The battle for voting rights came to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin's backyard this week, as the mustard seed-sized Black population of the state got reinforcements from across the country.

A caravan of Black organizers pulled into Charleston Thursday for a late afternoon rally in the shadow of the gold dome of the Capitol where Manchin served as a state lawmaker before he was elected secretary of state, governor and U.S. senator.

In one of the whitest states in the country, the activists were there to deliver a message: Black voters matter. ...

Originally published by The 19th

Darnella Frazier, the teenage girl who whipped out her cell phone and recorded the police murder of George Floyd last summer, a video that rocked the nation, has received an honorary Pulitzer Prize for her courage.

Frazier, now 18, was honored with a special citation for her video, which “spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice." ...

Originally published by The 19th

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday urged would-be Guatemalan migrants not to come to the U.S. border illegally even as she expressed empathy for why they might make the difficult decision to flee their culture, their kin and the only home they have ever known.

“I want to be clear to folks in this region that are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come. Do not come," Harris said at a press conference with President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala as part of her first foreign trip as vice president. “We will discourage illegal migration and I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back."...

Originally published by The 19th