Several federal and state agencies are investigating how racist mass texts were sent to Black people across the country in the wake of the presidential election this week.

The City of Detroit is calling out to artists to make a new statue for Joe Louis, and there’s a perfect spot for it.

Christ Church is so symbolic to the birth of America that it's called the Nation's Church.

The two historic churches are less than a mile apart in Philadelphia.

Vice President Kamala Harris is courting Black voters without making her identity as a woman of color a central part of her pitch.

The inflation-adjusted median income of U.S. households rebounded last year to roughly its 2019 level, overcoming the biggest price spike in four decades to restore most Americans’ purchasing power.

The income gap between white and Black young adults was narrower for millennials than it was for Generation X.

As he prepares to accept the Republican nomination for the third time, Donald Trump has promised to expand his coalition — and, in particular, to win over more of the nonwhite voters who largely rejected him during the 2020 election.

Donald Trump lambasted the guilty verdict of his hush money trial this week from the same Manhattan courthouse that was the site of one of the most notorious examples of injustice in recent New York history that he had a part in.

Nearly half of Americans over 65 will pay for some version of long-term health care, the landscape of which is quickly transitioning away from nursing homes and toward community living situations.

The death of Senior Airman Roger Fortson in Florida this month reignited a complicated debate about race, gun laws and self-defense – namely, who is typically afforded deference when it comes to using guns in self-defense and who is not.

President Joe Biden has virtually addressed the Rev. Al Sharpton’s racial justice conference, telling a sympathetic crowd “we’ve kept our promises” as he ramps up efforts to energize Black voters who will be vital to his reelection bid this fall.

President Joe Biden is expected to give a live virtual keynote address to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s racial justice conference in New York.

Black Americans have endured considerable injustices and barriers to prosperity and equality throughout U.S. history.

A K-9 police dog's attack on a Black motorist in Ohio is resurrecting questions about race relations and law enforcement tactics.

Leonard Cure was trying to make up for lost time in the three years since his release from prison after Florida officials concluded he had been wrongfully convicted of armed robbery.

It's a troubling trend, and a researcher here in Michigan is leading the push to find out why it's occurring as cases of Alzheimer's Disease are skyrocketing among Black Americans.

President Joe Biden is calling for action to end the type of “hate-fueled violence” that authorities say motivated a white man to fatally shoot three Black people at a Florida store over the weekend.

Sixty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. issued his resounding call for racial harmony that set off decades of push and pull toward progress.

President Joe Biden vowed Friday to push ahead with a new plan providing student loan relief for millions of borrowers while blaming Republican “hypocrisy” for triggering the day’s Supreme Court decision that wiped out his original effort.

A new philanthropic funding initiative announced Friday will support campaigns for reparations for Black Americans.

Black voters in South Carolina rescued Joe Biden’s bid for the presidency during the 2020 Democratic primary, and he rewarded them by moving the state to the head of the party’s nominating calendars in 2024.

Ask them about the impact the news media has on democracy, and Americans are likelier to say it's doing more harm than good.

Amid bans on teaching controversial topics related to race, Black families have embraced schools that affirm their African American heritage.

The leader of California’s reparations task force said it won't take a stance on how much the state should compensate individual Black residents.

The American job market has once again confounded expectations.

Historically Black colleges and universities play an outsize role in producing teachers of color in the U.S., where only 7% of teachers are Black, compared with 15% of students.

Japanese American activists in their 70s and 80s are fighting for Black reparations as more U.S. cities take up atonement for slavery and discrimination.

The release of footage showing Memphis, Tennessee, police officers violently beating Tyre Nichols has renewed calls for Congress to pass police reform legislation.

When Abdul-Kaba Abdullah decided to sell his home two years ago, he listed the neatly-kept four-bedroom house at $175,000 based on pre-sale evaluations.

While most Americans say having a good standard of living is important, more than half believe it’s unlikely younger people today will have a better life than their parents, according to a new poll.

The nation’s job market last month delivered just what the Federal Reserve and nervous investors hoped for: A Goldilocks-style hiring report.

Wednesday marked the second anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked a global protest movement and calls for a racial reckoning to address structural racism that has created long-standing inequities impacting generations of Black Americans.

The shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, is the latest example of something that's been part of U.S. history since the beginning: targeted racial violence.

Black and Hispanic Americans remain far more cautious in their approach to the COVID-19 pandemic than white Americans.

A new report by Pew Research Center says a majority of Black Americans believe being Black is central to how they think about themselves and shape their identities, even as many have diverse experiences and come from various backgrounds.

