National

Top 5 Stories You Missed While You Were Sleeping

By Shamone Nelson | Published on January 12, 2018

After a report claimed Donald Trump referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “shithole countries”, Don Lemon tears into him and declares that he is a racist. Lemon says the President’s comments are “not shocking, not even really surprising because this is who Donald Trump is—this is what he thinks.”
R&B Legend Mary J. Blige was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star yesterday on her birthday. Mary said, “On this day, my birthday, God put my name on a star.”
Niecy Nash and Olivia Munn lightly drag Mark Wahlberg on getting paid $1.5 million for “All the Money in the World” reshoots while his co-star Michelle Williams got paid next to nothing. While attending the Critics Choice awards, the actresses joked, “Thank you to all the producers for paying Niecy and I the same and Mark Wahlberg a million bucks.”
Chris Brown could be prosecuted for keeping a pet monkey named Fiji without a permit. Brown could be charged with having a restricted species without a permit, a misdemeanor, that carries a maximum of 6 months in jail.
Donald Trump denies allegations of saying racist slurs against several migrant countries. He said “this was not the language”, “tough, but this was not the language used”.

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way