Mace introduced legislation on December 11 to rename the well-known stretch of 16th Street NW in the nation’s capital. It comes nearly three months after Kirk, a conservative political activist, was killed during the first stop of his America Comeback Tour with Turning Point USA at an Utah college.
According to Mace, the change honors Kirk’s commitment to the First Amendment. She called him “a champion of free speech and a voice for millions of young Americans.”
In 2020, the street was originally dedicated as Black Lives Matter Plaza following nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd. As soon as President Donald Trump took office for his second term, he and other Republican lawmakers advocated to remove the name. Lawmakers claimed that “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) had antisemitic ties.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered workers to paint over Black Lives Matter to appease the current administration and to slow down federal intervention city-wide, The Hill reports.
Mace doubled down on the name change.
“The BLM movement is a terrorist organization who targeted our law enforcement, rioted in our streets, looted, and burned cities to the ground,” she said on X. “One deserves to have memorials and recognition. You decide which.”
D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is pushing back on Mace’s bill.
“D.C. deserves to decide what its own streets are named since over 700,000 people live in the city,” Norton wrote on X. “D.C. is not a blank slate for Congress to fill in as it pleases.”
Former New England Patriots Running Back Kevin Faulk Loses Second Daughter In 4 Years
His 30-year-old daughter, Tanasha, died at Oschner Lafayette Medical Center in Louisiana
Super Bowl champion Kevin Faulk is reliving grief, following the death of his daughter, Tanasha, four years after the death of another daughter, Kevione.
According to The Acadiana Advocate, Faulk’s 30-year-old daughter died Saturday, Dec. 6, in Louisiana at the Oschner Lafayette Medical Center. No details have been released on the cause of death, but no foul play has been suspected. Sadly, Faulk had to mourn Kevione in September 2021 when she passed away at the age of 19 while attending Louisiana State University (LSU). She was serving as a student worker for the school’s football program when she died.
Faulk is a former New England Patriots player who spent his entire career with the franchise (1999–2011) and is currently on the New York Giants coaching staff.
At the start of his weekly press conference, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged Faulk’s loss and well-wishes to him.
“I just want to send anything that we can and well wishes to Kevin and Latisha Faulk. Obviously, we’re all heartbroken. Kevin was a teammate. He’s a huge part of this legacy here of this football team, and the impact that he made here, coaching in college, and how much he loved LSU. There’s no way to describe what they’re going through, but I just wanted to make sure that everybody knows that we care deeply about Kevin and his family, and our thoughts and our prayers are with them.”
Coach Vrabel extends heartfelt condolences and sympathy to Patriots Hall of Famer Kevin Faulk and his family. pic.twitter.com/TxJraxOUP3
Before Faulk began his professional football career, he played quarterback at Carencro High in 1992, leading the school to a state championship. While at LSU, he switched positions and became an All-American running back. After being drafted by the Patriots, he helped them win three Super Bowls before retiring after the 2011 season.
Kerry Washington Joins Elaine Welteroth’s BirthFUND100 To Raise $1M For ‘Mothers Who Have Been Failed For Far Too Long’
Kerry Washington is teaming up with Elaine Welteroth’s BirthFUND in response to recent cases of Black mothers being denied care during labor.
Kerry Washington is teaming up with Elaine Welteroth’s BirthFUND100 to raise $1 million to support mothers, responding to viral cases of Black women being turned away from hospitals while in labor.
On Dec. 2, Giving Tuesday, Washington took to Instagram for a call to action to mobilize a “cultural power list” of 100 leaders, “to stand in the gap for mothers,” in helping raise funds in support of BirthFUND’s mission to provide mothers in need with “real support, real resources, and real protection when it matters most.”
“I saw you sitting in that hospital room, folding inward with fear, screaming out in your suffering, every contraction a question. Will anyone here help me? Can they not see my pain?” Washington said in the video.
As the Scandal star spoke, clips and viral videos highlighted recent incidents of Black mothers being turned away from hospitals during active labor, including Mercedes Wells at Franciscan Hospital in Crown Point, Illinois—a case that led to the introduction of the maternal health WELLS Act.