Planning is underway to raise money for the people of Ukraine and to draw attention to shared experiences between Black Americans and Jewish Americans.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's speech at the White House went to the heart of both the triumphs and struggles of Black Americans in her lifetime.

The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the coronavirus pandemic.

Solid hiring, strong wage gains and sharp price increases are drawing more Americans into the workforce.

As the nation’s historically Black colleges remain on edge after receiving dozens of bomb threats in recent weeks, federal law enforcement officials said they have identified six people who they believe are responsible.

Few Americans believe there has been significant progress over the last 50 years in achieving equal treatment for Black people in dealings with police and the criminal justice system.

In this segment of our History 4 All special, we’re taking a look back at “The Scene”: A TV show that showcased Detroit’s spirit and culture in the 1970s.

In this segment of our History 4 All special, we’re talking about the Jim Dandy Ski Club, the nation’s first-ever Black ski club.

In this segment of our History 4 All special, we’re sitting down with brothers and teammates Gemel and Givani Smith, who have made history together in the NHL as Detroit Red Wings.

In this segment of our History 4 All special, we’re visiting Idlewild on Michigan’s west side: A former summer vacation hotspot for Black Americans before the Civil Rights Movement.

In this segment of our History 4 All special, we’re discussing the modern day effort to restrict voting rights following the 2020 presidential election.

In this segment of our History 4 All special, we’re learning about the Green Book and how it was used as a guide by Black people traveling in the U.S. before the Civil Rights Movement.

In this segment of our History 4 All special, Local 4′s Kimberly Gill and Devin Scillian visit with Daniel Baxter, founder of the Dr. Ossian Sweet Foundation, at the Ossian H. Sweet House in Detroit to learn more about the history of the famed Black physician.

The voyage toward equality for all people is far from complete, but Team USA's roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics is a lot more representative of the people that call this nation home.

Attorneys for a Black delivery driver are calling for a federal hate crimes investigation into the attempted shooting of the driver in Mississippi.

ABC’s decision to suspend Whoopi Goldberg from “The View” for two weeks for her remarks about the Holocaust has opened the network up to criticism that its response derailed a teachable moment for the nation.

While the world’s attention is about to focus on the Winter Olympics when they start next week, one woman who competes in a Summer Olympics sport is rightfully basking in history.

President Joe Biden came to office seeing two sicknesses in his country.

On The Podium podcast from NBC Sports, Andre Horton and Brian Rice discussed their personal experiences as Black athletes in winter sports and the push for more diversity at ski resorts,

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Pulitzer Prize-winning Black journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said she is clear-eyed about her mission to force a reckoning around the nation’s self-image.

In honor of Veterans Day, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black veterans who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war.

The Democrats’ social spending and climate change bill would put the United States back on a path to reducing its persistent pool of uninsured people.

Some experts believe the 2020 count could be the worst undercount in nearly 70 years.

The U.S. is gearing up in case of a bad flu season on top of the continuing COVID-19 crisis.

As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks approaches, Americans increasingly balk at intrusive government surveillance in the name of national security - and only about a third believe that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were worth fighting.

One of Mexico's few Black politicians has died after contracting COVID-19 in April.

When a person takes on the role of a police officer, they swear to protect and serve their community with respect and integrity. But what happens when they don’t?

A group of 11 U.S. mayors has pledged to pay reparations for slavery to a small group of Black residents in their cities.

The U.S. government scientist who helped design one of the first COVID-19 vaccines and then tackled skepticism of the shots in communities of color is getting a new research home.

Black cemeteries are scattered throughout the United States, telling the story of the country's deep past of cemetery segregation.

As part of an effort led by U.S. Representative Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14), Mass Vaccination Week (May 1-8) will include several walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinics in the Metro Detroit area.

Many Americans reacted with jubilation but also with deep awareness of the progress left to be made after a jury convicted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the killing of George Floyd.

Videos of a Black and Latino Army lieutenant who was pepper-sprayed and handcuffed during a traffic stop in rural Virginia have been viewed millions of times.

While most Americans have weathered the pandemic financially, about 38 million say they are worse off now than before the outbreak began in the U.S. Overall, 55% of Americans say their financial circumstances are about the same now as a year ago, and 30% say their finances have improved.

A recent photo posted online of the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest evangelical denomination, getting the COVID-19 vaccine drew more than 1,100 comments.

