1 hour ago ‘A paradigm change’: black hole spotted that may have been created moments after big bang

Sighting by James Webb space telescope of black hole with sparse halo of material could upend theories of the universeAn ancient and “nearly naked” black hole that astronomers believe may have been created in the first fraction of a second after the big bang has been spotted by the James Webb space telescope.If confirmed as a so-called primordial black hole, a theoretical class of object predicted to exist by Stephen Hawking but never before seen, the discovery would upend prevailing theories of the universe. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Black spaces of the Great Depression: scenes of African American life in the 1930s – in pictures

Depictions of rural life in the south during the Great Depression have been predominantly focused on whiteness, a fuller picture rarely seen. In a new exhibition, the private homes and public gathering spaces of Black southerners are seen in a range of photos that provide a corrective. Images from photographers including Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Marion Post Wolcott and Walker Evans, are part of a project commissioned in 1935 but until now, only a narrow selection have been available. Crafting Sanctuaries: Black Spaces of the Great Depression South is on display at the Museum of Art + Light in Manhattan, Kansas Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Katrina: Come Hell and High Water review – Spike Lee gets straight to the defiant, joyous soul of New Orleans

The finale of the Oscar-winning director’s three-part documentary about the biggest tragedy in 21st-century Black American history is a must-watch. It’s a stirring look at the city’s refusal to lie downIt’s hard to quantify the significance of Hurricane Katrina: the combination of a historic natural disaster and cold systemic indifference towards its impoverished African American victims makes it perhaps the most significant event in 21st-century Black American history. It’s no surprise, then, that more than one major documentary series has been made to mark 20 years since wind, water and a whole lot of racism devastated New Orleans, or that leading cinematic auteurs of two consecutive generations, Spike Lee and Ryan Coogler, have each executive-produced their own.But watching Katrina: Come Hell and High Water, you do wish Lee and Coogler had got on the phone to check they weren’t doubling up too much. The new three-parter – the Lee one that arrives on Netflix to coincide with the w...

Politics

8 d. ago Trump threatens to cut off Key bridge repair money after Maryland governor tells him to keep National Guard out of Baltimore

Trump escalates attacks on nation’s only Black governor as African-American leaders continue to be his favorite targets

Politics

8 d. ago Black influencer says she’s behind Trump’s claim that ‘beautiful African

‘They are wearing red hats, just like this one. But they are wearing red hats. African American ladies, beautiful ladies are saying, Please, President Trump, come to Chicago, please,’ he claimed Friday in the Oval Office.

Politics

9 d. ago ‘Everyone is coming into fire’: students return to US campuses bruised and changed by Trump’s assault

The effects of a rightwing campaign to remake American higher education are fueling fear and anxiety, but advocates say they have plans to fight backStudents and faculty heading back to US colleges and universities from summer break are returning to bruised institutions reeling from the Trump administration’s unprecedented campaign to bend higher education to its ideological will, and are bracing for more uncertainty ahead.At the University of Utah, the Black student union has lost its funding and campus space – one of many student groups to face the brunt of Donald Trump’s anti-diversity measures. Indiana’s public universities have cut or merged more than 400 degree programs, about one-fifth of their academic offerings, while scores of other universities have made similar cuts as their budgets are on the line. At Harvard and Columbia, certain forms of criticism of Israel will now be punishable as antisemitism. And across the country, schools will see their international student pop...

Events

1 week ago Trump’s attacks on the ‘Blacksonian’ have a history in a century

The United Daughters of the Confederacy set out to make slavery respectable again by promoting ‘the lost cause’It should surprise no one that former cast members from reality shows that ran for more than 15 seasons are running out of new material. Days ago, Donald Trump, former star of NBC’s The Apprentice and current US president, posted a lengthy Truth Social rant in which he (again) threatened the country’s leading cultural institutions to adhere to his political ideology. The target was one he has had in his crosshairs before – the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) – which Trump called “OUT OF CONTROL” in his post. “Everything discussed [in NMAAHC exhibits] is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was,” Trump unloaded. “WOKE IS BROKE,” he continued through his customary use of all caps and misplaced capitalization of common nouns. “We have the HOTTEST Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our M...

Politics

1 week ago Trump adviser leading Smithsonian review says DC museums place ‘overemphasis on slavery’

White House gripes against Smithsonian come despite president’s past praise of museums like National Museum of African American History and Culture

Politics

1 week ago Trump administration to expand review of Smithsonian museums to ‘get Woke out’

Exclusive: White House flagged institutions including those for Latino, African and Asian art for review, document showsAmid the Donald Trump administration’s heavy-handed review of Smithsonian museums, the Guardian has seen a document compiled by the White House that argues the widely visited cultural institutions have overly negative portrayals of US history, from a Benjamin Franklin exhibit that links his scientific achievements to his ownership of enslaved people and a film about George Floyd’s murder that it says mischaracterizes the police.The document, based on public submissions shared with the administration, shows that seven museums have so far been flagged for review: the National Museum of American History, National Museum of the American Latino, National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of African Art, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Museum of Asian Art. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Black Cowboy joy is spread by 'Boots on the Ground' viral line dance

The “Boots on the Ground” line dance has quickly become an anticipated moment at African American gatherings, like family reunions, weddings, graduations, parties and cookouts

Politics

2 w. ago Black mayors of cities Trump decries as 'lawless' tout significant declines in violent crimes

Members of the African American Mayors Association started noticing last year declines in violent crime in their cities

Politics

2 w. ago As civil rights books are pulled from school shelves, one Alabama town is refusing to forget its story

The Scottsboro Boys Museum tells the story of nine African American men who were falsely accused of the rape of two white women in 1931

Culture

3 w. ago Astronomers may have found the most massive black hole in universe

Gargantuan object is around 36 million times more massive than our sun

Politics

3 w. ago What could go wrong? Scientists want to launch an interstellar mission to a BLACK HOLE

Scientists want to launch an interstellar mission into the heart of a distant black hole, but it could take up to 100 years.

Events