Black Monday Briefing

Every Monday morning, I bring you the stories they didn’t bother to cover—because they weren’t about them.

This briefing is landing a little later than it should.

I had to take a moment to write through the weight of Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s passing.

For many of us who came of age in the ’80s, Theo wasn’t just a character….he was a mirror. A gentle reminder that we could be seen, soft, and loved.

You can read that reflection here: Goodnight, Theo. The America That Loved You Is Gone.

Now, back to the work.

This is the Black Monday Briefing:

A weekly ritual of clarity, context, and receipts for Black folks who know that being informed is part of the survival strategy.

You won’t find all these stories on CNN or The New York Times homepage.

Not because they were hidden….

But because they were ignored.

Ignored because they happened in zip codes most editors never drive through.

Ignored because they involve HBCUs, not Ivy Leagues.

Ignored because they center Black grief, Black resistance, Black genius

and that doesn’t fit the national narrative unless someone’s dancing, dying, or delivering redemption.

This briefing is where we break that silence.

Every Monday, I’ll give you 15–20 overlooked stories from across the country (and sometimes the diaspora).

Political sabotage. Economic shifts. HBCU wins. Local attacks on public education.

If it affects us, it belongs here.

It’s a record.

Because if we don’t document our own reality, we get erased inside someone else’s fiction.

So welcome to your new Monday ritual, ladies and gents.

Print it. Forward it. Argue about it in the group chat.

And when somebody says, “How come I didn’t hear about that?”

tell them:

“You weren’t supposed to. That’s why we read Xplisset.”

Baltimore Confronts Past Police Wrongs to Rebuild Trust (July 19, 2025):

A West Baltimore exhibit brought together residents, city leaders and activists to acknowledge decades of broken trust between police and Black communities

. The gathering culminated in a panel demanding urgent reforms, accountability, and shared power as key steps to heal community-police relations

Lawmakers Target Uterine Fibroids Crisis in Black Women (July 19, 2025):

Members of Congress introduced the Uterine Fibroid Intervention and Gynecological Health Treatment (U-FIGHT) Act to boost research, early detection, and care for uterine fibroids

– a condition affecting ~80% of Black women by age 50

Advocates (including Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and actress Lupita Nyong’o) argue that investing in fibroid awareness and treatment is long overdue to ensure Black women “no longer suffer in silence”

Morgan State’s Economic Impact Hits $1.5 Billion in Maryland (July 19, 2025):

A new economic study found that Morgan State University, a Baltimore HBCU, generates $1.5 billion in annual economic activity for Maryland

The report credits Morgan State’s growth with creating 8,200 jobs statewide and contributing $71 million in state tax revenue, underscoring the often-underappreciated economic power of HBCUs

Federal ‘Beautiful Bill’ Halves Consumer Protection Funding (July 19, 2025):

President Trump’s sweeping budget measure, ironically dubbed the “One Big

Beautiful Bill

Act,” was signed July 4 and quietly slashes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s budget by nearly 50%.

Consumer advocates warn that “slashing vital programs that protect civil rights, consumer protections, health care, and education” will leave vulnerable communities – including Black consumers – exposed, as the bill also imposes stricter limits on student loans (capping Parent PLUS loans at

$20K/year

for undergrads) and threatens college affordability for working-class families.

Senator Demands Action on Staggering Black Women’s Pay Gap (July 17, 2025):

U.S. Sen.Lisa Blunt Rochester introduced a Senate resolution to markBlack Women’s Equal Pay Day, spotlighting that Black women earn only

66 cents

for every dollar paid to White men

. Citing systemic racism and sexism, the resolution pushes for intersectional policy solutions to address the persistent wage gap that leaves Black women disproportionately underpaid and economically vulnerable.

USDA Axes ‘Socially Disadvantaged’ Aid, Hurting Black Farmers (July 19, 2025):

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture announced it will eliminate race and gender criteria

in its programs, ending the “socially disadvantaged” designation that helped Black farmers access land and credit

. This Trump-administration move to go “race-neutral” – part of a broader rollback of federal diversity initiatives – drew condemnation from lawmakers who say it

“strips the tools that help level the playing field”

for farmers of color and ignores the USDA’s history of discrimination.

DOJ Seeks One-Day Sentence in Breonna Taylor Raid Case (July 17, 2025):

In a surprise request, Trump’s Justice Department recommended an effective one-day, time-served sentencefor ex-Officer

Brett Hankison

, who was convicted of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights during the 2020 deadly raid. The unusually lenient request – filed by new DOJ Civil Rights chief

Harmeet Dhillon

– argued Hankison didn’t fire the fatal shots, but the move has outraged activists as a betrayal of accountability in a case that galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement.

Baltimore Overdose Outbreak Spurs Rapid Community Response (July 18, 2025):

A mass overdose of 27 people in West Baltimore’s Penn-North neighborhood prompted an urgent grassroots and citywide mobilization. First responders and community volunteers deployed

Naloxone

to save lives, while officials, including State Sen. Antonio Hayes, called for longer-term investment in addiction services to address the systemic neglect underlying the area’s drug crisis.

