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Currently a reporter for POLITICO, I began my journalism career at the as the South and West Sides Reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. After a year with my hometown newspaper, I made the move to cover national politics when I joined The Hill as their Race and Politics Reporter in 2022. 

POLITICO •

99 days to go

With less than 100 days until November’s midterms, both parties are rushing to say why they have the upper hand.Across memos, advertising and other messaging materials from the two major parties in Washington, the split is as clear as ever: Democrats are highlighting cost of living concerns among Americans who are dissatisfied with President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, while Republicans are flexing strong fundraising and trying to paint Democrats as too far left to win.As it stands...
POLITICO •

Democrats’ stance on Israel takes center stage in Bush-Bell rematch in St. Louis

The former representative was among the first sitting members of Congress to call Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” — and now she’s betting that her progressive bonafides and her criticism of the top U.S. ally will boost her to victory with the same electorate that punished her last cycle.“One of us is of the people, by the people and for the people,” Bush said in a recent interview. “The other one is paid for by AIPAC. That’s the difference.”Like two years ago, a group aligned with the Amer...
POLITICO •

‘The entire South is on fire’: Black Southern Democrats warn that minority-majority legislative districts are at risk

Several Southern states have already moved to eliminate majority Black congressional seats, as control of the House in November hangs in the balance. And while few have yet taken concrete steps to change legislatures — where Democrats are uniformly already in the minority across the South — ahead of the midterms, Republican leaders indicated that it would be coming down the road.Georgia’s GOP Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday called a legislative special session to redraw congressional and state legi...
POLITICO •

Cori Bush wants her seat back — and a rematch over AIPAC

Two years after a high-profile primary defeat that sent shockwaves through the progressive Squad, Cori Bush wants to go back to Washington.But as the activist-turned-politician seeks to reclaim her seat, she must also contend with the changed landscape of the Beltway — including a Democratic Party engaged in fierce infighting over the country’s support for Israel that has only intensified since her ousting from Congress, which she argues will fuel her comeback bid.“I need to go back. I didn’t fi...
POLITICO •

The rift over generational change roils the Congressional Black Caucus

“I know the issues and I know the problems, I know the people,” said Cohen. “The way you get legislation passed hasn’t changed, really, in the 40 years I’ve been here. Some people think it’s about getting a megaphone and hollering or making some kind of a fuss, and I’ve done some of that in my younger days, and I still like to occasionally … but it’s a matter of having friends, having relationships, and being able to get the majority of votes to pass the bills. And I’ve done that all my life.”Th...
POLITICO •

Will a lapse in ACA subsidies imperil Black maternal health?

Hello Women Rule! I am thrilled to contribute to this week’s conversation. Thank you Teresa and the whole team for letting me shine a light on this topic. Reach out at [email protected].A series of viral videos documenting Black women in active labor going untreated has reignited alarm over the Black maternal mortality crisis. The concerns come as millions brace for an end to Affordable Care Act subsidies, which could significantly raise insurance premiums and further erode access to care for vu...
The Hill •

Medicaid cuts risk worsening Black maternal health crisis

Advocates are warning lawmakers that the proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid will leave millions of pregnant Black women at a heightened risk of death, worsening the maternal mortality crisis and its racial disparities. 


Last month, the House budget resolution proposed up to $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid over a decade, which would also lead to cuts to Medicare. 

But advocates say Medicaid is a vital resource for cutting into the maternal mortality disparities.  
“We often see these cut...
The Hill •

Black veterans sound the alarm over military DEI purge

Black veterans are warning that the Trump administration’s effort to purge the Defense Department of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) content is sending a negative message that could impact recruitment efforts.


The Pentagon has faced backlash in recent weeks after efforts to comply with President Trump’s executive order banning DEI in the military resulted in the removal of webpages dedicated to Jackie Robinson; Colin Powell; Army Maj. Gen. Charles C. Rogers, a Black recipient of the...
The Hill •

6 hidden messages in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance

Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance is growing in viewership hours after the big game, gaining more 11 million views since it aired Sunday night.


