A long-forgotten African American cemetery in Jacksonville, where World War II veterans and descendants of slave families are buried, is finally receiving the honor and recognition it deserves.

A growing wave of African Americans are relocating to Kenya, citing the need to connect with their history and culture, or "coming home,” a phrase often used among the Black community.

As the clock nears midnight on New Year’s Eve, many African American churches and households across the country gather not to just ring in a new year, but to honor a powerful tradition rooted in freedom.

The Ritz Theatre and Museum, located in Jacksonville’s historic LaVilla neighborhood

Alabama this weekend is marking the 60th anniversary of a key event in the civil rights movement, when voting rights marchers were attacked in Selma on March 7, 1965.

Rodney Hurst said Americans must continue to address race, whether it makes them uncomfortable or not.

The federal civil service that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are dismantling has been a way for people of color, in particular Black Americans, to get a toehold into the middle class for decades, as other occupations were closed off because of racial discrimination or patronage.

Jacksonville and its surrounding areas are deeply rooted in rich Black history, leaving a lasting impact on the world we know today.

During Black History Month, we want to highlight those in the Black community locally who own their businesses!

Thirty years after Florida required schools to teach African American history, how the subject is taught remains inconsistent across Florida classrooms, a review by The Associated Press has found.

It’s a practice that’s about as American as apple pie — accusing immigrant and minority communities of engaging in bizarre or disgusting behaviors when it comes to what and how they eat and drink.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan named 11 people to sit on the inaugural Mayoral Advisory Board for African Americans.

Many Americans are celebrating Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the U.S. learned they were free.

A federal judge denied a motion from JWB and JWB Capital’s lawyers to dismiss a housing discrimination lawsuit filed against it.

Donald Trump has promised big plans for recruiting voters in Black, Latino and Asian communities.

When President Joe Biden talks to his supporters, he can make the presidential election sound like a high school prom.

Supervisors in San Francisco have formally apologized to African Americans and their descendants for the city’s role in perpetuating racism and discrimination.

For as long as schools have policed hairstyles as part of their dress codes, some students have seen the rules as attempts to deny their cultural and religious identities.

African Americans are at higher risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, asthma, and pneumonia.

Black History Month is a time to remember the struggles and achievements of African Americans. It’s also an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the diverse narratives that have played a pivotal role in history.

The tradition of Watch Night services in the United States dates back to Dec. 31, 1862, during the Civil War.

Starting from the day after Christmas and ending on New Year’s Day, Kwanzaa is a seven-day observance that encourages African Americans, and others, to embrace and remember African cultures and unity.

Lawyers for the families of three Black residents killed in a racially motivated shooting at a Jacksonville Dollar General store have filed a lawsuit.

The landmark Washington National Cathedral has unveiled new stained-glass windows with a theme of racial justice.

More than 200 people rallied outside San Francisco's City Hall to urge supervisors to act on reparations for Black residents.

Alabama marks the 60th anniversary of the bombing of a church that killed four Black girls.

The River City was once the winter film capital of the world and a major contributor of silent films. Norman Studios, located in Arlington, was among the first studios in the nation to produce films starring African Americans in positive roles.

Even though statistics show fair-skinned people are more likely to develop skin cancer, darker-skinned people are more likely to die from it.

Bystanders who trained their smartphone cameras on an Alabama riverfront dock, as several white boaters pummeled a Black riverboat co-captain, couldn’t have known the footage would elicit a national conversation about racial solidarity.

Vice President Kamala Harris swiped at new standards for teaching Black history in Florida during a trip to Jacksonville on Friday.

The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved new academic standards for instruction about African American history, after numerous teachers from across Florida objected to the changes and asked the board to put the proposal on hold.

Juneteenth is all about celebrating Black culture, history, and life, bringing people together to honor all those who came before us and fought for the rights and privileges we hold today.

Americans across the country are observing the relatively new Juneteenth federal holiday with festivals, parades, cookouts and other gatherings.

The NAACP on Saturday issued a formal travel advisory for Florida saying that the state is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.

California’s first-in-the-nation Black reparations task force is nearing the end of its historic work with a hefty list of recommendations for lawmakers to consider turning into action.

California’s historic reparations task force has voted to approve recommendations for possible payments to Black residents and a formal apology for the state’s role in perpetuating discriminatory policies.