Baltimore Firefighters Sound Alarm on EMS Cutbacks (July 18, 2025):

City firefighters are speaking out against Baltimore’s decision to downgrade four paramedic units from Advanced Life Support to basic ambulances. Union leaders warn the move will overburden already stretched EMT crews anddelay critical carein emergencies. They argue the cost-cutting measure leaves predominantly Black neighborhoods

– which rely heavily on city EMS –

at greater risk due to slower advanced medical response

Judge Blocks Medical Debt Reform, Black Patients Hit Hard (July 18, 2025):

A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas struck down a new CFPB rule

that would have stopped medical debt from wrecking Americans’ credit scores. The rule aimed to recognize that medical debt (often from billing errors or emergencies) is a poor indicator of creditworthiness. Its loss is a

“harsh blow”

to struggling families– especially Black Americans,

13% of whom carry medical debt (vs. 8% of whites) and who now remain more vulnerable to credit score damage from illness-related bills

Court Reinstates TPS for Haitians in U.S. Through 2026 (July 21, 2025):

In a major win for immigrant communities, a federal court restored Temporary Protected Status (TPS)for over

500,000 Haitian nationals

in the U.S., extending protections to Feb. 3, 2026

. The ruling halted the Trump administration’s attempt to end TPS for Haiti this year, with Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick applauding the

“hard-fought legal victory”

that allows Haitian families (many in Florida and major cities) to continue living and working legally amid Haiti’s ongoing crises

Trayon White Retakes D.C. Council Seat in Ward 8 Upset (July 16, 2025):

Trayon White defied the odds to reclaim his Ward 8 seat on the D.C. Council in a special election. Despite limited funding and federal scrutiny, White’s grassroots support in the majority-Black ward carried him to a narrow victory. His closest rival, Sheila Bunn, conceded and joined calls for unity as Ward 8’s leaders pivot to tackle urgent issues like public safety, mental health, and economic inequity in one of D.C.’s most underserved communities.

Missing Baltimore Woman Found, Highlights ‘Black & Missing’ Crisis (July 16, 2025):

Alayia Berry , a 21-year-old Baltimore woman, was found safe at a hospital five days after vanishing under mysterious circumstances. Her family’s frantic search – which garnered little mainstream media attention – underscores the broader national crisis of missing Black women’s cases being underreported. Advocates point out that Black people are disproportionately represented among the missing, yet often receive less media coverage and law enforcement urgency , a disparity Berry’s case brought to light.

Queens Parking Dispute Assault Fuels Calls to ‘Protect Black Women’ (July 15, 2025):

A 21-year-old Black college student, Jada McPherson, was beaten by a mother-daughter duo in Queens, NYC, after a heated incident over a parking spot spiraled into a racist attack

. Video of the assault – in which the attackers hurled slurs like “monkey” and “slave” – sparked outrage and a community rally in McPherson’s support

. While the assailants have been charged (and later apologized), the case has reignited local conversations about Black women’s safety and the need to

“protect Black women”

from hate-fueled violence.

Youth Mentoring Tour to HBCUs Inspires Baltimore Teens (July 15, 2025):

A Baltimore mentorship group,

Mentoring Male Teens in the Hood

, took dozens of Black teens on an educational tour of

D.C.-area HBCUs, museums, and historic sites

. The field trip exposed young men from underserved neighborhoods to college campuses (like Howard University) and Black cultural landmarks, aiming to broaden their horizons and encourage them to pursue higher education. Organizers report the experience energized the students and reinforced the message that college – and success – is attainable for them.

WNBA All-Stars Protest, Demand Fair Pay at Showcase Game (July 20, 2025):

At the WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, players united in a bold labor protest – warming up in shirts reading

“Pay Us What You Owe Us”

to call out stalled contract talks.

With the league’s mostly Black athletes seeking a greater share of league revenues, fans in the arena joined in chanting

“Pay them!”

in solidarity.

The demonstration comes after players opted out of the current CBA over low salaries and are even weighing a possible walkout if no fair deal is reached, underscoring ongoing gender and racial equity issues in professional sports.

Chicago ‘Downtown Day’ Unites Black & Brown Youth After Curfew Fight (July 20, 2025):

Hundreds of teens from Chicago’s South and West Sides flooded the Loop for the 3rd annual

“Downtown Day,”

enjoying museums and parks often unfamiliar to them. The event – organized by My Block, My Hood, My City – took on added significance this year, coming just days after a controversial “snap curfew” proposal targeting youth downtown was vetoed. Organizers aimed to dispel negative stereotypes, proudly showing that

“Black and Brown kids can be Downtown, too”

and highlighting how positive experiences and access, not curfews, best address concerns about teen gatherings.

If this made you sit up straighter, send it to somebody who’s still sleep.

They’re not gonna hear this on CNN or catch it in their feed.

We’ve got to be each other’s algorithm now.

👊🏾 Forward it. Repost it. Screenshot it. Just don’t keep it to yourself.

#BlackMondayBriefing | #Xplisse

Sources

Rebuilding trust in Baltimore starts with owning past wrongs

U‑FIGHT Act introduced

Morgan State $1.5 B impact

CFPB budget halved in “Beautiful Bill”

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day resolution

USDA scraps ‘socially disadvantaged’ aid

DOJ seeks 1‑day sentence in Breonna Taylor case

Penn‑North mass overdose

Baltimore medic‑unit downgrade

Judge nixes medical‑debt credit rule

Trayon White regains Ward 8 seat

Alayia Berry located safe

Queens racist parking assault

Baltimore teens’ HBCU tour

WNBA All‑Stars pay‑equity protest

Chicago ‘Downtown Day’ youth event

Haiti TPS restored