Month: December 2019

Looking for Frederick Douglass in Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Frederick Douglass passed through this elegant Southern city only once, for the briefest of visits — a half-hour whistle-stop on his rail journey to a speaking engagement in Jacksonville, Fla.It was April 1889, just the second foray into the Deep South for the great orator, five decades after his escape from Maryland…

NATO, Tariffs, Cyber Monday: Your Monday Evening Briefing

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.Dec. 2, 2019(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest.ImageCredit...Al Drago for The New York Times2. The president expanded his global trade war.He surprised Brazil and Argentina, tweeting that he would impose tariffs on their steel and…

ASAP Rocky Returns to Sweden in Triumph, Without Trump’s Help

reporter’s notebookThe rapper’s show in Stockholm on Wednesday came just months after his trial for assault in the country drew international attention.ASAP Rocky performing at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm on Wednesday night.Credit...Erika Gerdemark for The New York TimesDec. 12, 2019STOCKHOLM — When the rapper ASAP Rocky played an arena show in Stockholm on Wednesday…

Boeing, Jamal Khashoggi, Lost Luggage: Your Monday Evening Briefing

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.Dec. 23, 2019(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest.ImageCredit...Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times1. The crisis at Boeing is far from over.The airplane manufacturer’s board of directors ousted Dennis Muilenburg, who came under fire for his handling…

‘The Slaves Dread New Year’s Day the Worst’: The Grim History of January 1

Americans are likely to think of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as a time to celebrate the fresh start that a new year represents, but there is also a troubling side to the holiday’s history. In the years before the Civil War, the first day of the new year was often a heartbreaking…

F.B.I. Report, Afghan War, New Zealand: Your Monday Evening Briefing

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest.ImageCredit...Tom Brenner/Reuters1. A long-awaited report on the F.B.I. found no anti-Trump plot.The report, by the Justice Department’s inspector general, found serious errors in the F.B.I.’s Russia inquiry — especially its…

Why the ‘Wokest’ Candidates Are the Weakest

If the fantasy that Democrats are all zealots were reality, the primary campaign would have turned out quite differently.Dec. 6, 2019Beto O'Rourke attends the 2020 Presidential Gun Safety Forum in Las Vegas in October.Credit...Eric Thayer for The New York TimesDemocrats are too “woke” for their own good, or so goes the argument.“Today’s progressivism is more…

Kamala Harris, Impeachment, Titan: Your Tuesday Evening Briefing

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.Dec. 3, 2019(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest.ImageCredit...Al Drago for The New York Times1. The once-cordial relationship between President Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of France quickly turned cold at a celebration of NATO’s 70th…

Overlooked No More: Bessie Coleman, Pioneering African-American Aviatrix

In 1921 Coleman became the first black woman in the United States to earn a pilot’s license, then barnstormed around the country thrilling audiences and inspiring later generations.Bessie Coleman in 1923. She learned how to fly in France after no pilot in the United States would give her lessons.Credit...George Rinhart/Corbis, via Getty ImagesDec. 11, 2019Overlooked…

The Death of the Black Utopia

New York City embraced willful amnesia when landscapers working at the western edge of Central Park unearthed two coffins in August of 1871. An engraved plate on a richly appointed rosewood coffin identified the deceased as Margaret McIntay, buried two decades earlier at the age of “sixteen years, three months and fourteen days.” A more…

Bill Cosby’s Publicist Hits Back at Eddie Murphy After SNL Jab, Calls Him a ‘Hollywood Slave’

Bill Cosby‘s spokesperson released a lengthy statement criticizing comedian Eddie Murphy, calling him a “Hollywood slave” after mocking the imprisoned Cosby on Saturday Night Live during his opening monologue. In this past weekend’s highly anticipated episode, Murphy — who launched his career on the show, and hosted for the first time in 35 years —…

These 28 Women Broke Major Barriers to Become ‘Firsts’ in 2019

In a year marked by division, women everywhere pushed the world forward—and many made history, shattering long-standing glass ceilings to become “firsts” in their fields. From Zuzana Caputova, the first woman to become president of Slovakia, to Indonesian speed climber Aries Susanti Rahayu, the first woman to climb 15 meters in under 7 seconds, to…

Read Trump’s Letter to Pelosi Protesting Impeachment

published a story headlined, “The Campaign to Impeach President Trump Has Begun.” Less than three months after my inauguration, Representative Maxine Waters stated, “I'm going to fight every day until he's impeached.” House Democrats introduced the first impeachment resolution against me within months of my inauguration, for what will be regarded as one of our…

‘I Have a Ph.D. in Not Having Money’

Medical school is expensive for everyone. But for low-income students, the hidden costs can be prohibitive.David Velasquez, a third-year medical student at Harvard University, said he had $4.80 left in his bank account after signing up for the MCAT test prep.Credit...Kayana Szymczak for The New York TimesPublished Nov. 25, 2019Updated Nov. 26, 2019David Velasquez learned…

Curtis Flowers Released on Bond After Supreme Court Overturns Death Penalty Conviction for Racial Bias

(LOUISVILLE, Miss.) — A Mississippi man whose murder conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court for racial bias was released from custody Monday for the first time in 22 years. Curtis Flowers walked out of the regional jail in the central town of Louisville hours after a judge set his bond at $250,000. A…

He Attended the March on Washington in 1963. Now He’ll Return to the Scene in Virtual Reality With His Great-Grandson