A new report from the National Urban League is citing what the civil rights and urban advocacy group says are some of the top threats to democracy for Black Americans.

America’s employers added a solid 236,000 jobs in March, suggesting that the economy remains on solid footing despite the nine interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve has imposed over the past year in its drive to tame inflation.

A team of archaeologists and scientists in Virginia say the graves of three men belonged to one of the nation’s oldest Black churches.

Church members say they simply want some guidance from the city of Jacksonville on how to move forward with cleaning up and gaining access to the gravesites.

The College Board, which oversees AP classes, released curriculum materials Wednesday for the expansion of an African American studies course to hundreds of additional high schools in the next academic year.

Congressional districts that a federal court panel said were unconstitutional because they dilute representation for Black voters in Alabama are nevertheless being used for the November election after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed them.

Durkeeville is the first African American community to get a historic designation. The community is just west of I-95 and includes the Myrtle Avenue area.

Ten months after Hurricane Ida damaged a museum celebrating New Orleans' African American parading culture, the Backstreet Cultural Museum is reopening.

With Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday last year, many people are now celebrating the significance of the day.

California released an exhaustive report detailing how government laws and policies perpetuated discrimination against African Americans.

The April jobs report provided mixed signals on the economic issue most on the minds of Americans: Chronically high inflation.

A coalition including the four medical schools at the nation's historically Black colleges and universities has announced a new initiative aimed at increasing the number of Black Americans registered as organ donors and combating disparities among transplant recipients.

Jacksonville’s celebration of its 200th birthday this June has many remembering important events that shaped our city.

California took a big step this week toward becoming the first U.S. state to make some form of restitution a reality by tackling the divisive issue of which Black residents should be eligible to receive reparations for the atrocity and injustices of slavery and racism.

Scientists are getting their first peek at the genes of nearly 100,000 Americans in what's considered a uniquely diverse genomic database.

More African Americans are moving to Jacksonville from larger cities, according to an Associated Press report on the 2020 census.

President Joe Biden is signaling an election year shift to the center to help protect fragile Democratic majorities in Congress, even as key voices across his party’s sprawling political coalition threaten revolt.

February is Black History Month. This year’s theme is black health and wellness.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is drawing criticism for comments he made shortly before the GOP blocked a federal elections bill, when he said that “African American” voters cast ballots at similar rates to “Americans.”.

A trilogy by award-winning children’s author Kwame Alexander that tells the saga of an African family begins this fall with “The Door of No Return.”.

Current and former Black state lawmakers in Detroit have announced a pending lawsuit to block Michigan’s newly drawn congressional and legislative districts, contending they illegally dilute the voting strength of African Americans.

Christmas may have passed, but the holiday that means the first fruits in Swahili is well underway.

A quilt exhibit at Jackson State University honors dozens of lives lost in the U.S. to racial violence.

The Gamma Rho Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated put this event together.

September wasn’t exactly the robust month for hiring that many had expected and hoped for.

The brick foundation of one the oldest Black churches in the United States has been unearthed by archeologists at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and death sentence of a man on federal death row for the racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation.

After months of meetings, conversations and surveys, a consultant hired by the city presented a 52-page report Wednesday on policing in Jacksonville.

Sunday’s clinic on West Beaver Street was hosted by the Florida Black Expo as a push to get African Americans and low-income residents vaccinated.

Four law enforcement officers have detailed the racism and bigotry on display during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

A first-in-the-nation task force in California to study and recommend reparations for African Americans met for the first time Tuesday.

LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and a slew of networks are among those releasing documentaries based on the tragic backstory of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.

A soil collection ceremony Sunday remembered a man who was lynched 112 years ago in Jacksonville.

President Joe Biden says the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism.

President Joe Biden says the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism.

A House panel has advanced a decades-long effort to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves, approving legislation Wednesday night that would create a commission to study the issue.

President Joe Biden’s difficult balancing act on policing was put on vivid display over the course of a few hours as he tries to navigate criminal justice and civil rights.

President Joe Biden’s difficult balancing act on policing was put on vivid display over the course of a few hours Tuesday as he tries to navigate criminal justice and civil rights.

Students at Clemson University who found an unkempt graveyard on campus last year sparked the discovery of more than 600 unmarked graves most likely belonging to enslaved Black people, sharecroppers and convicted laborers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On National Vietnam War Veterans Day, Americans come together to commemorate the service and sacrifices made by the nearly 3 million service members who served in Vietnam. The war wall in Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood pays tribute to African American service members, including those who fought in Vietnam. Racism was still existing in boot camp and even in Vietnam,” Vietnam veteran Hallie Williams-Bey. He said he believes we need to use Vietnam War Veterans Day as more than a salute to the sacrifices made. In 2012, President Barack Obama signed a presidential proclamation, designating March 29 as the annual observance of Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Lung cancer is the nations top cancer killer, causing more than 135,000 deaths each year. Lung cancer is the nation’s top cancer killer, causing more than 135,000 deaths each year. Local cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Dale Mueller of Memorial Hospital described the lung cancer screening during an interview Wednesday on The Morning Show“It’s simply a CT scan. AdOne recent study found just 14% of people eligible for lung cancer screening under the prior guidelines had actually gotten it. There are other people who do not meet the current criteria who could be eligible for a lung cancer screening.

In a Feb. 25-March 1, 2021 poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about 1 in 5 Americans say they lost a relative or close friend to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)WASHINGTON – About 1 in 5 Americans say they lost a relative or close friend to the coronavirus, highlighting the division between heartache and hope as the country itches to get back to normal a year into the pandemic. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research illustrates how the stage is set for a two-tiered recovery. The AP-NORC poll found about 30% of African Americans, like Parks, and Hispanics know a relative or close friend who died from the virus, compared with 15% of white people. AdThe poll found two-thirds of Americans say their fellow citizens nationwide haven’t taken the pandemic seriously enough.

Japan has confirmed 345 cases of the more contagious new variants, mostly the kind first found in Britain, the health ministry said. ___WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand has removed remaining coronavirus restrictions on the city of Auckland after containing a small outbreak. Ad___WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is planning to announce during his prime-time address Thursday night that he’ll deploy 4,000 additional U.S. troops to support coronavirus vaccination efforts. Thursday’s announcement from the Department of Corrections comes a year after suspending visits at prisons because of the coronavirus pandemic. John Bel Edwards has loosened his COVID-19 restrictions.

There is a saying for African Americans wanting their chance at the American dream with their own land and home. Fast forward to 2021: According to 2012 Census of Agriculture, African Americans make up less than 2% of all farmers in the United States. The 1920s, just decades after the end of slavery, there were 900,000 black farmersAccording to the 2012 Agriculture Census there were only 44,629 black farmers in the United States, only 1.4% of the 3.2 million farmers in the country. “Tradition and historically, because the decline has been huge from black farmers in the ’70s and ’80s to now, from starting the late to early 2000s its been a huge declineThere’s also been a history of discrimination against black farmers. So for the many African Americans that are no longer in farming, this family hopes they will be apart of the resurgence.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with labor leaders in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Washington. Biden backs the idea of studying the issue, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday, though she stopped short of saying he would sign the bill if it clears Congress. Even with Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, passing a reparations bill could prove difficult. Most Black Americans favored reparations, 74%, compared with 15% of white Americans. AdRep. Burgess Owens, a first-term Republican from Utah, argued against a reparations commission.

Fast-forward hundreds of years, African Americans can now find out where their maternal ancestors came from before slavery through DNA testing by African Ancestry. “The community created African Ancestry. “We sequence the DNA to examine the individual genetic profile,” said Dr. Rick Kittles, co-founder and scientific director of African Ancestry. (Jenese Harris)After swabbing my jaw and waiting for the results, I have the answer: I share a maternal genetic ancestry with Fulani people living in Nigeria. “I’m excited about your results, Jenese, because I also share maternal genetic ancestry with Fulani people in Nigeria,” Paige said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville group aiming to advance racial equity in Duval County released 75 years of research Friday that shows more African Americans are getting help from local resources but many remain in poverty. “It’s time for us to take some action to make some systemic changes,” said Kimberly Allen, CEO of 904ward. That declined from 72,237 in 2010, but the 2018 total still remained the higher than the white population (61,622), Asian population (4,654) and the Hispanic/Latino population (15,824). Of the data, 97% of Black respondents either somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed. A total of 52% of white respondents either somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Dr. Rita McGuire, an obstetrician and infection control specialist at Roseland Community Hospital talks Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, with staff members about taking the COVID-19 vaccine. "It’s not something that I trust right now,’’ says Bland, 50, who worries about how quickly the COVID-19 vaccines were developed. Many holdouts come from the mostly Black, working class neighborhoods surrounding the hospital, areas hard hit by the virus yet plagued with vaccine reluctance. She acknowledged "centuries of medical injustice’’ against Black Americans but said COVID-19 vaccines resulted from years of solid research. Many workers ‘’have not forgotten about those studies where they used us as experiments,’’ McGuire said, including the infamous Tuskegee research on Black patients with syphilis.

Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession. The job market had shown tentative improvement last summer but then slowed through the fall and in the past two months has essentially stalled. Nearly 10 million jobs remain lost to the pandemic. Unlike the previous expiration of extended unemployment aid, which occurred on Dec. 26, the cut-off would be phased in between March 14 and April 11. “Additional fiscal stimulus and broader vaccine diffusion will eventually allow the labor market to heal,” Oxford Economics said in a note Thursday.

This photograph provided by Alton Yates shows a mob of men, some wielding ax handles and other implements against peaceful protesters, on Ax Handle Saturday. “Not a single member of one group came into contact with a single member of the opposite group,” he said. But national publication LIFE magazine had already published proof of the violence that happened on the day that came to be known as Ax Handle Saturday: a photo of Charlie Griffin in a bloodied shirt with a gash above his eye. In 1960, the mayor told one story of Ax Handle Saturday. February is Black History Month, and News4Jax is celebrating Black culture by highlighting stories in the community.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP sent a letter to Mayor Lenny Curry, outlining the civil rights group’s concerns about COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Isaiah Rumlin, president of the NAACP’s Jacksonville branch, writes in the letter, dated Jan. 22, that the group is not confident in the city’s vaccine rollout in the African American community. Expand the number of vaccination and testing sites to ensure that communities of color in the city are adequately covered. READ: Letter to mayor from NAACP Jacksonville BranchCain also said he encourages people in the African Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine. “The City of Jacksonville does have the capacity to implement mass vaccinations as we have demonstrated through our multiple COVID-19 testing sites throughout the City.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As more people continue to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, there are growing concerns that many African Americans across the United States don’t want to get the vaccine because they don’t trust it. But despite that, many doctors across the United States are dealing with African American patients who say they won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine because they don’t trust it. Doctors say the distrust comes from remembering the events in Tuskegee, Alabama, where, for 40 years, untreated syphilis was secretly tested on African Americans. “Since then, we’ve been very focused on making sure that studies are set up to maximize the benefits of people to participate.”COVID-19 has been shown to disproportionately affect African Americans, which is why the Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research is urging more African Americans to enroll in clinical trials for the Novavax vaccine. Cain says it’s up to doctors to explain to patients how the vaccine works on a level their patients can fully understand.

Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron waits to receive his COVID-19 vaccination on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Aaron and others received their vaccinations in an effort to highlight the importance of getting vaccinated for Black Americans who might be hesitant to do so. (AP Photo/Ron Harris)ATLANTA – Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, former U.N. Ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan got vaccinated against COVID-19 in Georgia on Tuesday, hoping to send a message to Black Americans that the shots are safe. Getting vaccinated “makes me feel wonderful," Aaron told The Associated Press.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The JAX Chamber Foundation is launching a forum designed to improve economic opportunity for African Americans in Jacksonville, according to a news release Wednesday. The Lewis and White Business League is named after A.L. Lewis and Dr. Eartha White -- two African American business leaders in Jacksonville who are both charter members of the National Negro Business League, which was founded in 1900 by Booker T. Washington to advance the economic conditions of African Americans. “This is one step in the Chamber’s efforts to ensure that everyone in our community has the opportunity to succeed.”The Lewis and White Business League said it will include connections to business and educational advancement, quarterly meetings with guest speakers and networking and mentoring opportunities. The first of the league’s events are being planned for the first quarter of 2021.

