They have spent the last 30 years of their lives in prison for the gruesome rape and murder of an 11-year-old North Carolina girl, but now Henry Lee McCollum and his half brother, Leon Brown, have been given their freedom after DNA evidence cleared their names, the New York Times reports. According to the Times,…

Michael Brown’s possible history with the juvenile-justice system is taking center stage as a judge looks into requests by media to release any juvenile records he may have had, the Associated Press reports. According to the report, juvenile records are considered private in Missouri, so no one really knows if, in fact, Brown had a…

Detroit-area homeowner Theodore Wafer, who was convicted in the death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride, has been sentenced to at least 17 years in prison, the Associated Press reports. Wafer, who was convicted on all three charges—second-degree murder, felony firearm and manslaughter—apologized to McBride’s family before his sentencing, acknowledging that he was responsible for killing someone who…

There was something different about officers in the Ferguson Police Department over the weekend as protesters continued their calls for justice in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in the Missouri city. Officers have started wearing the body cameras provided by two companies, Safety Visions and Digital Ally, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The cameras were…

One Mississippi mom is demanding answers after she went to pick up her daughter from elementary school late last month, only to find the child’s face swollen and bruised “beyond recognition,” the Huffington Post reports. Lacey Harris, the mother of AvaLynn, says that the child told her another student kicked her repeatedly in the face…

The first trial on human beings for an untested Ebola virus vaccination will begin next week, U.S. health officials have announced, according to USA Today. According to the report, 20 healthy participants will take part in the trial, which will take place at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Researchers are expecting results…

The Woodland Hills Youth Development Center—a detention center in Nashville, Tenn.—is back to relative calm after more than 30 teens escaped Monday by crawling through a weak spot in a fence, the Associated Press reports. According to the report, two of the teens, who range in age from 14 to 19, were captured almost immediately,…

Questions remain in the fatal kidnapping of a Decatur, Ga., couple as the authorities continue their search for suspects, WXIA-TV reports. Jeronta Brown and his fiancee, Briana Brooks, were returning home after taking their 8-month-old baby and teenage niece out to eat early Saturday morning. As they were walking toward the house, they were jumped…

Literature—regardless of how it is delivered, whether in song, sermon, novel, short story, poem or essay—has the unique ability to inform, to uplift, and to shape our opinions and worldviews. At least that’s how James Basker, the Richard Gilder Professor of Literary History at Barnard College at Columbia University, sees it. It’s a crucial point and…

Michael Brown’s death appears to be sparking an entire cultural movement, particularly among black musicians. A group of powerful artists—including the Game, Diddy, Rick Ross, 2 Chains, Fabolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beats, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King Pharaoh and TGT—have collaborated on the just-released single “Don’t Shoot” in honor of the Ferguson, Mo., teen…