Black members of Congress are bracing for a crippling shake-up of their ranks after a Supreme Court ruling gutted a key section of the Voting Rights Act that had protected minority communities in political redistricting and helped boost their representation.

Communities across the U.S. held parades, panels and service projects for the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Hazel Dukes, the president of the New York State chapter of the NAACP and lifelong civil rights advocate, has died.

Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California has always stood apart.

On the night she became the first woman of Black and South Asian heritage to be a major party’s nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t explicitly mention the racial and gender firsts she would set if elected to the White House.

New York’s political landscape for the next decade is being quickly retooled by a rural judge and out-of-state expert after a court ruled Democrats controlling New York's legislature bungled the job.

When New York City voters this week chose Eric Adams as the city’s next mayor and Alvin Bragg as the Manhattan district attorney, they elevated two Black men into two of the city’s most powerful elected offices.

We're remembering the life and impact of Shirley Chisholm.

DANVILLE, Va. – One Danville bus now prominently celebrates Black history. On Wednesday, the city of Danville unveiled its latest wrapped bus, featuring the images of 12 African Americans. One side shows:Rep. John LewisTrey EdmundsTremaine EdmundsTerrell EdmundsBishop Lawrence Campbell Sr.Gloria CampbellThe other:Fannie Lou HamerBooker T. WashingtonCarter G. WoodsonMaggie L. WalkerRalph BuncheW.E.B. In 2019, the city unveiled its first bus wrapping that honored leaders. The bus will be placed on different fixed-route bus runs.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)Joe Biden and Kamala Harris showcased American designers at their inauguration Wednesday, and Harris gave a nod to women's suffrage, Shirley Chisholm and her beloved sorority in pearls and purple. Pearls had a strong fashion showing, in line with a social media campaign that had inauguration watchers donning strands in support and celebration of Harris. “If there’s a message to be taken from today’s inauguration fashion, it’s that those who attended are signaling faith in unity and bipartisanship, as well as restoring truth and trust,” Torgerson said. Another inauguration fashion star on Twitter was Nikolas Ajagu, the husband of Harris' niece, Meena Harris. It was updated on January 21, 2021, to correct the fact that Meena Harris is Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece, not her sister.

Harris will make history Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, when she becomes the nations first Black, South Asian and female vice president. Biden and Harris knew each other prior to the 2020 presidential campaign in part through Harris’ friendship with Biden’s deceased son, Beau. Since joining the ticket, and particularly since the election, Harris has made efforts to deepen their relationship and is in frequent contact with the president-elect, people close to Harris say. “The relationship of the vice president to the president is the most important relationship. Harris is said to be looking at Biden’s vice presidency as a guide for her own.

“We believed in the power of Black voters and Black organizers in our movement." In 2008 and 2012, Black voters showed up in record numbers for Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president — setting a new high bar. Black Biden voters were much more likely than other Biden voters — especially those who were white — to say they were casting their ballots for the Democrat rather than against Trump, according to AP VoteCast. Black Voters Matter Fund targeted more than 15 states, sending a fleet of buses on road trips across the nation. Activists said they intended to keep up momentum and expected a flood of attention and money, giving Black voters another chance to demonstrate their power.

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris on Saturday paid tribute to the women, particularly Black women, whose shoulders she stands on as she shatters barriers that have kept mostly white men entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries. “I want us to be committed to the idea that representation is exciting and it’s worthy of celebration and also that we have millions of Black women who deserve a fair shot.”Harris is the second Black woman elected to the Senate. Harris' mother raised her daughters with the understanding the world would see them as Black women, Harris has said, and that is how she describes herself today. She attended Howard University, one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first sorority created by and for Black women. Her victory could usher more Black women and people of color into politics.

