On Sept. 23 the Dixon Correctional Institute in Louisiana released Benjuiel Johnson, but there was only one problem: Johnson, who was sentenced in 2013 to 35 years for manslaughter, wasn’t supposed to be released. According to WAFB, the Louisiana Department of Corrections says that miscommunication and missing paperwork are to blame for the convicted killer’s…

The Atlantic journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates might be having the best year ever. Coates’ second book, Between the World and Me, was released earlier this year to critical acclaim and a firm standing on the New York Times best-seller list. It was announced earlier this month that Coates, when not performing feats akin to a black…

Georgia parents whose sons reportedly drugged, beat and stabbed them earlier this month, in an alleged attempted double murder, went on Good Morning America Monday and insisted that their boys were good kids who had “one bad moment.” “We forgive our boys because that was totally out of character for them. They’re not violent; they’ve…

Virginia police officials are investigating an incident captured on video that appears to show a black man complying with an officer’s demands, yet the officer still uses a Taser on him. The video, which was posted to Facebook, shows a Fairfax County officer, who was not identified, with his Taser out and aimed at the man.…

An Indianapolis teen suspected of shoplifting died in police custody Saturday after complaining of having trouble breathing. According to WISH, a loss-prevention officer inside Burlington Coat Factory stopped Terrell Day, 18, around 1 p.m. The teen took out a handgun, pointed it at the officer and then took off running, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan…

On Wednesday, a Baltimore County police officer fatally shot an unarmed teen who police claim was “whipping his hand around” as if he had a gun. The man, identified as Keith Harrison McLeod, 19, according to the Baltimore Sun, reportedly tried to use a forged prescription for a narcotic cough syrup at a Nature Care…

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has been under extreme pressure by the GOP to defund Planned Parenthood, will resign from Congress, CNBC reports. Aides for Boehner told the news channel that he will give up his House seat at the end of October. The news channel notes that Boehner was under intense pressure by…

A grieving Delaware mother is demanding answers after her paralyzed son was fatally shot by Wilmington police who say he refused to drop a handgun—a claim his mother vehemently denies. According to the Associated Press, police were called to the area after reports that a man was suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.   The shooting,…

The idea was a simple one: take those who have blazed a path to success and get them to share their stories of triumph, failure and perseverance with those whose steps are still being decided. So began the “Back to School With the HistoryMakers” program, which takes black trailblazers from all facets of professional life…

The football game Friday night had already been decided between Dallas rivals Wilmer-Hutchins High School and James Madison High School, but a dance battle between the schools’ drill teams ended in a violent brawl. Cellphone footage captured by a football fan and obtained by Fox 26 shows the all-female drill teams engaged in a full-on…