GOOD on you, Lolita! 🥂✨💅🏾 We had the pleasure of being part of Lolita’s 50th birthday celebration, and hearing her share her experience at Shades made it even sweeter. ❤️ There’s something special about celebrating a milestone with a little self-care, beautiful nails, and GOOD energy. Thank you, Lolita, for choosing Shades to be part of such a special birthday. Here’s to 50 and FABULOUS! 🎂✨ Celebrating something special? Come celebrate with us. Book now at ShadesTheNailBar.com 📍 9101 Sienna Crossing Dr., Suite 160 Missouri City, TX 77459 #ShadesTheNailBar#50thBirthday#BirthdayNails#MissouriCityNails#SiennaTX#HoustonNails#BirthdayCelebration♬ original sound – Shades The Nail Bar
But Phillips said its biggest distinction is the relationships.
“We’ve seen them have babies. We’ve seen them lose their babies. We’ve seen them lose their parents. We’ve seen marriages, divorces,” Phillips said. “I mean, we are there for them.”
Staff members send cards and cookies during important moments and often know a regular client’s preferred drink before the client asks.
“We really do try to build and bond a relationship with our clientele so that they know that, hey, we are here for them,” Phillips said.
Shades also supports local schools, churches, and Fort Bend-area charitable efforts.
Corporate lessons meet entrepreneurship
Phillips may have traded software engineering for nail polish, but she didn’t leave her corporate experience behind. She said the leadership, teamwork, and organizational skills she developed during more than two decades in corporate America became the foundation for running Shades.
“I can’t say that I was an entrepreneur by trade,” she said. “A lot of those things — the leadership, the teamwork, the organizational skills — all those things were built over my corporate career.”
Entrepreneurship brought its own lessons, from finding vendors who understood her vision to keeping detailed financial records, building the right team, and maintaining strong customer service.
Phillips credits her husband and children with supporting her through missed family dinners and soccer games. She also credits mentor LeeVera Smith, a business adviser with the Small Business Development Center, with helping her develop the business plan that became Shades’ foundation.
“Jamika is one of those people who wants to learn everything to bring her customers the best experience,” Smith said. “I’m supposed to be her mentor, but I learn so much from her.”
Phillips’ girlfriends also pitched in, proofreading her website, organizing supplies, offering feedback, and talking her through the inevitable difficult days.
Because Phillips knows better than most that dreams don’t always arrive on schedule. Sometimes they sit quietly in notebooks for 20 years before you finally decide it’s time to bet on yourself.
Based on reporting by Houston Defender.
Art
Inside 820 S. Michigan: New Book Captures the Lost World of Ebony and Jet
CHICAGO DEFENDER — A new photography book offers a rare look inside the former Johnson Publishing Company headquarters at 820 S. Michigan Ave., the longtime home of Ebony and Jet magazines. Titled 820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon, the book features photographs by Barbara Karant documenting the building’s interiors.
A new photography book is giving readers a rare look inside one of the most important buildings in Black media history.
820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon, published Tuesday by MW Editions, features photographs by Chicago photographer Barbara Karant documenting the former Johnson Publishing Company headquarters at 820 S. Michigan Ave., the longtime home of Ebony and Jet magazines. Pasted markdown
The 240-page book preserves the building’s striking interiors, many of which no longer exist in their original form, while also examining the larger cultural legacy of Johnson Publishing Company and its influence on Black media, design, photography and American culture.
Designed by architect John W. Moutoussamy and completed in 1972, the building was the first, and remains the only, high-rise in downtown Chicago designed by an African American architect. Built for publisher John H. Johnson, the headquarters became a physical expression of the ambition and influence of one of the nation’s most important Black-owned media companies.
While the building’s exterior reflected Moutoussamy’s restrained modernist style, the inside told a very different story.
Designers Arthur Elrod and William Raiser filled the headquarters with bold colors, geometric patterns, mirrored surfaces, rich textures and dramatic materials across 11 floors. The result was a workplace that looked unlike the traditional corporate offices of its era. Pasted markdown
Karant began photographing the building after Johnson Publishing sold the property in 2010 and relocated in 2012. Between 2013 and 2015, and again in 2018, she documented the largely vacant interiors after employees and much of the furniture had been removed.
What remained were the colors, patterns and architectural details that had helped define the company’s visual identity.
Her photographs capture spaces ranging from the cafeteria’s orange, purple and gold designs to Eunice Johnson’s cream-and-honey office, mirrored dressing rooms and the executive floor’s expansive views of Lake Michigan and Grant Park. Pasted markdown
Among the building’s most memorable spaces was the famed Ebony Test Kitchen.
Known for its vivid colors, psychedelic patterns and distinctive cabinetry, the kitchen became a visual reflection of Ebony magazine’s influence on food, lifestyle and Black culture. Karant photographed the kitchen as part of the larger architectural story of the headquarters. Pasted markdown
“The building was almost like a portrait of Johnson Publishing Company itself,” Karant said. “Even after the people and furnishings were gone, the colors, patterns, textures and spaces still conveyed the creativity, confidence and extraordinary cultural presence of the company.”
The photographs have taken on even greater significance because much of what Karant documented has since disappeared.
Following the building’s conversion, substantial portions of the original interiors were removed. The Ebony Test Kitchen was dismantled and preserved separately, making Karant’s images one of the most extensive visual records of how the headquarters looked during Johnson Publishing Company’s decades on Michigan Avenue. Pasted markdown
The book also includes photographs of sculptor Richard Hunt’s Expansive Construction, a work commissioned for the building’s lobby, as well as images of the company’s in-house photography studio and archival views of the original interiors.
But 820 Ebony/Jet goes beyond architecture.
The book includes a foreword by photography historian Deborah Willis, six scholarly essays and personal reflections from former Johnson Publishing Company employees. Together, the contributions explore the company’s role in Black visual representation, media, photography, art and design, while offering firsthand accounts of what it was like to work inside the building. Pasted markdown
For generations, Ebony and Jet helped shape how Black America saw itself and how the country saw Black America.
The magazines documented everything from politics and the civil rights movement to fashion, entertainment, family life and culture. Johnson Publishing Company also became an influential force in photography, beauty, design and popular culture.
That legacy extended well beyond the pages of its magazines.
The new book examines Johnson Publishing Company’s continuing influence on artists including Theaster Gates, Hank Willis Thomas, Kwame Brathwaite, Lorna Simpson, Martine Syms and David Hartt. Pasted markdown
For Chicago, the book serves as both an architectural record and a cultural archive. It preserves a place where Black entrepreneurship, media, art and design converged at a scale rarely seen before or since.
820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon is available now from MW Editions. The hardcover volume includes 150 photographs and is priced at $65. Pasted markdown
Karant is also scheduled to present the book during Modernism Week at the Palm Springs Art Museum on Feb. 15, 2027, where she will discuss the connection between the Johnson Publishing Company headquarters and the design legacy of Arthur Elrod and William Raiser.
The post Inside 820 S. Michigan: New Book Captures the Lost World of Ebony and Jet appeared first on Chicago Defender.
Based on reporting by Chicago Defender.
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