AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Hundreds gathered in an Ohio city on Wednesday to unveil a plaza and statue dedicated to abolitionist Sojourner Truth at the very spot where the women’s rights pioneer gave an iconic 1851 speech now known as “Ain’t I a Woman?”

Truth, a formerly enslaved person, delivered the speech to a crowd gathered at the Universalist Old Stone Church in Akron for the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. In the speech, Truth drew upon the hardships she faced while she was enslaved and asked the audience why her humanity and the humanity of other enslaved African Americans was not seen in the same light as white Americans.

Though the church no longer exists, the Sojourner Truth Legacy Plaza and the United Way of Summit and Medina Counties now stand in its place.

Towanda Mullins, chairperson of the Sojourner Truth Project-Akron, said the plaza will honor a piece of the country’s past and help to shape its future.

“It’s going to remind others to be the first one to speak up, to speak up for all, not just for some,” she said.

Before taking the name Sojourner Truth, Isabella Bomfree was born into slavery in or around 1797 in the Hudson Valley. She walked away from the home of her final owner in 1826 with her infant daughter after he reneged on a promise to free her. She went to work for the Van Wagenen family, and took their surname.

Truth is believed to be the first Black woman to successfully sue white men to get her son released from slavery, though it’s possible there were other cases researchers are unaware of.

The statue, created by artist and Akron native Woodrow Nash, shows Truth standing tall, holding a book. The monument sits on top of an impala lily, the national flower of Ghana, where Truth’s father traced his heritage.

“It was an opportunity to embed within the design of the memorial to uplift the overlooked contribution of Black women civic leaders that have sojourned in Truth’s footsteps,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Large, stone pillars stand guard around the plaza with words like “faith” and “activism” engraved at the top, with a quote from Truth below it.

One of Truth’s quotes on a pillar reads, “I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness around me.”

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Dion Harris, the landscape architect who designed the plaza said he wanted to use natural materials from the northeast Ohio area that would have been used to construct the former church, including sandstone and stone.

“I wanted to show the industrial side of Akron,” Harris said. “I wanted to show every side of her and capture some of the time of the 1850s when she came.”

Akron’s statue and plaza isn’t the only place Truth is honored. A bronze statue depicting her and women’s rights pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony was unveiled in New York’s Central Park in 2020, becoming the park’s first monument honoring historical heroines. Another statue of Truth was unveiled in Angola, Indiana, in 2021, at the same place she gave a speech in June 1861, according to the city’s website.

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund opened the plaza. The project was funded by the Knight Foundation, United Way of Summit and Medina, the Sojourner Truth Project-Akron and the Akron Community Foundation, according to a release.

“This is not an African American story. This is an American story. History at its best for all people,” Mullins said.

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Cardi B has disclosed that she recorded a phone call with fellow rapper BIA, which turned hostile shortly after they began discussing their ongoing feud. The revelation came during a live stream on Instagram, Saturday night.

During the stream, Cardi B explained that she initiated the call to address the animosity between them. “I spoke with BIA and the conversation started ‘very nasty’ and ‘very aggressive,’” she recounted. Cardi detailed the exchange, saying, “I was coming at her and she was coming at me,” before revealing that she had recorded the heated conversation. “You just never know with these hoes,” she added, justifying her decision to record the call.

Cardi expressed her dismay at BIA’s accusations of copying and stealing, which sparked the altercation. “I’m so appalled at the fact that she thinks that I’m copying her or that I’m stealing from her,” Cardi remarked. “There’s nothing that she do that I like. I don’t like her music. I don’t like her style. I don’t like how she look. I don’t like nothing about her. I don’t even see the b*tch.”

Cardi B clears the air via instagram live pic.twitter.com/lkOkvc1QAB

— Cardi B | Updates (@updatesofcardi) June 2, 2024

The feud between Cardi B and BIA has been simmering since last year but reached new heights with the release of Megan Thee Stallion and GloRilla’s remix of their song “Wanna Be” earlier this week. On the track, Cardi appears to throw shade at BIA with the line: “Thought she was on the shelf, IKEA / Hope she talk like that when I see her / B*tch please, don’t nobody wanna be ya.”

In response, BIA took to Twitter, posting, “BTCHS IS WACK. BTCHS IS TRASH. I SHOULD HANG B*TCHS RIGHT OVER MY KNEE, THE WAY I BE PUTTIN MY BELT TO THEY ASSSSSSSS.”

The escalating tension between the two artists has captivated fans and followers, with many awaiting the next chapter in this high-profile feud.

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During her concert tonight, a global superstar Adele took a strong stance against an audience member who disrupted the show with a homophobic insult. The event happened during her set at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, where she is now performing a series of sold-out shows.

The tension in the crowd escalated when an attendee loudly shouted, “Pride sucks,” a remark that did not go unnoticed by Adele. The Grammy-winning artist, known not only for her soulful voice but also for her unfiltered honesty, immediately halted her performance to address the offensive outburst.