More Americans disapprove than approve of how President Joe Biden is handling the sharply increasing number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, and approval of his efforts on larger immigration policy falls short of other top issues.

A meeting between GM officials and Black media owners was canceled Thursday by the automaker.

The Biden administration is unveiling a coalition of community, religious and celebrity partners to promote COVID-19 shots as it seeks to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

A coalition of 150 organizations nationwide is opposing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The Movement for Black Lives argues the bill is entrenched in strategies that have historically failed to address police violence across the country and fails to meet the moment." The bill, designed by the Movement for Black Lives’ Electoral Justice Project, would also redirect funding toward communities to address the nation’s systemic racial injustices. “It’s not just about after the fact accountability,” said Gina Clayton-Johnson, the lead BREATHE Act architect and leadership team member of the Movement for Black Lives’ Policy Table. AdBut the movement faces a significant uphill battle in securing needed political support from lawmakers who will be key in pushing forward the BREATHE Act or revamping the Justice in Policing Act.

White supremacist propaganda reached alarming levels across the U.S. in 2020, according to a new report that the Anti-Defamation League shared with The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)NEW YORK – White supremacist propaganda reached alarming levels across the U.S. in 2020, according to a new report that the Anti-Defamation League provided to The Associated Press. The ADL, which was founded more than a century ago, said that last year marked the highest level of white supremacist propaganda seen in at least a decade. A neo-Nazi group known as Folks Front distributed stickers that include the words “White Lives Matter.”According to the report, at least 30 known white supremacist groups were behind hate propaganda. Despite the overall increase, the ADL reported a steep decline in distribution of white supremacist propaganda at colleges and universities, due in large part to the coronavirus pandemic and the lack of students living and studying on campus.

Those losses haven’t hit all Americans equally, with communities of color hit especially hard by both the virus and the economic fallout. For other racial and ethnic groups, including Asian Americans and Native Americans, sample sizes are too small to analyze in the AP-NORC poll. Black and Hispanic Americans are also especially likely to say that impact has been a major one. The AP-NORC poll also finds Hispanic Americans are especially likely to think it will take a long time to dig their way out of the financial hole. About a third of Black Americans say the same, compared with about a quarter of white Americans.

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are warning health professionals about the risk of false positive results with a widely used laboratory test for COVID-19 and flu. The Iowa Department of Public Health said Friday that Iowa has administered 1.03 million doses. The state health department sent a notice Thursday to the hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and other community providers of the coronavirus vaccine detailing the state’s expectations. AdBrazil has already secured contracts for 200 million vaccine doses, half made by AstraZeneca and half by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac. It could use those mechanisms as well to expand eligibility___PRAGUE — The health authorities in the Czech Republic have administered over 1 million coronavirus vaccine shots.

And many women, mostly mothers, felt compelled to quit the workforce to care for children being schooled online from home. AdAfter a year of ghostly airports, empty sports stadiums and constant Zoom meetings, growing signs suggest that the economy is strengthening. The economy still has 9.5 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic — more than were lost in the entire 2008-2009 Great Recession. AdAs more Americans have ordered dinners, groceries and household goods online, delivery drivers have emerged as the biggest source of job growth in the pandemic. ___ONLINE FOOD DELIVERY, RETAIL SAVE CONSUMERSThe pandemic emptied malls and restaurants and accelerated a trend toward online ordering and delivery.

Overall, 44% said their household experienced income loss from the pandemic that is still having an impact on their finances. About half of those who experienced any form of household income loss during the pandemic say their current household income is lower than it was. Overall, about a quarter of Americans say they’ve been unable to pay one or more bills in the last month. Many millennials, who experienced the Great Recession early in their adult lives, are now experiencing yet another major financial crisis. In the poll, roughly 4 in 10 say they’ve been saving more money than usual, and about 3 in 10 have been paying down debt faster than usual.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker shows Alaska leading states in the percentage of its population to have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Larry Hogan said Tuesday, citing improving COVID-19 health metrics and increasing vaccinations. It was unclear what authority state officials might be able to exert on federal facilities. — County health officials in Wyoming have detected the coronavirus variant that originated in South Africa. Another 16 million doses are expected to be shipped by the end of the month.

That is down dramatically from 14.8% last April, just after the virus erupted in the United States. AdAlso hiring last month were retailers, which added 41,000 jobs, health care companies, with 46,000, and manufacturers, with 21,000. But state and local governments have slashed 1.4 million jobs since the pandemic erupted, including 86,000 last month, and most have instituted hiring freezes. The Congressional Budget Office projects the nation will add a substantial 6.2 million jobs this year. Sounding an optimistic note, he said: “There’s good reason to expect job creation to pick up in the coming months."