“No woman should have to prove she is worthy of care. No mother should have to fight to be seen as human while bringing human life into this world. Your body was speaking truth, and they chose not to listen,” Washington said. “Because what happened to you is not just cruelty. It is history repeating itself in real time. It is bias disguised as protocol. It is neglect disguised as neutrality. It is a system failing Black and brown women in the moments that matter most.”
Research indicates that Black women face far higher risks of death and complications during pregnancy and childbirth—2.6 to 3 times higher than White women—due to systemic racism, socioeconomic disparities, and implicit bias in healthcare. Recent data sets show roughly 50–70 deaths per 100,000 live births for Black women, compared with 14–19 for White women, even as overall maternal mortality declines.
“That just helps frame how dire some of these situations are and just how afraid many Black women and women of color are of the hospital system,” Welteroth said. “…That is why we have to create a pipeline for more community birth workers who look like the patients that they [serve], who can [serve] them in a way that is respectful and empowering and dignified and in their own home, if that’s their preferred choice.”
When launching BirthFUND in 2024 with Serena Williams, Welteroth shared how a midwife saved her life after spotting post-birth blood clot symptoms. Midwives play a critical role in reducing maternal and neonatal deaths, especially for Black women, research shows, by providing culturally competent, holistic care.
Citing viral cases of Black mothers being denied care and how the BirthFUND was able to support a mother of five who needed an at-home birth, Welteroth emphasized the urgent need for a larger, diverse pool of birth workers.
“That just helps frame how dire some of these situations are and just how afraid many Black women and women of color are of the hospital system,” Welteroth told AfroTech. “…That is why we have to create a pipeline for more community birth workers who look like the patients that they [serve], who can [serve] them in a way that is respectful and empowering and dignified and in their own home, if that’s their preferred choice.”
Through its latest campaign to engage “100 culture changemakers” and raise $1 million for a rapid relief fund, BirthFUND100 seeks to address urgent challenges facing mothers and families, including food insecurity, unsafe housing, transportation barriers, and medical emergencies, joining Welteroth and Washington as cultural impact partners are Michelle Monaghan and entrepreneurs Laura Modi and Nancy Twine.
“#BirthFUND and #BirthFUND100 are uplifting mothers who have been failed for far too long. And together, we can help make birth safe, equitable, and full of dignity for EVERY parent,” Washington wrote on Instagram.
Stefon Diggs Debuts Luxury Furniture Line At Miami Art Basel, To Bring ‘A Feeling Of Peace At Home’
Stefon Diggs fully flexed his designer side with the debut of his luxury furniture line at Miami Art Basel.
Stefon Diggs is showing he’s more than an NFL star and Cardi B’s 4x Pro Bowler boyfriend by stepping into the design world with his luxury furniture debut at Miami Art Basel.
The New England Patriots wide receiver showcased his Si Vis Pacem furniture line at Design Miami during Miami Art Basel, unveiling plush sofas, sculptural backless H-shaped chairs, and oversized fur-framed mirrors, Vogue reports. Now available by commission ahead of a broader release in 2026, Diggs created the collection as functional art meant to bring a sense of peace and style to the home.
“For this launch, I wanted to create functional art pieces, objects, and furniture that contribute to a feeling of peace at home,” Diggs said. “Si Vis Pacem is really a direct reflection of that desire. I feel the most at peace when I’m in a space I created—and I wanted to share that with the world. I would love for people to feel welcomed by my work. Similar to coming home to a warm environment where you can ground yourself and prepare for what’s to come.”
Diggs broke down the meaning behind the line’s name in an Instagram post, noting that he’s been developing the collection for the last year. The title comes from the Latin phrase “if you want peace, prepare for war.”
“Been waiting all year to share this with the world. Welcome to @sivispacem.home, if you want peace, prepare for war ❤️🩹,” he wrote.
The five-piece collection features a sofa, backless H-shaped chairs, oversized mirrors, a plush olive-green lounge chair, and opulent free-form mirrors wrapped in real animal fur. This element quickly drew criticism from PETA, which called out the All-Pro wide receiver, telling him to stick to football rather than forms of design that cause cruelty to animals.
“These family-oriented Song Dogs can suffer for days before the hunter returns to shoot or bludgeon them to death and peel the skin from their bodies, so PETA urges Diggs to stick to football and use faux fur for his next arts-and-crafts project,” PETA’s Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said.