When the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom came to Washington, D.C., in 1963, it provided the setting for what would become Martin Luther King Jr.’s most iconic speech: “I Have a Dream.” But he was far from the only person there. In addition to a full program of speakers and singers, the day…

Letter to the Editor: Historians Critique The 1619 Project, and We Respond – The New York Times

Five historians wrote to us with their reservations. Our editor in chief replies.Published Dec. 20, 2019Updated Dec. 21, 2019The letter below will be published in the Dec. 29 issue of The New York Times Magazine. RE: The 1619 ProjectWe write as historians to express our strong reservations about important aspects of The 1619 Project. The…

Stuck in the Middle

TiesMy daughters and I defy easy labeling. It has taken me a lifetime to realize that we don’t have to declare a single racial identity.Credit...Lucy JonesI gaped at my daughter one morning a few years ago as she tried to creep, unnoticed, out the front door to her bus stop. She was 13 at the…

TIME Studios to Launch Groundbreaking Experiential Project The March at the DuSable Museum in Chicago, February 2020

(New York, NY, December 18, 2019) — TIME’s Emmy-award winning division TIME Studios will debut its groundbreaking immersive project The March as an experiential exhibit on February 28, 2020 at the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, IL, the first independent African American history museum in the country. The March brings the 1963…

Thanks, Mom and Dad

In the season of gratitude, several successful people reflect on what they most appreciate learning from their parents.Debra Weiner is interviewing 100 newsmakers, thought leaders and other people who’ve made an outsize difference about the most valuable thing their parents taught them. Following are excerpts from a few of those stories, edited and condensed.The Joy…

Low-Dose Aspirin May Not Reduce Heart Risks for Black Americans, Study Finds

It’s fairly established medical science that people who have had heart attacks can take regular low doses of aspirin to significantly lower their risk of having another heart attack, or other heart problems including stroke. But it is still an open question whether or not people who haven’t had a heart event, but are at…

The December Democratic Debate Is Back on After Labor Dispute. Here’s What to Know

After days of tense negotiations, it seems the December Democratic debate will go ahead as scheduled. The last Democratic presidential primary debate of 2019 — and the last before the debates move to early voting states — will air live from the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on Thursday at 8 p.m on PBS.…

Ruth Carter and Cynthia Erivo on Clothes, Culture and Self-Expression

Admiration SocietyTwo creative people in two different fields in one wide-ranging conversation.Ruth Carter (left) and Cynthia Erivo shot at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles Hotel at Beverly Hills on Oct. 27, 2019.Credit...Joe LeavenworthPublished Dec. 10, 2019Updated Dec. 11, 2019“This has been a long time coming!” said Ruth Carter, 59, in her Academy Award acceptance…

I Oversaw Executions. We Cannot Resume the Federal Death Penalty.

Opinion|I Oversaw Executions. We Cannot Resume the Federal Death Penalty.The system has too many flaws for the Trump administration to carry out the executions it has scheduled for Monday.By Jim PetroMr. Petro is a former Ohio attorney general. Dec. 4, 2019The Department of Justice is seeking to carry out the first federal executions in 16…

Cory Booker Jokes Biden ‘Might Have Been High’ When He Made Marijuana Comments – The New York Times

Politics|Cory Booker Jokes Biden ‘Might Have Been High’ When He Made Marijuana CommentsAt the Democratic debate, the New Jersey senator sparred with the former vice president over legalizing marijuana. Senator Cory Booker on screen during the Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta.Credit...Demetrius Freeman for The New York TimesNov. 20, 2019Senator Cory Booker, in an attempt to…

Richard G. Hatcher, Ex-Mayor of Gary, Ind., and Champion of Urban and Black Issues, Dies at 86 – The New York Times

Mr. Hatcher was one of the first two black people elected in 1967 as mayor of a large American city.Mayor Richard G. Hatcher of Gary, Ind., center, in 1979.Credit...Associated PressPublished Dec. 14, 2019Updated Dec. 15, 2019, 11:02 a.m. ETRichard G. Hatcher, one of the nation’s first big-city black mayors who in two decades leading Gary,…

Trump Has a Gift for Tearing Us Apart

There are a lot of different ways to build walls.By Thomas B. EdsallMr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C. on politics, demographics and inequality.Dec. 11, 2019Supporters at a Trump rally in Dallas in October.Credit...Jonathan Ernst/ReutersDonald Trump has done everything within his power to activate racial and ethnic animosity in this country. His main…

Inside The World of Interiors, Condé Nast’s Secret Weapon

The gold-standard shelter magazine runs on a brass-tacks budget and refuses to kowtow to the internet.Lord of the light box: Rupert Thomas, the editor in chief of The World of Interiors, at the magazine’s office in London.Credit...Tom Jamieson for The New York TimesPublished Dec. 4, 2019Updated Dec. 5, 2019LONDON — To be a magazine reader…

Mass Opioid Abuse Is ‘Destabilizing’ World’s Poorest Nations

(KAPURTHALA, India) — Reports rolled in with escalating urgency — pills seized by the truckload, pills swallowed by schoolchildren, pills in the pockets of dead terrorists. These pills, the world has been told, are safer than the OxyContins, the Vicodins, the fentanyls that have wreaked so much devastation. But now they are the root of…

11 New Books We Recommend This Week

Editors’ ChoiceReligiously speaking, I’m something of a Christian mutt — the grandson of a Congregational minister, I was raised Presbyterian and educated at an Episcopal high school before converting to Catholicism almost a decade ago. (Before I did, I told a Jesuit friend that I had doubts. “Who doesn’t?” he said.) So the spiritually minded…