“Did you come to my fcking show and just say that Pride sucks? Are you fcking stupid? Don’t be so f*cking ridiculous. If you have nothing nice to say, shut up, alright?” Adele responded, her voice carrying a mix of disbelief and anger.

Adele calls out someone in the audience after hearing “Pride sucks” tonight at #WeekendWithAdele.#PrideMonth pic.twitter.com/o5KO88eng0

— Adele Daily (@adeledailynet) June 2, 2024

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers, showing their support for the singer’s stance. Adele, who has long been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, did not mince words as she defended the importance of Pride and the broader movement for equality and acceptance.

Following the confrontation, Adele took a moment to collect herself before resuming her performance, dedicating the next song to the LGBTQ+ community and emphasizing the importance of love and respect.

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NEW YORK (AP) — As Donald Trump lambasted the guilty verdict of his hush money trial this week, he stood inside a Manhattan courthouse that was the site of one of the most notorious examples of injustice in recent New York history. And he had a part in that.

It’s the same courthouse where five Black and Latino youths were wrongly convicted 34 years ago in the beating and rape of a white female jogger. The former president famously took out a newspaper ad in New York City in the aftermath of the 1989 attack calling for the execution of the accused in a case that roiled racial tensions locally and that many point to as evidence of a criminal justice system prejudiced against defendants of color.

But on Friday, a day after making history as the first U.S. president convicted of felony crimes in a court of law, Trump blasted that same criminal justice system as corrupt and rigged against him.

“This is a scam,” he said of the case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office led by Alvin Bragg, the first Black person in the role, and overseen by Judge Juan Merchan, who is of Colombian descent.

“This is a rigged trial. It shouldn’t have been in that venue. We shouldn’t have had that judge,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said Friday from Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Some Black Americans found irony in Trump railing against the injustice of his own conviction, in a courthouse where five Black and Latino teenagers were wrongly convicted in a case Trump supported so vociferously. The Central Park Five case was Trump’s first foray into tough-on-crime politics that preluded his full-throated populist political persona. To many, Trump employed dog whistles as well as overtly racist rhetoric in both chapters of his public life.

But lately, in his outreach to Black and Hispanic communities, Trump has adopted the language of criminal justice reform advocates. He claims Black Americans and Latinos can relate to him because prosecutors are out to get him like they have been out to get many men and boys in their communities.

“Donald Trump’s conviction is going to be a problem for him with many Black people because, guess what, many Black people do not like people who violate our criminal laws,” said Maya Wiley, a New York civil rights attorney and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

“Black people are disproportionately the victims of crime. It’s not that they just side with people who’ve been convicted of a crime.”

Wiley, who ran unsuccessfully for New York City mayor in 2021, said the city’s Black and Hispanic residents also remember Trump’s comments about the Central Park jogger case.

“They haven’t forgotten the fact that Donald Trump took out a full-page ad suggesting the death penalty for the Central Park Five, who have been exonerated and were the victims of an abusive system,” Wiley said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, an advocate for the five exonerated men, called Trump’s conviction a symbolic measure of justice for them.

“This is the same building that Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise all passed into, day after day, as they endured a show trial for a crime they did not commit,” Sharpton said just after the verdict was read.

“Now the shoe is on the other foot. Donald Trump is the criminal, and those five men are exonerated,” he said.

Salaam, who won a seat on the New York City Council last year, said he didn’t take pleasure in the former president’s guilty verdict “even though Donald Trump wanted me executed even when it was proven that I was innocent.”

Salaam and the other young men had their convictions vacated in 2002 after evidence linked another person to the crime. Trump in 2019 refused to apologize to the exonerated men.

“We should be proud that today the system worked,” Salaam wrote Thursday on the social media platform X. “But we should be somber that we Americans have an ex-President who has been found guilty on 34 separate felony charges.”

“We have to do better than this. Because we are better than this,” he wrote.

Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the Advancement Project Action Fund civil rights group, said Trump hasn’t been subject to the type of unfair treatment in the criminal justice system that Black and Hispanic communities know too well.

“He didn’t have a violent arrest by police, he didn’t stay a night in Rikers Island because he couldn’t afford bail, he didn’t even go to jail. He could pay a battery of lawyers to represent him and he can pay for an appeal,” Dianis said.

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Racial justice advocates are also using the historic moment to remind the public that Trump and his associates attempted to overturn the will of voters by challenging the 2020 presidential election results in heavily Black and Latino districts. The hush money trial was just one part of a broader narrative around electoral justice, said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, who called the verdict against Trump “a monumental step toward justice for the American people.”

“Whether it’s an attempt to steal an election or overthrow our government, one thing has long been apparent: Donald Trump is unfit to represent American democracy,” Johnson said after the verdict was heard Thursday.

Johnson, who leads the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, said Trump’s criminal conviction ought to disqualify him from the Oval Office.

