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2 weeks ago | 
13thandsouth.com | Quintessa Williams
Black Youth + FloridaTwo young girls were playing in their yard when their 81-year-old white neighbor allegedly unleashed a chemical weapon — and a familiar kind of hate. In Ocala, Florida — a city still mourning the memory of A.J. Owens — two little Black girls were blowing bubbles in their front yard. It was supposed to be one of those light moments that often define a Southern childhood: humid air, sidewalk chalk, and joy floating through the breeze. Instead, it ended with bear mace.
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3 weeks ago | 
williquinn.medium.com | Quintessa Williams
PoliticsAs Trump and Musk’s public feud captures headlines, the Texas congresswoman — now vying for top oversight — is signaling a potentially louder call for accountability. In a feud that has taken center stage, President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have turned on each other after months of public alignment.
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3 weeks ago | 
dallasweekly.com | Quintessa Williams
Overview: The GOP's proposed "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" could lead to Medicaid cuts that would reduce or eliminate school-based health services, which are crucial for Black students. Medicaid is the largest federal funding source for school-based health services, including speech therapy, occupational therapy, mental health counseling, and behavioral health care.
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3 weeks ago | 
wordinblack.com | Quintessa Williams
For some kids, the school nurse is there to put a bandage on a skinned knee or check for a fever. But for a majority of Black students, too often, that nurse is the only healthcare provider they’ll see all year. If House Republicans get their way, though, even that might disappear. Indeed, Medicaid is the largest federal funding source for school-based health services.
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3 weeks ago | 
baystatebanner.com | Quintessa Williams
Without school-based support, Black students face greater emotional distress, academic declines, and rising suicide risks. Research shows that suicide rates among Black youth have climbed by nearly 37% over the past five years, with Black teens now reporting higher attempt rates than their white and Hispanic peers. At the same time, Black and Native American students are 1.3 times more likely than white students to attend schools with a police officer — but no school mental health counselor.
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3 weeks ago | 
miamitimesonline.com | Quintessa Williams
Decades after the watershed Brown v. Board of Education decision, multiple studies confirm that K–12 public schools across the country are more racially segregated today than they were in 1954, when the case was decided. Just weeks before the 71st anniversary of that historic ruling, the U.S. Department of Justice quietly ended a long-standing federal school desegregation order in Louisiana — a case that had remained under court supervision since 1966.
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3 weeks ago | 
stlamerican.com | Quintessa Williams
In the spring of 2020, a video of George Floyd being murdered by a Minneapolis police officer went viral. And then — something unprecedented happened: millions filled the streets, marching and demanding the defunding of police, community-centered care, and an acknowledgement that Black lives truly matter — not just on the streets, but in classrooms and school hallways. School districts responded, too.
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4 weeks ago | 
williquinn.medium.com | Quintessa Williams
History + JusticeNearly two centuries after the university commissioned racist scientific images of Renty and Delia, their portraits are finally being returned where they belong. After nearly two centuries and a legal battle years in the making, images of enslaved ancestors from South Carolina are finally coming home. On May 28th, Harvard University agreed to release the 1850 daguerreotypes of Renty and Delia Taylor — a father and daughter forced to pose naked for a racist pseudoscientific study.
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1 month ago | 
dallasweekly.com | Quintessa Williams
Overview: The Trump administration has cut $1 billion in federal funding for school-based mental health programs, which was intended to help schools address the growing youth mental health crisis. Black students are already at risk of significant psychological harm, including suicide, due to limited access to mental health services and exposure to racial discrimination and disproportionate rates of school-based discipline.
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1 month ago | 
wordinblack.com | Quintessa Williams
Research shows that suicide rates among Black youth have climbed by nearly 37% over the past five years, with Black teens now reporting higher attempt rates than their white and Hispanic peers. At the same time, Black and Native American students are 1.3 times more likely than white students to attend schools with a police officer — but no school mental health counselor.
