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THE DAILY DRUMBEAT
News about us. For us. By the beat of the drum.
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Vol. 1, No. 2 · Tuesday, July 14, 2026 · 34 stories · 11 sections
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| In today’s Drumbeat: June inflation cools to 3.5%, sweeping student-loan changes hit Black borrowers hardest, and our new Black Excellence desk debuts with four historic wins. |
| P1 Business & Enterprise · P2 Policy & Justice · P3 Economy & Work · P4 Money Moves · P5 HBCUs & Education · P6 Sports · P7 Culture & Entertainment · P8 Tech & Innovation · P9 Health Equity · P10 Land & Legacy · P11 Black Excellence |
[ P1 · BUSINESS & ENTERPRISE ] | • | BET co-founder Sheila Johnson reveals how a $12 million contractor mistake while building her Salamander resort brand taught her hard lessons about vetting partners before scaling. AfroTech | | • | Two Howard University grads turned a personal frustration with the record-clearing process into a nationwide startup: Lawrence Blackmon and Roger Roman raised a $1 million pre-seed led by Slauson & Co. to scale Expungement.ai, an AI service that helps clear eligible criminal records in all 50 states. BlackBusiness.com | | • | Birmingham's Black-led Measured Capital launches a program to help residents of the city's Black community make their first angel investment, widening local capital for early-stage founders. AfroTech | | • | Soul Vegetarian, one of the country's pioneering Black vegan restaurants since 1979, closed its Atlanta West End doors for good on July 12, citing building issues and a tough lease market; its Poncey-Highland sister location stays open. UATL |
[ P2 · POLICY & JUSTICE ] GOVERNMENT WATCH — In a July 13 Federal Register filing, the U.S. Department of Education asked OMB to approve a new data collection titled "Description of Today's TRIO Programs and Proposing Options for Future Outcome Evaluations" — the first step toward reshaping how the 60-year-old TRIO pipeline (Upward Bound, Student Support Services, McNair, Talent Search) measures outcomes for the low-income, first-generation students it serves, a population with substantial Black student representation. Federal Register | • | South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham Nordone — an HBCU graduate — to temporarily hold her late brother Lindsey Graham's U.S. Senate seat; South Carolina State was among the HBCUs that honored Graham's record of backing HBCU research funding. HBCU Gameday | | • | The Federal Housing Finance Agency published notices in the July 13 Federal Register rescinding two sets of guidance on the Federal Home Loan Banks' Affordable Housing Program, a funding source that has historically supported housing development in underserved communities. Federal Register |
| • | Black homeownership just hit a five-year low of 44% — the lowest of any major racial group, versus 72% for white households — and Redfin's chief economist says federal layoffs falling disproportionately on Black workers are part of what is stalling the path to owning a home. TheGrio | | • | The jobless rate for Black workers held flat at 6.6% in June — nearly double the 3.6% white rate — even as overall unemployment ticked down, with economists warning the persistent gap is being overlooked. TheGrio | | • | Unemployment for young Black workers jumped from 14.1% to 16.6% in June, a sharper rise than the overall youth rate, underscoring how downturns hit Black workers under 25 hardest. New York Amsterdam News |
S&P 500 7,515.34 | Dow 52,498.64 | Bitcoin $62,632 | Ethereum $1,785 |
Prior close · CPI 3.5% YoY (June 2026) — BLS.govBlack Wall Street Watch UONE Urban One $5.04 +5.4% | RLJ RLJ Lodging $11.57 +1.5% | CARV Carver Bancorp $1.40 -3.5% | AXSM Axsome Thera. $235.35 +3.1% |
Overnight Movers Top Gainers PHOE Phoenix Asia +29.1% ARBE Arbe Robotics +23.2% SKHY SK hynix +20.5% | | Top Losers LCID Lucid Group -45.9% IBM IBM -25.1% SPRO Spero Thera. -17.7% |