Detroit Tenants Endure More Than A Month Without Heat In Frigid Weather
Tenants say building management didn’t turn on the heat until weeks after temperatures dropped.
A broken boiler has left many units at Detroit’s Alden Towers without heat for more than a month, forcing tenants in 98 apartments to rely on space heaters.
The faulty heating system is among many safety and maintenance concerns in the historic building located at 8100 East Jefferson Avenue near the city’s east river district.
The Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) issued an emergency correction order on Nov. 24 after inspecting and confirming that one building in the four-tower complex has not had heat since Nov. 4. Tenants say building management, Friedman Real Estate, didn’t turn on the heat until Nov. 1. Still, it went out again three days later and has been out ever since.
“We have been aware of isolated heat complaints in one of the towers at Alden Towers, but were unaware of it being a widespread issue until just recently,” BSEED spokesperson Georgette Johnson told Metro Times in a statement. “Last week, we wrote an emergency correction order for the landlord to address the issues. As of Monday, the issue still had not been fixed. This is unacceptable. Yesterday, we issued tickets to the owner in the amount of $2,000 and will continue to write tickets daily until the issue is addressed and tenants have reliable heat. We also are working with the Law Department on potential legal action against the owner of the building.”
According to residents, the apartment complex includes heat in the rent.
“We’re still paying rent, but we haven’t had heat around here,” resident Nandi Bailey told Fox 2 News, Detroit.
“You don’t even want to shower some days,” Bailey told the outlet.
Tenants say management told them to use multiple space heaters because the building couldn’t provide heat. However, Bailey states that she and some tenants are worried that the new heaters will significantly raise their electric bills and increase the risk of fires. Temperatures are expected to drop as low as 5 degrees this weekend.
Serena Williams To Star In And Executive Produce New Prime Video Docuseries The CEO Club
When the girl bosses link up.
Prime Video has announced it will soon debut a new docuseries, The CEO Club, highlighting women changemakers, including Serena Williams, who will also serve as executive producer for the eight-episode series.
“As an executive producer, I’ve had so much fun helping bring this series to life. Celebrating the brilliance, ambition, and sisterhood of women I admire and call friends has been incredibly special,” Williams said in a press release.
In addition to Williams, the cameras will follow Latin pop superstar Thalía, designer Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger, SHOP.COM CEO Loren Ridinger, supermodel and Cay Skin Founder Winnie Harlow, Hannah Bronfman, founder of Conteur Capital, and Grutman, founder of ISA Jewelry and Rangel, Isabela Rangel Grutman. According to Prime Video, The CEO Club will follow each woman individually and together as they support one another while juggling entrepreneurship, motherhood, and personal lives.
Amazon, MGM Studios, and Blink-49 Studios produced the series. Tara Long, Nadine Rajabi, and Caroline Currier join Williams as executive producers.
“The CEO Club is a powerful testament to what happens when women step fully into their brilliance, leadership, and influence,” said Long in a statement to People. “These multi-hyphenate CEOs aren’t waiting to be invited in — they are building their own tables, shaping new legacies, and redefining what power looks like.”
This isn’t Williams’ first time appearing in a docuseries; she was the subject of ESPN’s 2024 eight-part series, In the Arena: Serena Williams, which chronicled her 27-year tennis career before she retired in 2022.
Harlow isn’t new to reality TV; she appeared on America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) in 2014, becoming the first model with vitiligo to appear on the show. In a 2018 appearance on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, the supermodel sparked controversy by admitting that her time on the famous modeling competition didn’t do much to help launch her career. The skincare brand owner later clarified her comments, saying she’s grateful for her platform appearance but credited photographer Nick Knight, who reached out to her for a photoshoot, with helping to kickstart her career.
The CEO Club will debut on Prime Video on Monday, Feb. 23, and will be available in more than 240 countries and territories.
Somali-American Citizen Describes The ‘Terror’ After Being Detained By ICE In Minneapolis
Mubashir’s story is one of several attacks on Minneapolis’ Somali community
A Somali-American citizen residing in Minneapolis is speaking out after he was illegally detained for roughly two hours, saying it was for no reason other than his ethnicity.
