Race

Workers remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Market Street Park in Charlottesville, Va., in July. Initial plans to remove the statue four years ago sparked the infamous "Unite the Right" rally at which 32-year-old Heather Heyer was kille

Arts

A Black museum asks to melt Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee statue to create new art

5:30pm October 22, 2021

by Becky Sullivan

In 2017, debate over Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee statue sparked a violent neo-Nazi rally that left a woman dead. Now, a Black cultural center wants to melt it down and turn it into public art.

The Jubilee Singers, HBCU Fisk University's a cappella ensemble, celebrate 150 years

5:00pm October 22, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Paul Kwami, director of Fisk University's Jubilee Singers, and pianist Nina Kennedy on the 150 commemoration of the Jubilee Singers Fundraising tour.

Adil Dghoughi, 31, was parked in a car in a rural neighborhood late at night. According to local reports, Dghoughi was shot through the window of the car and died on the scene.

National

A Moroccan man was shot to death in Texas while sitting in a car

7:32pm October 21, 2021

by Deepa Shivaram

The Council on American Islamic Relations is calling for a complete and independent investigation of the killing in Caldwell County, about 40 miles from Austin.

Black children make up more than half of the incidents of police using force on kids

4:56pm October 21, 2021

NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with Kristin Henning of Georgetown University on why Black children are more likely to be handled forcibly by police.

The proposals to tackle racial equity included in Biden's spending bill are at risk

4:56pm October 21, 2021

by Ayesha Rascoe

President Biden promised to tackle racial equity when he came to office. There are few tangible changes so far, and proposals woven into his massive social program spending bill are at risk.

A monument to the women of the Confederacy stands in front of the Mississippi State Capitol.

Politics & Government

Jackson, Miss. lives in a world of high poverty and higher expectations

2:27pm October 21, 2021

by Stephan Bisaha

Jackson is the state capital, but it wrestles with poverty, infrastructural problems, including water issues, and a conservative state government.

Food delivery riders take part in a street protest ride organized by the group "Los Deliveristas Unidos" demanding better working conditions, pay and protections in Times Square in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., April 21, 2021.

National

Immigrant workers pressing firms as pandemic recovery gives them leverage.

2:18pm October 21, 2021

by Laura Benshoff

Immigrant workers are taking advantage of the pandemic recovery and the opportunity it is providing for labor forces to flex its muscles.

In Mississippi, 2 years after ICE raids, Latin American immigrants are there to stay

6:16pm October 20, 2021

NPR's Sarah McCammon speaks with Latino USA host Maria Hinojosa and producer Reynaldo Leaños Jr. about their reporting on the aftermath of the largest single-state immigration raid in U.S. history.

National

A now-repealed law will weigh on the trial of Ahmaud Arbery's accused killers

4:54pm October 20, 2021

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Joseph Margulies, a criminal law expert, about how citizen's arrest laws factor into the trial of three white men charged in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

Lara Downes, whose series Rising Sun Music re-centers compositions from historically marginalized composers.

Music & Culture

Pianist Lara Downes re-centers the music of the Great Migration

11:59am October 20, 2021

by A Martínez

Pianist Lara Downes' latest mini-album traces the story of the Great Migration of Black Americans from the south in the early to mid-20th century, with music by Florence Price and Harry T. Burleigh.