POLICY & JUSTICE — Lloyd Gilmore, a 44-year-old Sikeston resident, died in police custody after an altercation with Sikeston police officers on June 10. Police shocked him with a Taser and put him into hobble restraints, which allow officers to hogtie a person's feet and hands, according to a police report. Two autopsies were performed, but they — and Gilmore's cause of death — had not been released as of mid-July. The case has reignited calls for meaningful police reform and greater accountability measures across the nation.
ECONOMY & WORK — The amount of power needed for data centers is expected to double by 2027 and quadruple by 2035. Despite President Trump's promise to slash electricity prices by 50% by July 2026, residential electricity rates have actually increased by 18%, disproportionately affecting Black households, with more than 1 in 10 Black households carrying overdue balances, three times the rate for white households. In the first half of 2026 alone, companies requested a combined $18.6 billion in rate increases.
POLICY & JUSTICE — The Education Department will no longer consider school policies that disproportionately harm one group of students as discriminatory unless the discrimination is intentional, rescinding a decades-long standard for civil rights enforcement. Across the country, data shows Black students have been more likely to receive punishments that remove them from the classroom, such as suspensions, expulsions and transfers to alternative schools. Advocates said that the change would further diminish the Education Department's role in protecting students of color, in addition to the downsizing and transfer of the Office for Civil Rights.
Over 200 of the 502 incoming first-year students who were unenrolled have been readmitted to Howard University after resolving financial aid and enrollment issues.
Houston saw a record loss of about 7,750 Black-homeowner households (-5.4%) in the city in 2024, the largest decline since data tracking began in 2005.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore recently toured South Carolina, Georgia and Nevada to support African-American candidates running in the midterm general election, including potentially historic campaigns like Lance Bottoms' gubernatorial bid.
There were more than 21,000 heat-related deaths in the U.S. between 1999 and 2023, with the number of deaths per year steadily rising since 2016, and Black Americans are disproportionately affected.
On July 21 in Bogotá, Colombia, the League of Popular Black Organizations of the Americas (LONPAC) and the Caribbean was launched as a networking hub for left and progressive Black activist groups from Alaska to South America's Patagonia region.
Maryland reported 110 cyclosporiasis infections since May 1, Virginia confirmed 79 cases—more than double its five-year average for this point in the season—and Washington, D.C. reported six cases as health officials investigate contaminated produce sources.
The world's 27 Black billionaires have a combined net worth of $121 billion, up from 23 worth a combined $96 billion last year, with new entries including Beyoncé and David Grain.
Black-owned businesses grew 14% yearly pre-2026 per the U.S. Small Business Administration, driving innovation in urban hubs like Atlanta, LA, and NYC.
A single data center uses enough electricity to power hundreds of thousands of homes, and the U.S. Department of Energy projects that data centers could make up 12% of all U.S. power consumption by 2028.
Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis says the decline in Black homeownership is 'not just a housing problem; it is a generational wealth problem' requiring support for housing trust funds and innovative financing strategies.
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund awards $2,500 to $20,000 to students attending HBCUs and Predominantly Black Institutions through multiple scholarship programs that open each year.
| S&P 500 | 7,316.15 -1.5% | |
| Dow Jones | 51,594.14 -2.2% | |
| 30-Yr Mortgage | 6.58% | FRED / Freddie Mac |
| CPI (YoY) | 3.5% | BLS via FRED |
| Bitcoin | $64,756 +0.5% | CoinGecko |
| Ethereum | $1,922 +0.6% | CoinGecko |
| UONE | $5.12 | -1.9% |
| RLJ | $12.39 | -0.3% |
| CARV | $1.60 | -8.6% |
Across America, Black-owned businesses are reshaping industries and creating pathways to prosperity. From tech to beauty to food, these entrepreneurs are proving that with opportunity and support, innovation thrives in communities once denied access to capital.