Blackout Friday Brief 11-28-25

When the spotlight fades the truth starts talking

Welcome to all the new folks who found your way here this week. Most BlackOut Friday Briefs hit you with 15–20 undercovered stories at a time, so if you’re opening this and only see four, you’re not being shortchanged and your screen isn’t broken.

Let me be real for a second. This is the first Brief after the longest shutdown in U.S. history and, like a lot of you, I’m tired in that soul way. I spent this week buried in hearings, PDFs, and little local papers trying to decide what actually deserved to sit on your mental plate. The older I get, the more it feels like we’re standing in front of a firehose with a Dixie cup.

So I set a tight frame: only stories that hit between Nov. 24–28, only if they materially affect Black people (or the broader Black diaspora), and only if the big outlets either ignored them, buried them locally, or brushed past them. Instead of padding the list just to hit my usual number of 15–20 items, I’d rather give you four stories I can look you in the eye and vouch for: a book ban that survived its first court test, a federal strategy that quietly erased trans and Black caregivers, a historic Ghana–Barbados bridge across the Atlantic, and a coordinated purge of teachers over Charlie Kirk posts.

If you’ve been here a while, think of this as a surgical edition instead of a buffet; if you’re new, consider it a sampler plate of what this Monday and Friday Brief is trying to do every week: go back into the news pile and pull out the things that should have been on the front page in the first place.

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson

1. Judge Keeps Tennessee School Book Ban in Place – 9:00 AM ET on Nov. 18, 2025, Nashville: U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson denied an injunction to restore over 140 library books in Rutherford County Schools, letting a book purge under Tennessee’s new obscenity law stand pending trial . The district pulled titles including Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Catch-22 from shelves for containing sexual or violent content, acting on a state mandate against “patently offensive” material in schools .

Why It Matters: This first legal challenge to Tennessee’s school book-ban statute faces an uphill battle – the judge argued students aren’t barred from reading the books elsewhere, only at school . With no full trial until next fall, hundreds of acclaimed works remain inaccessible to students, emboldening broader censorship efforts. Visibility: Ignored.

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2. Transgender and Black Caregivers Erased from U.S. Plan – 12:00 PM ET on Nov. 25, 2025, Washington, D.C.: The Trump administration quietly edited a federal caregiving strategy this year to remove “underserved” groups, specifically transgender caregivers and caregivers of color, from its priorities . Officials deleted an equity objective and references to disparities, despite research showing caregivers who are Black, other people of color, or LGBTQ face heavier financial and health burdens . These changes followed a Day 1 executive order defining gender strictly as male or female and directing agencies to strip out transgender-inclusive policies .

Why It Matters: By purging recognition of Black and trans communities from national caregiver programs, the administration is warping policy to ignore those who often bear the greatest caregiving challenges and risking widened gaps in support and outcomes. Visibility:Ignored.

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Quick note: If a piece like this makes your shoulders tighten because you know somebody in your family is that “invisible caregiver,” this is exactly the kind of thing paid support lets me sit with so you don’t have to. Every upgrade buys me a little more time to chase stories like this back to their source instead of skimming the surface.

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3. Ghana-Barbados Flight Reconnects Black Diaspora – 8:00 PM ET on Nov. 23, 2025, Bridgetown: In a milestone for Africa-Caribbean unity, the first-ever direct charter flight between Ghana and Barbados landed with great fanfare, carrying dignitaries including Ghana’s Asantehene (king) and the President of Barbados . The flight kicked off the GUBA Trade & Investment Summit, where African and Caribbean leaders signed a new Ghana–Barbados trade pact and committed to establish regular air routes linking the two regions . Cultural celebrations greeted the plane’s arrival, and a Diaspora Investment Network was launched to fund joint projects, signaling a “new era” of economic and cultural cooperation across the Black diaspora .

Why It Matters: This historic bridging of the Atlantic reverses legacies of disconnection caused by slavery and colonialism and empowers Black communities on two continents to collaborate in commerce, travel, and heritage as equal partners. Visibility: Ignored.

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4. Teachers Purged Over Charlie Kirk Posts – 7:30 AM ET on Nov. 26, 2025: In the months since far-right pundit Charlie Kirk’s assassination, at least dozens of educators nationwide have been fired or suspended for social-media remarks about his death . Some, like an Iowa teacher who posted “1 Nazi down,” were terminated within days; now many are suing, saying their off-duty comments, however harsh, are protected speech . Republican officials openly fueled the crackdown: Texas’s education agency launched investigations into hundreds of such posts, and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance urged, “Call them out, and hell, call their employer,” pressuring schools to oust staff deemed insufficiently reverent . As a result, universities and K-12 districts from Massachusetts to California have caved to political demands. Clemson University even fired three employees after a lawmaker threatened its funding if it didn’t act .

Why It Matters: The campaign to purge teachers for criticizing Kirk has created an ominous precedent where public servants can lose careers over personal political speech. Educators report a chilling effect, fearing that even private opinions expressed online could invite doxxing or dismissal in today’s hyper-partisan climate . Visibility:Downplayed.

Why It Matters to Become a Paying Subscriber

Every time someone upgrades, you’re not tipping a creator’s ego, you’re buying me hours inside this mess so you don’t have to be. These four items alone came out of a pile of hearings, PDFs, and paywalled articles that most people will never have time to dig through after work.

The long-term goal is simple: I want to give this work my first energy, not whatever’s left after rideshare shifts and side gigs. Every paid subscription is a little wedge of time that pushes me closer to making this my actual job, not my insomnia hobby.

If these Briefs help you see the week more clearly, or help you argue back when somebody swears “nobody reported on that,” then this isn’t really about me at all—it’s about you having a place that treats your intelligence and your time like they matter.

If you want more of that in your week, and you’re in a position to do it, become a paying subscriber.

Sources:

1. https://www.chalkbeat.org/tennessee/2025/11/20/library-book-ban-upheld-in-federal-ruling-rutherford-county/

2. https://ilovelibraries.org/article/u-s-book-challenges-update-november-2025-edition/

3. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/book-banning-can-continue-in-tennessee-school-district-for-now

4. https://19thnews.org/2025/11/national-strategy-family-caregivers-trans-people-of-color/

5. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/25/trans-people-and-people-of-color-have-been-quietly-erased-from-national-caregiving-plan/

6. https://www.advocate.com/health/trans-people-national-caregiving-erased

7. https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/historic-ghana-barbados-charter-flight-ignites-a-bold-new-era-of-africa-caribbean-economic-power-and-unity-know-more-about-it/

8. https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/how-a-historic-flight-from-ghana-to-barbados-is-rewiring-a-dollar3-trillion-trade/r6ssnp1

9. https://www.myjoyonline.com/historic-direct-flight-to-connect-ghana-and-barbados-in-nov-through-guba-awards-and-trade-conference-2025/

10. https://tourism.gov.bb/News/Press-Releases/Barbados-To-Host-GUBA-Awards-2025

11. https://www.reuters.com/investigations/charlie-kirk-purge-how-600-americans-were-punished-pro-trump-crackdown-2025-11-19/

12. https://abcnews.go.com/US/educators-fired-after-charlie-kirk-posts-allege-free/story?id=125853309

13. https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-death-social-media-posts-2129536

All times Eastern. Visibility tags (Ignored, Local-only, Downplayed) reflect the degree of national media attention, per NMC guidelines.