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Author: Mz. Whitsdom

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Free College Apps Start Monday: What Texas Seniors and Parents Need Ready This Weekend

Starting Monday, Oct. 12, every Texas public college waives application fees for a full week. Here's who qualifies, what to…

Black History 365

Lee P. Brown at 89: Houston’s First Black Mayor — and the Cop Who Changed the Department First

From a Wewoka, Oklahoma birth certificate that read "Baby Brown" to Houston's first Black mayor: Lee P. Brown turns 89…

Frank Robinson in a Cleveland Indians uniform in 1975.
Black History 365

Frank Robinson at 52 Years: The First Black Manager in Major League Baseball

Fifty-two years ago today, the Cleveland Indians named Frank Robinson manager — the first Black manager in MLB history. He…

The Prince Hall Masonic Temple on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, home of WERD radio.
Black History 365

WERD at 77: The First Black-Owned Radio Station — and Its Houston Chapter

Seventy-seven years ago today, Jesse B. Blayton Sr. signed WERD on the air in Atlanta — the first Black-owned radio…

Education

HISD Is in Shambles and the Group Chat Has Receipts: Custodians Cut, 10,000 Students Gone, and That Fake Mike Miles Resignation

The CVPE group chat is spilling all the HISD tea: custodians and maintenance staff are getting cut, a fake Mike…

Engraving of Nat Turner conferring with his confederates in the woods before the 1831 rebellion.
Black History 365

Nat Turner at 226: The Preacher Who Read the Sky and Started a Rebellion

Born October 2, 1800, Nat Turner led the deadliest slave rebellion in U.S. history — then Virginia tried to erase…

Thurgood Marshall in judicial robes with his family at the Supreme Court, October 1967.
Black History 365

Thurgood Marshall at 59: The Lawyer Who Carried a Briefcase Into Jim Crow’s Courtroom

Fifty-nine years ago today, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first Black Supreme Court justice. Before that, he won…

Crime & Justice

The Takeoff Murder Trial Starts Next Month: Everything You Need to Know Before November 9

Jury selection begins November 5 and the trial starts November 9, 2026 — nearly four years after Takeoff was killed…

Black-and-white 1919 photograph of U.S. Army soldiers of the 57th Infantry in pup tents during the Elaine race riot in Arkansas.
Black History 365

The Deadliest Race Riot in U.S. History Started Today — And They Never Taught Us About It

One hundred seven years ago today, Black sharecroppers in Elaine, Arkansas, sat in a church and talked about getting paid…

Koko Taylor performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2006, in a sparkling outfit, mid-song.
Black History 365

Koko Taylor at 98: The Queen of Chicago Blues Earned the Crown the Hard Way

Ninety-eight years ago today, sharecropper's daughter Cora Ann Walton was born on a farm near Memphis — the girl who…