Mubashir, who declined to give his last name out of fear of retaliation against his family and loved ones, stood before a crowd of reporters and supporters, alongside Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara, to tell the ordeal that occurred Dec. 9. The 20-year-old, who came to the U.S. as a child and became a naturalized American citizen, according to MPR News, said he could tell trouble was lurking when he stepped out for his lunch break.
“I was simply on my lunch break, I literally went downstairs from my building, I wasn’t outside for mere seconds before I saw a masked person running at me full speed,” he said.
“He tackled me, he pushed inside the restaurant as you can see in the video. “‘I told him I’m a U.S. citizen, what is going on?’ He didn’t seem to care.”
Mobashir, an American citizen, spoke Wednesday to recount his forceful arrest by ICE agents in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
He described being rushed, tackled, and placed in a chokehold by agents before being transported to a detention center in Bloomington, despite his… pic.twitter.com/BIHTgTBn9Y
The agents handcuffed Mubashir before taking him across the street and pushing him in the snow. ICE agents were seen putting the victim in a chokehold while he can be heard shouting, “I have my ID!” without any response.
Mubashir said the men never identified themselves as ICE agents and wondered whether they could have been regular citizens — like him. One agent seen in the video was wearing a vest labeled as “Police Federal Officer,” while the others read “Police ICE.” His curiosity really sparked after the alleged agents put him in an unmarked car and had trouble with almost everything.
Mubashir was detained for about an hour after he refused to consent to having his photo taken. The men then attempted to take his fingerprints with their digital reader, but it didn’t work, resulting in them driving toward Fort Snelling, close to an ICE detention facility. The victim said they seem highly unfamiliar with the Minneapolis area to be agents. “While they were driving me all the way there, they were wasting time,” Mubashir said.
“They kept going back on the same highway. I told them, ‘Are you guys lost?’ They said, ‘This is our first time taking someone in.’ They had their maps out and everything, and they were trying to intimidate me.”
Mubashir’s story is one of several incidents on Minneapolis’ Somali community amid the Department of Homeland Security launch of “Operation Metro Surge” in the Twin Cities, according to CBS News, and verbal attacks from President Donald Trump who admitted to wanting the demographic out of the country and referred to state Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali refugee, as “garbage.” Frey labeled the agents’ actions blatantly unconstitutional. “What we saw by these ICE agents that clearly did not know what they were doing was violence and unwillingness to hear the simple truth, which he was repeating again and again, which is, ‘I’m an American citizen,’” the mayor said.
O’Hara called the action “embarrassing” and apologized to Mubashir for the horror he had to experience. “I apologize that this happened to you in my city, with people wearing vests that say ‘police.’ That’s embarrassing,” the police chief said. “Taken into custody for no reason at all, in clear violation of law and the Constitution of the United States for simply walking down the street and looking like he’s Somali,” said Mayor Frey.
Beyoncé And Venus Williams To Co-Chair Met Gala 2026, Teyana Taylor And A’Ja Wilson On Host Committee
Beyoncé and Venus Williams are among the powerhouse quartet of women tapped to co-chair the 2026 Met Gala.
Beyoncé is ending her decade-long break from the iconic Met Gala and will return in 2026 as a co-chair alongside other leading female powerhouses.
On Dec. 10, organizers revealed the co-chairs for the 2026 Met Gala, with Beyoncé, Venus Williams, and Nicole Kidman joining Vogue’s Anna Wintour to lead the star-studded event, AP reports. Set for May 4 with the newly announced theme, “Costume Art,” the gala will mark Beyoncé’s return—and her eighth appearance—as one of the most anticipated figures on the carpet.
Williams will make her co-chair debut seven years after her sister Serena Williams helped lead the 2019 ‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’ gala. Kidman steps in for her third co-chair role in two decades, having previously hosted in 2003 and 2005. Wintour, long credited with transforming the event into a global spectacle, most recently helped raise $31 million for the Met’s Costume Institute.
Additional A-listers rounding out the 2026 Met Gala host committee include actors Zoë Kravitz, Teyana Taylor, Elizabeth Debicki, Gwendoline Christie, and Lena Dunham; musicians Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, LISA, Sam Smith, and Yseult; dancer Misty Copeland; WNBA star A’ja Wilson; models Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser, and Lauren Wasser; Vogue editor Chloe Malle; fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello; and artist Anna Weyant.