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – House Democrats passed the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing nationwide, avoiding a potential clash with moderates in their own party who were wary of reigniting the “defund the police” debate they say hurt them during last fall's election. Approved 220-212 late Wednesday, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is named for the man whose killing by police in Minnesota last Memorial Day sparked demonstrations nationwide. “We want to feel safe when we encounter law enforcement. “Our law enforcement officers need more funding not less,” Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis. Another possible point of contention is provisions easing standards for prosecution of law enforcement officers accused of wrongdoing.

House Democrats are hustling to pass the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing. The bill would ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement and create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability. “Our law enforcement officers need more funding not less,” Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said during Wednesday's debate. AdPolice unions and other law enforcement groups have argued that, without such legal protections, fear of lawsuits will stop people from becoming police officers — even though the measure permits such suits only against law enforcement agencies, rather than all public employees. California Rep. Karen Bass, who authored the bill, understands the challenge some House members face in supporting it.

This marks the first time in the movement’s nearly eight-year history that BLM leaders have revealed a detailed look at their finances. The foundation said it committed $21.7 million in grant funding to official and unofficial BLM chapters, as well as 30 Black-led local organizations. In its report, the BLM foundation said individual donations via its main fundraising platform averaged $30.76. “Because the BLM movement was larger than life — and it is larger than life — people made very huge assumptions about what our actual finances looked like,” Cullors said. Leaders at the BLM foundation admit that they have not been clear about the movement’s finances and governance over the years.

At other moments of epic loss, like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans have pulled together to confront crisis and console survivors. Still, at half a million, the toll recorded by Johns Hopkins University is already greater than the population of Miami or Kansas City, Missouri. It is roughly equal to the number of Americans killed in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. I so believed in him and my faith,” said Nancy Espinoza, whose husband, Antonio, was hospitalized with COVID-19 last month. “At one point, we had every gurney, every dressing table, every embalming table had somebody on it,” he said.

The social justice movement in college athletics has popped up in most unusual place: gymnastics. From UCLA to Pittsburgh, Black gymnasts and the programs they represent are using their platform to empower and uplift. Her experience at Arkansas was simply reflective of the culture at large in the sport at the time. From Pittsburgh to California, female gymnasts are using their platform to empower, educate and bring light to causes they believe in. “Personally I would say (gymnastics) is a predominantly white sport,” Ward said.

More recently, he said the spread of more contagious variants of the virus increases the need for more people to get their shots — and quickly. The poll of 1,055 adults, taken Jan. 28 through Feb. 1, provides insight into the skepticism. About the same percentage said they don’t trust COVID-19 vaccines. And 38% said they don’t believe they need a vaccine, with a similar share saying that they don’t know if a COVID-19 vaccine will work and that they don't trust the government. ___The AP-NORC poll of 1,055 adults was conducted Jan. 28-Feb. 1 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population.

Though there is no federal law that explicitly charges crimes as domestic terrorism, prosecutors have successfully used other statutes to cover conduct that might reasonably be seen as terrorism, including at the Capitol. No comparable law exists for people aligned with U.S.-based extremist groups, which enjoy expansive free speech protections. “Surveillance tactics and the eye of our law enforcement have always been trained on communities of color. Particularly Black communities,” Nelson said. Muslim Americans believe they've felt particular scrutiny since 9/11, including after the Patriot Act, legislation that afforded law enforcement new counterterrorism authority, as well as less intrusive initiatives like the Obama-era program designed to counter violent extremism.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)A racial gap has opened up in the nation's COVID-19 vaccination drive, with Black Americans in many places lagging behind whites in receiving shots, an Associated Press analysis shows. The AP analysis found that whites are getting vaccinated at closer to or higher than expected levels in most of the states examined. But there are other problems slowing vaccination among Black Americans and other groups, experts said. AdTo address mistrust, Thomas LaVeist, dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans, is recruiting notable Black Americans to help promote vaccination. This is a devastating disease and it has disproportionately impacted Black Americans.

Along with Hispanic and Native American people, Black Americans are dying from COVID-19 at nearly three times the rate of white Americans. AdPressley, who made early calls for racial case data last year, said communities of color cannot afford to wait longer for vaccine demographic data to become available. During a White House briefing on Wednesday, Nunez-Smith said federal officials were calling for states to “get better, more consistent data” on the already administered vaccinations. Nationwide, health officials in 18 states included ways to measure equity in their vaccine distribution plans last fall. But as issues in the vaccine supply chain emerged, some states have had to slow or rework distribution plans.

