Hawaii Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade & Unity Rally

08/27/2026

“Even people who hate everyone love Dolly Parton.” Fran Lebowitz

“People would ask me how long it took to do my hair and I’d tell them, “I don’t know. I’m never there.”” Dolly Parton

“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.” Dolly Parton

Andy Warhol (interviewing Parton in the July 1984 issue of Interview magazine): “You could make a great preacher.”

Dolly Parton: What do you mean? I *am* a great preacher.”

Wow! What devastating news that beloved Country & Western diva, perennial hair hopper role model, philanthropist, rhinestone enthusiast, one-woman ray of sunshine and all-round force for good, Miss Dolly Parton (19 January 1946 – 25 August 2026) has died aged 80. It’s odd – we all knew she was experiencing significant health problems and cancelling public appearances (including a planned Las Vegas residency), and yet it still feels like a shock. Damn – she was great. Pictured: portrait of Parton by Ed Caraeff from the photo session for her 1978 album Heartbreaker.

08/27/2026

John Glenn refused to fly until one woman checked the computer's math by hand.

Her name was Katherine Johnson. NASA had electronic machines by 1962, and nobody fully trusted them. Glenn's instruction was blunt: get the girl to run the numbers. If she says they're good, I'm ready to go.

She ran them. He flew.

Johnson's trajectory work carried Alan Shepard into space, put Glenn in orbit, and helped bring Apollo 11 back from the Moon.

She did it while working in a segregated building, using a segregated bathroom, at an agency that called her a computer instead of a mathematician.

She died in 2020, aged 101. Obama had already handed her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Pencil beat processor.

07/21/2026

When writer Ashley Stoney first saw the news about the death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old football player who went missing after a Fourth of July party with a group of white friends, her first thought was immediate. “He was probably unsafe,” she writes. “His peers were the children of judges and doctors who could protect them if they were in trouble.” Stoney also wanted to explore why, exactly, she had reacted so strongly to his story.

“Some of us describe seeing some of our worst moments reflected back to us in those photos of Wells with his white friends,” Stoney writes of herself and her Black peers. “We talked about how isolating it can feel to be the only Black person and how dangerous it can be if no one truly values your humanity.”

Ahead of Wells’ funeral this afternoon, Stoney reflects on the 18-year-old's tragic death and the impact it has had on Black parents who see their own children in him. Read the full essay at the link below.

07/11/2026

07/08/2026

Where has this been written of?

Tonea Nicole Miller was twenty-seven years old who came to Miami from Michigan during Juneteenth weekend to celebrate.

On June 18, 2026, she was found dead—hanging from a tree at Gwen Cherry Park in Gladeview.

The official ruling: apparent su***de.

Her family says that's not the answer they're accepting. They've ordered their own independent autopsy. They're demanding a full forensic investigation. They're demanding the truth.

Where are the major news outlets? Where's the coverage? One CBS News Miami report. The rest of mainstream media has stayed quiet. But the community hasn't.

Social media is filled with .

People are asking questions.

People are refusing to let this story disappear into silence.

The investigation is still active. The medical examiner's final findings haven't come back yet. Toxicology results are still pending. But a young Black woman found hanging from a tree during Juneteenth deserves more than a quick ruling and national silence.

Her family deserves answers. She deserved better than this.

Her name is Tonea Nicole Miller. Share it. Know it.

Demand that this investigation be thorough and transparent.

Demand that the answers be made public.