No official dress code has been revealed yet, but with the theme “Costume Art,” the exhibit will spotlight how fashion has been represented in art throughout the centuries. The showcase will pair garments with objects from across the museum, highlighting the long-standing relationship between clothing and artistic expression.
“It’s a show that can really live in fascinating ways at the museum and can pull from all different areas of our collection — paintings, sculpture, drawings,” the museum’s CEO and Director, Max Hollein, said last month.
The Met Gala returns on May 4, with the ‘Costume Art’ exhibition opening to the public on May 10, 2026, and running through Jan. 10, 2027.
Michigan Football Head Coach Arrested After Being Fired For ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ With Staff Member
The school provided no specific details
Shortly after being terminated from his football head coaching job at the University of Michigan for allegedly being “engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member,” Sherrone Moore was arrested and taken into custody at the Washtenaw County Jail on Dec. 10.
According to MLive, the school fired Moore “with cause, effective immediately,” citing that officials found “credible evidence” that the now-former football coach was involved in an “inappropriate” relationship with a staff member. No details were provided beyond the termination. Athletic director Warde Manuel said, “This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
The school provided no specific details about who Moore was involved with or for how long. Moore is married and lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, Kelli, and three daughters.
The coach was with Michigan for less than two years after taking over the coaching reins from Jim Harbaugh in January 2024, as Harbaugh went to coach in the NFL. Moore had a 9-3 record this season after leading the team to a 7-5 record last year.
However, the bad news Moore received was just the beginning of a not-so-great day: later reports said police officers in Pittsfield Township arrested him “for investigation into potential charges,” then turned him over to officers in Pittsfield Township.
Breaking: Ex-Michigan coach Sherrone Moore was detained by police in Saline, Mich. this evening and turned over to police in Pittsfield Township for investigation into potential charges, reporting with @PeteThamelpic.twitter.com/KTuzlmNXQ7
USA Today reported that police officers responded to a call to investigate an alleged assault and stated that “a suspect in this case was taken into custody.” They said the incident, which took place at 4:10 p.m., didn’t appear to be random. Moore was booked at 8:30 p.m.
“At this time, the investigation is ongoing,” Pittsfield Township Police said in a written statement. “Given the nature of the allegations, the need to maintain the integrity of the investigation, and its current status at this time, we are prohibited from releasing additional details. Further details regarding the incident will be released as soon as permissible.”
All Heroes Don’t Wear Capes: Detroit Man Escorts 6-Year-old Girl Child To School After Seeing Her Walking Alone
He urged parents to prioritize their children’s safety
A Detroit man went viral after recording himself walking a six-year-old girl to school after spotting her walking alone in freezing temperatures.
On Monday, Dec. 8, Joshua Threatt, 36, noticed a young girl walking without a hat or gloves on Detroit’s west side, where temperatures were in the teens. He walked her 10 blocks to her school while livestreaming the moment on Facebook.
“She was out here walking by herself,” Threatt said in the video.
When they arrived at the school, Threatt verified that the staff knew the child and told them what had happened. He grew emotional during the encounter.
“She’s probably scared because she’s been walking for about 10 blocks. She’s probably scared. So many people just pulled up on that little girl,” a tearful Threatt told the staff.
The Facebook Live video went viral on social media, with commenters praising Threatt’s actions and questioning where the little girl’s parents were.
Threatt, a father, said that when he saw the girl, he knew she needed help and stepped in to assist her. He also mentioned that he decided not to drive her to school because he didn’t want anyone to suspect him of harming the child.
“I actually thought about my youngest because my youngest is the same age, and I was like this shouldn’t be, like somebody needs to be with her,” The father told WYZ News, Detroit.
“We had a good, nice man-to-man talk,” Threatt told the outlet, but he didn’t provide further details about the conversation.
Detroit police confirmed that they have been in contact with the family and said this is not the first time this has happened to the child. Authorities confirmed they notified Children’s Protective Services about the incident, which is reportedly under investigation.
Threatt urged parents to prioritize their children’s safety above all else following the incident.