“As Black Americans have been denied basic human rights due to less offensive crimes, any attempt to advance Donald Trump’s nomination for presidency would be a gross advancement of white supremacist policy,” he said.

Sharpton cautioned against gloating over the verdict.

“Instead, celebrate by casting votes for leaders who will protect democracy — not who want to kill it.”

13

Eminem’s latest single, ‘Houdini’, has shattered records by amassing 7.9 million streams on Spotify within its first 24 hours. This staggering figure marks the biggest streaming day of the rapper’s career and the third largest of any song in 2024 so far.

The track’s explosive debut has generated significant buzz, positioning it as a strong contender for a top 10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. If ‘Houdini’ secures a top 10 debut, it will be Eminem’s first solo top 10 hit in nearly six years, and his 23rd overall, further cementing his legacy in the music industry.

Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, has been a dominant force in the rap scene for over two decades. His latest achievement with ‘Houdini’ adds to a long list of accolades, including numerous Grammy Awards and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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CHICAGO (AP) — Buck Leonard. Charlie “Chino” Smith. Turkey Stearnes.

Baseball players and fans alike are learning more about the Negro Leagues after the statistics for more than 2,300 players — historic figures like Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige and Mule Suttles — were incorporated into the major league record book following a three-year research project.

“You get to learn about a lot of names and a lot of people that we may not have heard about,” Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen said Wednesday. “Now that Josh Gibson is at the top of OPS and batting average and a few other categories, it’s great news. But it’s more than just that and the numbers. It’s great that you now get to learn about the players in the Negro Leagues. … I’ll be able to do some more deep diving into some names that I may not have heard of.”

A 17-person committee chaired by John Thorn, Major League Baseball’s official historian, met six times as part of the meticulous process of examining statistics from seven Negro Leagues from 1920-1948. Nearly 75% of the available records have been included, according to MLB, and additional research could lead to more changes to the major league leaderboards.

“It is really exciting,” Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene said. “I’m going to have to do a little bit more research and understand some of the history to kind of rewire my brain on some of the best players.”

Gibson became the majors’ career leader with a .372 batting average, surpassing Ty Cobb’s .367. Gibson’s .466 average for the 1943 Homestead Grays became the season record, followed by Smith’s .451 for the 1929 New York Lincoln Giants.

The mighty Gibson also became the career leader in slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.177), moving ahead of Babe Ruth (.690 and 1.164).

“Baseball history is a part of U.S. history, and I think (the) major leagues acknowledging and incorporating the Negro Leagues is a huge step in kind of bringing all the parts of baseball history together,” said Tyrus Cobb, Ty Cobb’s great grandson. “And I think it’s actually pretty exciting that there’s a new statistical batting average leader.”

After he saw the news, Tyrus Cobb, 32, of San Jose, California, said he took a closer look at Gibson’s career.

“I made sure to look up him and Oscar Charleston and some of the other guys who finished up near the top of the list,” said Cobb, who works in commercial real estate. “So I think it’s a really exciting thing for baseball history.”

The incorporation of Negro League statistics also changed the numbers of handful of players known more for their major league career.

Willie Mays added 10 hits from the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, increasing his total to 3,293. Minnie Minoso was credited with 150 hits for the New York Cubans from 1946-1948, boosting his total to 2,113. Jackie Robinson, who broke the majors’ color barrier with the 1947 Dodgers, was credited with 49 hits with the 1945 Kansas City Monarchs that increased his total to 1,567.

“It is a good thing for the game,” Washington Nationals pitcher Josiah Gray said. “For the Negro League players in the past who were exceptional for what they did, it is good to be drawn into the light. It is really cool to see Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and a lot of other names that baseball fans can learn about and for them to see there was more than major league baseball back then.”

The change comes with the majors experiencing a decline in Black players. A study by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida found Black or African American players represented 6.2% of players on opening-day rosters in 2023, down from 7.2% in 2022. Both figures were the lowest since the study began in 1991, when 18% of MLB players were Black.

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The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants play a tribute game to the Negro Leagues on June 20 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

“I think it’s a pretty cool thing that you show recognition,” Giants pitcher Jordan Hicks said. “It was two different leagues, but it’s still baseball at the end of the day, and then whenever they came together, you saw the guys that stood out in the Negro Leagues really performed in MLB. So I think it’s fair that if they were still the same guy in the Negro Leagues as they were in MLB, those stats should match up, especially if it was in the same era.”

Brett Tinker, 56, of Nyack, New York, heard stories about the Negro Leagues from his grandfather, Harold “Hooks” Tinker, a Birmingham, Alabama, native, who played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Harold Tinker shared his love for the sport. He told his grandson about how they often had to stay on the team bus because they couldn’t go into a hotel, and he also showed off his memorabilia collection.

When Brett Tinker heard about the incorporation of the Negro League statistics, he was moved to tears.

“It’s an honor. It’s overdue, not just for my grandfather, but a lot of those players who never had that chance to have that recognition,” he said.