Movers as of 2:05 PM ET Tue 7/14 · market data The Money Brief June inflation cooled to 3.5% — and the Fed may hold its fire Consumer prices fell 0.4% in June — the largest monthly drop since 2020 — pulling annual inflation down to 3.5% from May's 4.2% ( BLS). Traders now bet the Fed skips a rate hike at its July 28-29 meeting ( Reuters). Cheaper gas drove the relief, but rates stay high — and so does the cost of carrying a balance. Takeaway: keep emergency cash in a 4%+ high-yield account and attack variable-rate debt while the Fed waits. |
| • | CRYPTO WATCH — Congress has only days before its August recess to pass the CLARITY Act, the crypto industry's top market-structure bill this year, and GOP leaders still need seven Senate Democrats on board to get it to the president's desk. The Hill | | • | A new survey finds 67% of Americans worry more about outliving their savings than about dying — and while 2026 catch-up contribution limits for 401(k)s and IRAs have expanded, more than half of Black workers still lack access to any employer-sponsored retirement plan. USA Today | | • | Black-owned banks and credit unions remain critical infrastructure for closing the wealth gap, the Urban Institute argues, urging state and local governments to actively support Black-led financial institutions. Urban Institute |
[ P5 · HBCUS & EDUCATION ] The Education Brief The SAVE plan is gone — 7.5 million borrowers have 90 days to act Sweeping federal student-loan changes took effect July 1: the SAVE repayment plan ended for 7.5 million borrowers, Graduate PLUS loans were eliminated, and new caps now limit graduate and parent borrowing ( NPR). Advocates including the NAACP warn Black borrowers — who carry larger average balances and default at higher rates — will feel it hardest ( Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder). Takeaway: if you were on SAVE, choose a new repayment plan inside your 90-day window — before you are auto-enrolled in a costlier one. |
| • | More than 400 middle and high school musicians from as far as Detroit are training in Tallahassee this month as FAMU's famed Marching 100 hosts its 31st annual summer band camp. WTXL Tallahassee | | • | A University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff student team took second place overall and Best Presentation honors at the 2026 HBCU Entrepreneurship and Innovation Event in Atlanta, pitching a diabetes-management platform against teams from more than 30 HBCUs. HBCU News |
Last Night's Scoreboard · Monday, July 13 WNBA: Lynx 104, Mercury 100 — Kayla McBride's season-high 37 and Olivia Miles' career-high 33 outlasted Phoenix. AP via ABC NewsWNBA: Dream 101, Sparks 92 — Angel Reese posted her league-leading 16th double-double (23 pts, 13 reb). AP via ABC News |
On Deck · July 14-15 TODAY — World Cup semifinal: France vs. Spain, 3:00 PM ET, AT&T Stadium (FOX). ESPNTONIGHT — MLB All-Star Game, 8:00 PM ET, Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia (FOX). MLB.comTOMORROW — World Cup semifinal: England vs. Argentina, 3:00 PM ET, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta (FOX). ESPN |
| • | Former Winston-Salem State star Javonte Cooke broke out in NBA Summer League with 21 points and five three-pointers, giving HBCU hoops fans a marquee name as small-school standouts chase NBA roster spots this July. HBCU Gameday | | • | The Dallas Mavericks hired Drew Williamson — who spent seven seasons helping build Virginia State into a CIAA powerhouse before coaching at Michigan — as the HBCU coaching pipeline reaches the NBA bench. HBCU Gameday |
[ P7 · CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT ] | • | Trinity Tatum and partner Bryce Dettloff won "Love Island USA" Season 8 and split the $100,000 prize, extending the show's recent run of Black fan-favorites taking the crown. TheGrio | | • | A Jay-Z lyric from his Yankee Stadium residency finale reignited debate over the terms of Colin Kaepernick's 2019 collusion settlement with the NFL. TheGrio |
[ P8 · TECH & INNOVATION ] | • | Instagram head Adam Mosseri says AI-generated content flooding social platforms will make users seek out authentic human creators even more — positioning creator businesses as an advantage, not a casualty. AfroTech | | • | Researchers completed two preclinical surgeries using teleoperated humanoid robots controlled remotely by surgeons — a milestone that could eventually expand specialized surgical care in underserved areas. AfroTech | | • | Current and former athletes are increasingly using LinkedIn to build personal brands and court business opportunities that outlast their playing careers. AfroTech |
