Ervin Leon Edwards died lying facedown on the floor of West Baton Rouge Parish Jail in Louisiana. According to The Advocate, the 38-year-old’s 2013 death has since raised questions. A recent video released from the jail shows that Edwards was surrounded by about six officers, who appeared to be attempting to subdue him, in the…

First lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Alabama’s Tuskegee University, one of the nation’s top HBCUs, next month, AL.com reports. According to the report, the address will be part of the first lady’s Reach Higher initiative, through which she aims to inspire every student to complete his or her education…

The streets of Baltimore were flooded with residents Tuesday protesting the police force in the name of Freddie Gray, the young man who died from a severe spinal injury while in police custody, the Daily Mail reports. Also Tuesday, the Justice Department announced its own civil rights investigation into Gray’s death as police officials released…

A 102-year-old woman was able to relive her heyday as a chorus-line dancer during the Harlem Renaissance when, with the help of Jazz on Film, she was able to see footage of herself dancing for the first time, BuzzFeed reports. In the video posted on YouTube Monday, Mark Cantor of Jazz on Films collected “soundies” and…

Robert Bates put in a not-guilty plea on Tuesday in response to a second-degree-manslaughter charge, holding fast to his claim that he mistook his gun for his Taser when he killed Eric Harris in a sting operation, NBC News reports. Bates has a hearing scheduled for July 2, but in the meantime, the judge is…

Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama’s pick to succeed Attorney General Eric Holder, will get a confirmation vote in the coming days. The Senate announced a deal Tuesday on the anti-human-trafficking bill that sparked the stalemate, the Washington Post reports. “I’m glad we can now say there is a bipartisan proposal that will allow us to…

The Chicago couple accused in the slaying of Sheila von Wiese-Mack have been found guilty of premeditated murder in an Indonesian court, the Associated Press reports. Tommy Schaefer, 21, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Heather Mack, 19, von Wiese-Mack’s daughter, was sentenced to 10 years for the murder, which took place during…

The charges against the Chicago police officer involved in the 2012 shooting death of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd have been dismissed, WLS reports. A Cook County judge ruled that there was no evidence of reckless conduct, which would be necessary to move forward with the involuntary manslaughter charge, prompting the dismissal, the news station reports. Dante…

A now-former Inkster, Mich., police officer has been charged with two counts of assault to do great bodily harm after being caught on dash-cam footage beating a 57-year-old autoworker during a violent traffic stop, ClickOnDetroit reports. William Melendez also faces charges of mistreatment of a prisoner and misconduct in office for the treatment of Floyd…

Renowned cardiac surgeon and civil rights activist Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. died on Saturday in Baltimore at the age of 70, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine announced, according to the New York Times. The day before his death, Watkins had been welcoming students to a Johns Hopkins University Hospital training program when he took…