Author: Rachel Stoler

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/06/g-s1-87313/amid-debate-about-u-s-history-harlem-hellfighters-receive-congressional-gold-medal

The Harlem Hellfighters of the New York National Guard’s 369th Infantry Regiment were posthumously honored this week with a Congressional Gold Medal. They received the highest civilian honor given by Congress, decades after their service during World War I was largely ignored by top military brass — and amid broader efforts to revisit how American history is remembered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/369th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

The 369th Infantry Regiment, originally formed as the 15th New York National Guard Regiment before it was re-organized as the 369th upon its federalization, and commonly referred to as the Harlem Hellfighters, was an infantry regiment of the New York Army National Guard during World War I and World War II. The regiment mainly consisted of African Americans.^[2] With the 370th Infantry Regiment,^[3] it was known for being one of the first African-American regiments to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.^[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mayo

Michael Mayo (born June 1, 1992) is an American singer and composer. He has performed and toured with Kneebody, Jacob Collier, Christian Sands, Josh Groban, Nate Smith and Herbie Hancock.^[1][4] He released his debut studio album Bones in 2021, followed by his sophomore album Fly in 2024.

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/08/g-s1-75704/michael-mayo-tiny-desk-concert

Michael Mayo uses every muscle within his throat when he sings. From his deep baritone chest to wonderfully fluttering head voice, he joyfully bends notes to his will and for our enjoyment at the Tiny Desk.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/09/06/g-s1-86617/hiv-positive-aids-zambia

This year Billiance Chondwe has found himself careening between grave concern for his community and guarded optimism. Chondwe — who is affectionately called Pastor Billy by his congregants in Kitwe, Zambia — knows many people who are HIV positive. So, on January 24, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a memo calling for stop work orders on all existing foreign aid awards, Chondwe watched in horror as many of the U.S.-funded HIV clinics in and around Kitwe suddenly locked their doors.

https://www.chefs4impact.org/post/meet-chef-shola-olunloyo

Nigerian chef Shola Olunloyo is a distinguished member of the Philadelphia restaurant community, with a reputation for highly technical food and exciting flavors. Schooled in both England and Nigeria, he continued his culinary studies in a series of apprenticeships and stages across Europe, East, and Southeast Asia, working at some of the most formative restaurants in the industry. Along the way, he’s cultivated up a phenomenal library of techniques, flavors, and traditions with a special emphasis on fermentation. A culinary jack-of-all-trades, Olunloyo has also worked in food writing and catering.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luedji_Luna

Luedji Gomes Santa Rita (born 25 May 1987), known professionally as Luedji Luna, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter.

Born in Salvador, Bahia, Luedji Luna is the daughter of an economist mother and an historian father.^[1] She studied law at the Federal University of Bahia and singing at the Escola Baiana de Canto Popular.^[1][2] She started performing in 2011, and in 2014 made her record debut with the single “Dentro ali”.^[2] In 2017, her debut album Um Corpo no Mundo was released; for this work, she was awarded a Bravo Award and was nominated as best new artist at the 2018 Multishow Brazilian Music Award.^[2][3][4]

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/02/991777684/tiny-desk-meets-afropunk-luedji-luna

Tiny Desk Meets AFROPUNK: Luedji Luna

https://www.bkreader.com/arts-entertainment/a-brooklyn-afrofuturist-art-exhibit-explores-a-new-world-with-reparations-11017376

What would the future of global reparations in America look like for Black and indigenous people? A new exhibition in Williamsburg goes deep with artwork from six Black artists.

What would the future of reparations in America look like for Black and Indigenous people? In a new Afrofuturist art exhibition called Futures of Repair, six Black artists create their own interpretation of just that — a world where Black and indigenous people can repair. 

https://www.babatundebaritone.com

A singer of diverse talents, Nigerian American Baritone, Babatunde Akinboboye is known for his enthralling stage presence. He has performed with the Los Angeles Opera, Opera San Jose, Opera Santa Barbara, Long Beach Opera, and Utah Opera. Babatunde has also debuted the roles of Drew in the Opera Works’Arts for Social Awareness Project’s world premiere production of The Discord Opera, and Zanni in the world premiere of Gloria Coates’ Stolen Identity. His most recent performances include Daggoo in LA Opera’s Moby Dick, Escamillo in Pacific Opera Project’s production of Carmen, and Lucha’s Father in The Industry’s production of Hopscotch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Moore

Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American social justice advocate and former professional basketball player. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, Sports Illustrated called Moore the “greatest winner in the history of women’s basketball”.^[2] Moore was selected for the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.^[3] In 2025, Moore was selected to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.^[4]

https://winwithjustice.org/breakaway

Directed by Rudy Valdez, the documentary explores the story of Moore, who was one of the best basketball players in the world when she stepped away from the sport for a remarkable reason: to fight for a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned.

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/15/nx-s1-5539315/trymaine-lee-a-thousand-ways-to-die

When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee was 38, he suffered a sudden heart attack that nearly killed him. The incident made him reconsider the years he had spent reporting on the lives cut short by gun violence — and the stress it had put on his body.

https://www.wunc.org/race-class-communities/2025-09-04/joseph-mcneil-greensboro-four-woolworths-jibreel-khazan-ezell-blair-david-richmond-franklin-mccain

There was a time when Joseph McNeil was heading toward a life of segregation. Separate bathrooms, beaches, theaters, schools, elevators, cemeteries. Separate was what he knew.

“I had experienced that, my parents had experienced that, their parents had experienced that,” McNeil said in 2014. “And in all likelihood, my off-spring, my children, would have faced the same issues.”

McNeil, and his three fellow students at North Carolina A&T, played an enormous role in heading off that “life of segregation” when they led a sit-in at the Greensboro Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960.

According to his family, McNeil passed away Wednesday. He was 83 years old.