The Health Brief Medicare wants to cut hospital drug markups — what the 340B proposal means for us Medicare has proposed paying hospitals what they actually pay for drugs bought under the 340B discount program, a change CMS estimates would save Original Medicare enrollees $1.15 billion in drug costs in 2027 ( CMS). Analysts peg the relief at roughly $800 a year in co-payments for some beneficiaries ( Mint). Black seniors lean heavily on hospital outpatient departments, where these markups hit hardest. Takeaway: if you or a parent is on Original Medicare, watch Part B co-pays in 2027 — the savings should show up on hospital-administered drugs. |
| • | Sickle cell advocates weigh in after the FDA extended approval of Casgevy — the first CRISPR gene therapy — to children as young as 2 with sickle cell disease, which disproportionately affects Black Americans. Yahoo Finance, SCDAA | | • | The FDA granted priority review to mitapivat, a new oral sickle cell drug from Agios Pharmaceuticals, potentially speeding an alternative for patients who need options beyond gene therapy or transfusions. Yahoo Finance |
| • | A federal judge ordered the USDA to restore $127 million in discrimination-relief grants to Black farmers — a partial win in the ongoing fight over land and capital access for Black agricultural producers. Capital B News | | • | Fallout continues from USDA's elimination of the $300 million Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, which advocates say will make it harder for Black farmers to acquire and keep land. Capital B News |
[ P11 · BLACK EXCELLENCE ] | • | After 92 years, MiraCosta College has named its first Black president: Marine Corps veteran and longtime educator Dr. Lennor M. Johnson takes the helm of the Southern California college on August 3. JBHE | | • | Dr. LeRoi Hicks — a Howard University grad who leads ChristianaCare's Wilmington hospital — made history July 6 as the first Black CEO of the American College of Physicians, the nation's largest medical-specialty society. JBHE | | • | All 15 seniors in Kappa Alpha Psi's Baltimore "Guide Right" mentoring program earned college acceptance this year — a perfect 100% — with standout Ayden McCain landing a football scholarship to Winston-Salem State. WMAR-2 News | | • | Georgia senior Patrick Pruitt set out to break the college-acceptance record — and did: 264 acceptances from 270 applications and more than $17 million in scholarship offers, landing at Knox College on a $260,000 package. BlackNews.com |
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"Give light and people will find the way." — Ella Baker. Wikiquote |
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Ask Your Table: Two-thirds of Americans now say they fear outliving their savings more than death itself. Who taught you what you know about retirement — and what is one step your household could take this month?
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Inside The Daily Drumbeat All 11 sections · every weekday | P1 Business & Enterprise Black founders, owners, and enterprise — deals, openings, and closures. | P2 Policy & Justice Government Watch, courts, and policy that moves our communities. | P3 Economy & Work Jobs, wages, and the economic data behind Black work. | | P4 Money Moves Markets, the Black Wall Street Watch, movers, and The Money Brief. | P5 HBCUs & Education HBCUs, students, and the classroom — plus The Education Brief. | P6 Sports Last night's scoreboard, tonight's biggest games, and HBCU sports. | | P7 Culture & Entertainment Film, TV, music, books, and the arts. | P8 Tech & Innovation Tech, AI, and innovation — decoded for our community. | P9 Health Equity Health equity, medicine, and The Health Brief. | | P10 Land & Legacy Land, legacy, farmers, and generational wealth. | P11 Black Excellence Black Excellence — promotions, honors, and achievements worth sharing. | |
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All sources free to access | Data: BLS.gov, market data | Staff-written
A Pitre Media publication
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