(The Television Academy and ABC Entertainment via AP)It was Regina King, winning her fourth career Emmy on Sunday, who perhaps summed up the proceedings the most succinctly — and accurately: “This is freaking weird." Nobody was more thrilled than Daniel Levy, son of best actor winner Eugene Levy; the younger Levy won the award for comedy writing, shared a directing award and captured the supporting actor trophy. A CALL TO THE BOOTHLevy used some of his considerable mic time to urge viewers to vote in November. “I know this seems like a really weird time to be celebrating,” Zendaya said. Sterling K. Brown gave out the show’s final award, best drama, in a Black Lives Matter shirt.

(The Television Academy and ABC Entertainment via AP)LOS ANGELES – Regina King and Uzo Aduba used the come-as-you-are fashion edict for Sunday's virtual Emmy Awards to highlight the national struggle for social justice. Both Black actresses wore T-shirts featuring Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old EMT from Louisville, Kentucky, who was shot and killed by police in March. Aduba, sitting behind a table at home, wore a black T-shirt with Taylor's name in gold. Aduba wanted to give a boost to the demands for social justice that have swept the nation during the coronavirus pandemic this year. He took the stage at Staples Center wearing a black T-shirt with white letters BLM for Black Lives Matter and a white raised fist.

(Democratic National Convention via AP)DETROIT When Hazel Dukes stepped onto the Democratic National Convention stage in 1972 to second Shirley Chisholms presidential nomination, it amounted to more than history. She will be the first Black woman and first Asian American woman named to a major party presidential ticket. But historically, Black women have fought the racism and sexism that prevented them from having prominent roles within the movements for womens suffrage and civil rights. That reminder is especially clear as America marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote a right that most Black women weren't afforded until much later. And while inroads have been made, Black women remain significantly underrepresented in politics.

THE BIDEN AGENDAThough Obama will offer Democrats nostalgia for his election to and tenure in the White House, the party hopes to send a message that a Biden presidency wont be a 2008 redux. TRUMPTrump is working to stay in the mix this week with a series of trips to counter the Democratic convention programming. He made appearances Monday in Wisconsin and Minnesota and on Tuesday in Arizona, with speeches taking on Biden and the Democrats. The president plans to travel to Pennsylvania, where Biden was born, on Thursday, hours before the Democrats acceptance speech. The president doesnt have any travel planned for Wednesday but is likely to continue delivering his reactions to the Democratic convention on Twitter.

Black women in particular helped rescue Biden's campaign earlier this year by delivering a resounding victory in the South Carolina primary, powering him to the Democratic nomination. That will hinge on Black voters in battleground states like Michigan to turn out in force in November. But for Black women, the freedom to vote didnt come until much later, part of a historical pattern of being denied justice offered to others. It took an additional 45 years of organizing to secure the rights to vote for Black women and other women of color, Ufot said. It affirms Black women and all we did for this country.

DETROIT Joe Biden's Democratic presidential campaign has launched a new national ad focused on Black Americans, urging them to stand up to President Donald Trump the way their ancestors stood up to "violent racists of a generation ago." The one-minute ad, which was shared exclusively with The Associated Press before its digital and television release on Thursday, is meant to drum up support among Black Americans, a key constituency for Biden, ahead of November's general election. The ad, titled Better America, also takes a direct swipe at Trump, without mentioning the Republican president by name. The ad is part of the Biden campaign's planned $280 million digital and television ad buy that was announced Wednesday and will run through the fall. A campaign spokesman said in a statement that the ad is the start of a series of content aimed at Black voters.

As the coronavirus and protests against police brutality have swept the nation, black female mayors including Atlanta's Keisha Lance Bottoms and Chicago's Lori Lightfoot have led the charge. Other black mayors including San Francisco's London Breed and Muriel Bowser of Washington have also been recognized for their measured responses and handling of their communities. Black women running for office and winning, it isn't an anomaly. They're also building up the next generation of black women elected officials and black women mayors who they're inspiring to run." Carr noted that black women make up 7.6% of the country's population yet account for just 4.3% of all members of the House and 1% of the Senate.