Lamar, who has won a Pulitzer Prize, is known for his storytelling, and his performance at Caesars Superdome sought to tell a story of Black Americans and their place within U.S. history.

While fans gathered in New Orleans rapped along to hits including “Humble” and the Grammy-winning diss-track “Not Like Us,” Lamar’s all-Black perfor...
The Hill •

Black country music ‘renaissance’ forces genre to reckon with racial history

The growing popularity of Black country artists, spurred in part by Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter,” has sparked a conversation around the history of the genre and the past and present racial tensions surrounding it.


Beyoncé, who has spoken out about the hostile response she received after performing at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards in 2016, made headlines this year when she became the first Black woman to top the Hot Country Songs chart on Billboard.

On Wednesday, she performed a med...
The Hill •

Black women face extraordinary maternal mental health challenges 

Black medical professionals are urging their colleagues to create an interdisciplinary approach to caring for Black pregnant patients in an effort to minimize maternal mortality rates, with a particular emphasis on providing high quality mental health care. 


Black women are two to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women. In a majority of cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found, Black maternal deaths are preventable. 

They endure pregna...
The Hill •

‘Shadow of segregation looms’ on 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board 

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was only 7 when the Supreme Court ruled in the Brown v. Board of Education case that separate but equal was unconstitutional.


Before that, though, Green rode the bus from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to Crestview, Fla., to go to school every day. 

“I can tell you what it was like to be in a segregated school and drive by white schools, where the buildings were newer, the buses were newer, where they had the best books,” Green told The Hill.  
The lawmaker remembered getti...
The Hill •

Black leaders commemorate 70 years of Brown v. Board with call to action

Some of the nation’s most prominent Black political leaders and advocates celebrated the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education Friday by calling for more to be done to end present-day segregation. 


Many Black leaders have expressed concerns over limitations on Black history and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in schools. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) marked the milestone of the case by highlighti...
Chicago Sun-Times •

You’ve heard of food deserts. Pharmacy deserts are just as bad.

Monica Mitchell has lived in South Shore for two decades, and in that time, she’s had to change pharmacies three times.The 48-year-old registered nurse said when a Walgreens five minutes from her house was closed, she switched to one a few blocks over, but it didn’t carry all the items she needed. So she started going to one in Hyde Park.Then came the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in the summer of 2020, which sparked days of protests, civil unrest and looting across the...
Chicago Sun-Times •

Three decades ago, a Black drag queen ran for mayor of Chicago

Nearly 30 years before Lori Lightfoot made Chicago history as the city’s first openly gay mayor, a gay Black man — Terence Alan Smith — stirred up conversations around race and gender when he entered the 1991 mayoral primary as his drag persona, Joan Jett Blakk. Though Blakk never made it on the ballot, running as a write-in candidate, his candidacy remains for many an unforgettable moment in Chicago’s history.Smith was born in Detroit in 1957. Growing up during the civil rights era, Smith said...
Inside Climate News •

The US Nuclear Weapons Program Left ‘a Horrible Legacy’ of Environmental Destruction and Death Across the Navajo Nation - Inside Climate News

COVE CHAPTER, Ariz.—Phil Harrison walks the Lukachukai mountain range that towers over the Cove Chapter of the Navajo Nation in northeast Arizona. The mountains rise against a clear blue sky, and the red sand is dotted with sagebrush and flowers.


On a clear, warm day in May, he pauses, picks up a sprig of sagebrush and rubs it between his hands. “This is good medicine; it restores your brain,” he says.  


He brings the crushed sage to his nose and inhales the sharp scent, holding out his ha...
South Side Weekly •

Everything Felt Like a Punishment | South Side Weekly

Robert Cloutier, fifty-seven, has spent more than half of his life at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, Illinois. Incarcerated for nearly forty years, Cloutier has one of the more dangerous prison jobs during the pandemic: disposing of the prison’s biohazard waste. Since the onset of COVID-19 last March, this has meant collecting the facility’s used personal protective equipment (PPE).
At the start of the pandemic, Cloutier said he would fill several bags with discarded PPE such as glove...