We celebrate Martin Luther King Day around the activist’s January birthday, which is Jan. 15.

– President-elect Joe Biden pledged Friday to boost supplies of coronavirus vaccine and set up new vaccination sites to meet his goal of 100 million shots in 100 days. “You have my word: We will manage the hell out of this operation,” Biden declared. Another carryover from the Trump administration plan: Biden said he intends to mobilize local pharmacies to administer vaccines. Two medical groups, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Group, said Friday evening they “strongly support” the Biden plan. The Biden administration also plans to launch a public education campaign to overcome doubts about vaccination.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during an event at The Queen theater, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. The last item would make it easier for women to go back to work, which in turn would help the economy recover. “Remember that a bipartisan $900 billion #COVID19 relief bill became law just 18 days ago,” tweeted Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. But Biden says that was only a down payment, and he promised more major legislation next month, focused on rebuilding the economy. Next Wednesday, when Biden is sworn in as president, marks the anniversary of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States.

(AP Photos)NEW YORK – Black Lives Matter protests, 2020: Overwhelming force from law enforcement in dozens of cities. “Confederate flags, ‘don’t tread on me,’ ‘blue lives matter’ flags, the Trump flags — all of it symbolizes the same thing. On Wednesday, images emerged showing custodial staffers of color in the Capitol sweeping up the shards of glass and trash left behind by the rioters. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the people who violated the Capitol on Wednesday should not be seen as patriotic. “This is not protesting or activism; this is an insurrection, an assault on our democracy, and a coup incited by President Trump,” Johnson said.

State health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey urged residents to continue wearing masks, practicing social distancing and washing their hands frequently. Health care officials are currently vaccinating health care workers, first responders and those living in long-term care facilities —all people in the highest-priority groups for getting doses. In the first phase, priority was given to health care workers and residents and staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Cuomo says hospitals need to do a better job of vaccinating the health care workers who are eligible now. Only health care workers and nursing home residents and staff members are currently being vaccinated in New York.

New government data suggests more Americans have been getting flu shots in 2020, apparently heeding the advice of health officials fearful of a flu/coronavirus double pandemic. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)NEW YORK – More Americans have been getting flu shots this year, apparently heeding the advice of health officials fearful of a flu and coronavirus double pandemic, public health officials said Wednesday. But the flu vaccination rate for Black children is down, fueling worries that Black Americans may be turning away from shots. “It's certainly a point of concern,” said Dr. Ram Koppaka of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted new flu vaccination data Wednesday. “We'll monitor this over the coming weeks very closely.”So far there's been little flu going around, CDC officials say.

Six in 10 voters — including most Biden voters and about a quarter of Trump voters — said the nation was on the wrong track. Biden voters were far more concerned about racism in the U.S., after a year of rising tensions, peaceful demonstrations and sometimes-violent clashes over racial justice. Nearly all Biden voters called racism a serious problem in U.S. society and in policing, including about 7 in 10 who called it “very” serious. Trump had an edge in stewarding the economy, with roughly half of voters in these states saying he would do better than Biden. ___AP staffer Doug Glass contributed to this report from Kenosa, Wisconsin, and AP staffer Kristin Hall contributed to this report from Nashville, Tennessee.

“I can tell you, Biden and Harris stand with the rioters and the vandals,” Trump said of the former vice president and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, during a campaign rally. Biden, who has tried to keep his campaign squarely focused on the pandemic, tread carefully. Later Tuesday, the Biden campaign issued a joint statement in which Biden and Harris said that Wallace’s was “a black life that mattered.”Biden and Harris spoke strongly in condemning the unrest. Kevin Hayes, a sales representative who is white, had a handful of Trump campaign signs in the yard of his Springfield home and a “Cops for Trump” sign in his window. Follow Madhani on Twitter at @AamerISMadThis story has been corrected to show that Jacob Blake was grievously wounded in police shooting, not killed.

Race and race relations remained a major point of contention during this latest and final presidential debate Thursday night. President Trump ranked 15th out of 20, sitting below President Richard Nixon. Who built cages at the borderFinally, one last one from the President on who built cages for migrant children. “And they said look at these cages, President Trump built them. More fact checks from the final presidential debate:Presidential Town Hall fact checks from the Trust Index:First Presidential debate fact checks from the Trust Index: