Cassandra Wilson, Jazz Voice Who Gave "Strange Fruit" New Power, Dies at 70

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Sultry and Socially Conscious Jazz Legend Cassandra Wilson Dies At 70

Wilson at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, NYC, 2007
Photo Credit Professor Bop

Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning singer whose Mississippi blues roots shaped one of the most distinctive voices in modern jazz, died Tuesday, September 1st in Jackson, Mississippi, according to Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard.  Jeramiah Howard, confirmed her death at age 70; officials released no cause.

Wilson built her legacy as a musician who moved fluidly across genres, opening for Miles Davis and touring with Wynton Marsalis during a run of major jazz success through the 1980s and '90s. She embraced the title of musician above any single label, a stance that let her carry blues, folk, and soul into jazz spaces and expand who the genre could reach.

Her low, smoky voice brought fresh romance to Great American Songbook standards while she pulled covers from Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Young, and Mississippi bluesman Robert Johnson into her repertoire, proving remarkably popular in decades when jazz lost mass audience share to rock and rap.

Wilson's rendition of "Strange Fruit" stands as one of her most powerful contributions to American music and memory. Billie Holiday's original recording exposed the horror of lynching in the Jim Crow South, and Wilson's version, with its slow-burning alto and spacious arrangement, carried that history forward for new listeners decades later. She turned the song into a bridge between generations, connecting the anti-lynching movement of the 20th century to ongoing conversations about racial violence today.

Checkout the Strange Fruit Video Below...

Dysfunctional Family Systems and Youth Violence

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Dysfunctional Family Systems and Youth Violence

Part One of the Create Conversations Community Educational Series

By Rozalyn Shepard

Is Youth Violence an Epidemic That Could Hurt Someone You Love?

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to the Create Conversations Community.

When we talk about youth violence, we often focus on what happened, who was involved, and how the situation should be handled after harm has occurred. Those conversations are important, but we must also be willing to look deeper. We must ask what young people may be experiencing before they become involved in crime or violent behavior.

Youth violence does not happen in isolation. It can be connected to the conditions surrounding a young person, including the family system, the community, education, and access to sustainable opportunity. Today, I want to focus on the first of the four obstacles to success faced by poor families, dysfunctional family systems.

Looking Within Our Families

A young person’s first understanding of love, communication, conflict, responsibility, and safety often begins at home. Family is where many young people first learn how to express emotions, respond to disagreement, trust others, accept accountability, and seek help.

When a family system is affected by unresolved wounds, instability, poor communication, constant conflict, emotional disconnection, or the absence of positive guidance, young people may struggle to develop the tools they need to handle life’s challenges. They may carry anger that has never been addressed, pain they do not know how to express, or fear they have learned to hide.

These circumstances do not mean that every young person from a difficult family environment will become violent. They do mean that when young people lack stability, support, guidance, and healthy examples, they may become more vulnerable to isolation, negative peer influence, retaliation, and harmful choices.

That is why this conversation must begin with honest self-examination. We cannot only ask what is wrong with young people. We must also ask what young people are receiving from the adults and family systems around them.

 

Marketplace With All Black-Owned Products Celebrates One Year in Business

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Founder of Virginia’s First and Only Marketplace That Sells All Black-Owned Products Celebrates One Year in Business

In February 2025, Black on Black Market officially opened its doors in Norfolk, Virginia, marking a historic milestone as the only Black-owned retail space in the state dedicated exclusively to housing Black-owned brands.

Founded by Tree Kelty, Black on Black Market was created as both a physical marketplace and a cultural statement — one rooted in economic empowerment, narrative reclamation, and collective progress. The space opened despite early resistance and neighborhood opposition that challenged its presence before it ever welcomed its first customer.

Rather than deterring the vision, that adversity clarified the mission.

“The name Black on Black Market is intentional,” said Kelty. “I’ve always rejected the phrase ‘Black on Black crime’ — because it doesn’t exist. Crime is crime. That phrase has been used to criminalize our communities and strip power from us. I wanted to take that language and flip it into something that represents unity, ownership, and purpose.”

Education Resource Kit to Support Black Youth, Families, and Communities

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Founder Launches Education Resource Kit to Support Black Youth, Families, and Communities in Building Strong Learning Foundations

As families, schools, and community organizations continue to seek meaningful ways to support Black children’s learning outside of the traditional classroom experience, educator and creator Bill Law has launched the Lumo Education Resource Kit, a culturally responsive educational resource designed to help educators, parents, caregivers, community leaders, and others engage Black children through a series of guided learning activities.

The kit is based on the very popular parody YouTube music video: “Being Black” by Lin Jess Music, BMI.  “For many Black families, schools, community organizations, Black identity and self-pride have always been a shared responsibility,” said Bill Law, creator of the Lumo Education Resource Kit.  “This kit was created to support that tradition by providing a clear, practical, and easy-to-use tool that helps adults actively participate in the learning journeys of Black Youth.

Is Youth Gun Violence an Epidemic That Could Hurt Someone You Love?

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Is Youth Gun Violence an Epidemic That Could Hurt Someone You Love?

Youth violence does not happen in isolation. It is connected to the four obstacles to success facing poor families, young people, and communities:

1. Dysfunctional family systems

2. Fractured communities

3. Poor education

4. A lack of sustainable income

These four obstacles can affect a young person’s stability, guidance, education, opportunities, and hope for the future. Fractured families can create fractured communities. Limited educational support can restrict future workforce opportunities. A lack of sustainable income can make it more difficult for families to move beyond poverty and can limit access to positive pathways.

The Create Conversations Community is designed to address these conditions through healing, communication, mentorship, education, leadership development, job training, employment, apprenticeships, workforce development, and wealth education.

Understanding the relationship between these obstacles and youth violence is an important step toward creating safer, more hopeful communities.

This is an introduction to a four-part series that will address youth violence, its relationship to the root causes of poverty and crime, the four obstacles to success faced by poor families, and the Create Conversations Community’s response.

I invite you to follow this series and join the conversation.

Which of these four obstacles do you believe has the greatest impact on young people and families in our communities? 

Let’s Build the Future, Together. Click Here and Tap in to join the conversation.

Rozalyn Shepard

Create Conversations Community
Rise Network Community Development Corporation

THE THREE GEORGES: A New Lens on the Revolutionary War — And the Black Patriot Who Represents Thousands Coming Into the Light

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THE THREE GEORGES: A New Lens on the Revolutionary War — And the Black Patriot Who Represents Thousands Coming Into the Light

United States — National Freedom Day Foundation (501(c)(3)) — The Revolutionary War’s 250th anniversary has already passed, yet one of its most powerful truths is only now being restored.  Author Venita Maria Benitez releases The Three Georges: “3GS” 1776–1783 Revolutionary War (Commemorative Edition) — a warm, hopeful, and deeply human retelling of America’s founding years that finally brings George Key, a free Black Patriot, into the light where he always belonged.

For generations, America taught us about two Georges: George Washington and King George III.

But the story was never meant to be told in twos.

In this commemorative edition, all three Georges stand together — Washington, King George III, and George Key, the Black Patriot whose courage and presence shaped the Revolutionary War era but was left out of the nation’s memory.

And George Key is not standing alone. He represents thousands of Black Patriots whose names, stories, and sacrifices are finally coming into the light.

Get The Scoop On Why Blacks Have A Cure for Sickle Cell Anemia But Few Can Access it

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Sickle Cell's Quiet Revolution: A Cure Exists - So Why Can't Black America Access It?

By AiSha | Digital Green Book and Kamau Austin for The Black News Scoop

Science has delivered something once considered impossible: a functional cure for sickle cell disease. Two gene therapies - Casgevy and Lyfgenia - earned FDA approval in December 2023, marking the first time gene editing has reached patients as an approved medical treatment. For the roughly 100,000 Americans living with sickle cell disease, about 90% of them Black, this should be front-page news every week. Mainstream media has largely moved on. The Black community deserves the full picture.

What These Treatments Actually Do

Casgevy, developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to modify a patient's own stem cells, essentially reprogramming the blood to produce healthy hemoglobin. Lyfgenia, developed by bluebird bio, takes a similar approach through a different gene-delivery mechanism. Early clinical trial data shows both therapies eliminating the severe pain crises that define life with sickle cell disease for most patients. Researchers and physicians describe the outcomes as transformative, with many patients reaching pain-crisis-free status for multiple years post-treatment. blackenterprise.com

The Price Tag That Blocks the Door

Casgevy carries a list price of $2.2 million per treatment. Lyfgenia comes in at $3.1 million. These are one-time treatments, and manufacturers frame the cost against a lifetime of hospitalizations, transfusions, and lost productivity. For Black families navigating the real world, that framing provides little comfort.

Medicaid covers a significant share of sickle cell patients, since the disease disproportionately affects lower-income households. State Medicaid programs face enormous pressure absorbing costs at this scale, and coverage decisions vary widely by state. Many patients currently face a gap between the therapy existing and the therapy being accessible - a gap measured in millions of dollars. For Black households, where the median wealth sits at roughly $44,900, compared with $284,310 for white households according to Federal Reserve data, that gap functions as a wall.

Get The Scoop On How Cynthea Hayes Launches New Healthcare Advocacy Firm Helping Underserved Communities

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Cynthea Hayes Launches New Healthcare Advocacy Firm to Support Underserved Communities

New Maryland-Based Healthcare Advocacy and
Care Coordination Business Aims to
Improve Access, Organization, and Health Outcomes
in Underserved Communities

Cynthea Hayes, a registered nurse and case manager, has launched SWH Legacy Consultants, a newly established healthcare advocacy and care coordination firm that offers services designed to help individuals and families better navigate today’s complex healthcare system. The launch is particularly relevant to the Black community, where many individuals experience higher rates of chronic illness, healthcare disparities, and barriers to accessing coordinated care. In her photo, Hayes proudly holds a medical binder that represents one of the company’s signature tools for helping clients organize their healthcare information and prepare for medical appointments.

Hayes says that her business was created to bridge the gap between patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Drawing on years of nursing and case management experience, Hayes recognized that many patients and families struggle to understand medical information, organize health records, prepare for appointments, and coordinate care across multiple providers. The company was established to provide practical, personalized support that empowers clients to become informed participants in their healthcare.

SWH Legacy Consultants offers a range of services, including appointment coordination and preparation, customized medical binders, medical record organization, medication tracking, care coordination, and healthcare advocacy. Services are designed for older adults, individuals living with chronic illnesses, caregivers, and anyone managing complex medical needs. By improving organization and communication, the company seeks to reduce confusion, improve continuity of care, and help clients make more informed healthcare decisions.

Alabama’s First Black Woman-Founded College Expands

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Alabama’s First Black Woman-Founded College Expands With New High School Division for Neurodiverse and Non-Traditional Students

Shakea Miller, the first African American woman to found a privately owned, degree-granting college in the state of Alabama, 1 on 1 Technical & Theological College, has announced a major institutional expansion with the launch of a high school division specifically designed to serve students with learning differences and those underserved by traditional education models.

The new high school division will host its first day of classes on January 5, addressing a long-standing gap Miller identified while operating the college.

“Over the years, we had to turn away far too many people who wanted to enroll in our trade and degree programs but did not have a GED or high school diploma,” Miller explained. “I knew there had to be a better solution.”

That solution became the creation of a high school pathway housed within the college itself, one that serves students with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning differences, as well as students who struggle with the traditional seven-hour school day.

Two-Thirds of Black Consumers Pay More Attention to Ads That Reflect Their Culture

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Nielsen: Two-Thirds of Black Consumers Pay More Attention to Ads That Reflect Their Culture

The Majority of Those Surveyed Prefer to Buy Brands Who Advertise in Content That Reflect Their Culture

A new, exclusive study from Nielsen reveals that the majority of Black audiences (67%) surveyed pay more attention to ads in media that reflect their culture. In addition, Black audiences demonstrate loyalty and trust to the brands and influencers they believe in compared to other segments.

52% of Black audiences agreed they’re more likely to purchase when a brand partners with creators connected to their fandoms and interests compared to 45% overall. The “The Black Influence: How Black Culture & Identity Drive the Market” leverages Nielsen insights to underscore the profound cultural and commercial power of Black audiences.

This marks the 15th year Nielsen has released its Diverse Intelligence Series reports, as Nielsen’s nationwide panel of more than 100,000 people representative of the US population gives it the unique ability to produce nuanced insights on a range of demographics and identities.

Black Author and Doctor Releases New Book, “I Fix Me”

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Transform Your Life from
the Inside Out: Black Author and
Doctor Releases New Book,
“I Fix Me”

What if the key to a more joyful, fulfilled, and compassionate life begins with how you treat yourself?

In I Fix Me, a transformative and deeply personal new book, Dr. Keith L. Somerville challenges readers to shift their focus inward—embracing self-kindness as the first and most essential step toward healing relationships, discovering purpose, and living abundantly. With warmth, honesty, and spiritual depth, I Fix Me reminds readers that when you learn to care for yourself, you create space to care for others more fully.