(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)NEW YORK – The Episcopal Diocese of Texas acknowledges that its first bishop in 1859 was a slaveholder. Some major denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, have not embraced reparations as official policy. The Episcopal Church has been the most active major denomination thus far, and others, including the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, are urging congregations to consider similar steps. This will include scholarships for students attending seminaries or historically Black colleges and assistance for historic Black churches. But Dietsche expects some funds will help congregations launch their own reparations initiatives, particularly if their churches had historical involvement in slavery.

WASHINGTON – A lone senator from Utah has singlehandedly blocked the bipartisan approval of two new national museums to honor American Latinos and women, arguing that “last thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation.”Republican Sen. Mike Lee objected Thursday to the creation of the two proposed Smithsonian museums, stalling two projects that have been in the making for decades and enjoy broad bipartisan support. Senate approval would have sent the legislation approving the Latino museum to President Donald Trump for his signature. The Senate was attempting to pass the measures by voice vote, which requires every senator's consent. Lee said he sees an exception for museums dedicated to American Indians and African Americans that already sit on the National Mall. “We have been systematically excluded, not because this senator said so but because the Smithsonian itself said so,” Menendez said.

FILE - This Nov. 29, 2011, file photo shows the signature of president Abraham Lincoln on a rare, restored copy of the 13th Amendment that ended slavery, in Chicago. As ratified, the original amendment has permitted exploitation of labor by convicted felons for over 155 years since the abolition of slavery. Constitutional amendments are rare and require approval by two-thirds of the House and Senate, as well as ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures. In Merkley’s Oregon, voters in 2002 approved the elimination of constitutional language that prohibited Black Americans from living in the state unless they were enslaved. The prevalence of prison labor has been largely accepted as a means for promoting rehabilitation, teaching trade skills and reducing idleness among prisoners.

“I want us to be committed to the idea that representation is exciting and it’s worthy of celebration and also that we have millions of Black women who deserve a fair shot.”Harris is the second Black woman elected to the Senate. “That’s the kind of policy that also happens when you have voices like ours at the table,” said Jayapal, who in 2016 was the first South Asian woman elected to the U.S. House. Harris' mother raised her daughters with the understanding the world would see them as Black women, Harris has said, and that is how she describes herself today. She attended Howard University, one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first sorority created by and for Black women. Her victory could usher more Black women and people of color into politics.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Bishop Rudolph McKissick Sr. isn’t new to voting. And when all of us, as people, would have that mentality of voting because we could vote, it did make a difference,” McKissick said. Now, 71 years later, the 93-year-old pastor emeritus at Bethel Baptist Institutional Church said voting is a top priority. But remember, the one thing they did, they worked together for one another and not against one another.”He said while times may be challenging, it is important that young voters understand their power. “They can make a great difference now because it has been proven that a president has come out from us,” McKissick said.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jaime Harrison speaks at a campaign rally on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)COLUMBIA, S.C. – In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate this year, the Deep South is fielding more Black candidates than it has since Reconstruction. Mike Espy and Adrian Perkins, meanwhile, are launching spirited bids for the Senate in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. The Senate currently has three Black members: Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. “The more competitive races are, and Black candidates win those competitive races, it diminishes this worry that Black candidates can’t win,” Abrams recently told The Associated Press. In Mississippi, Espy is trying for a second time to become the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction with his challenge to Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Voters have been ushered to the polls by fleets of minivans, with bicycle parades and on horseback in Indian Country. Often unable to knock on doors or chat in person because of virus concerns, advocates have had to adapt. A recent video on social media showed voters in Philadelphia dancing joyfully as they waited, alongside members of the Resistance Revival Chorus. Some voters are wary of catching the virus by voting in person, but they're also concerned about the mail-in option. Like Gehman in New Mexico, Radha Pyati in Philadelphia has devoted untold hours to writing letters as part of Vote Forward.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dozens of #WalkTheVote Parades across the county took place Saturday to encourage early in-person voting, including two events in Jacksonville and St. Augustine. It’s part of a nationwide initiative to encourage voters to join in by practicing social distancing, wearing a mask and voting early ahead of Election Day. Rapper Common from Chicago was in Jacksonville for a “Party at the Polls” event to encourage the community to get out and vote. Walk the Vote is being held in more than 18 cities in a number of swing states to encourage in-person, early voting ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. All counties in Florida have now opened their early voting periods, and most counties continue early voting through next Saturday while Nassau and Duval counties remain open on the Sunday before Election Day, as well.