Known as one of the oldest African American communities in the state, Royal, Fla. was founded in 1865 by freed slaves who received land through the "40 Acres and a Mule" promise.

Today, residents and descendants are fighting to protect their community from development threats, particularly an extension of the Florida Turnpike that could devastate their homes and churches.

Beverly Steele is a lifelong resident and founder of Young Performing Artists Incorporated, a nonprofit spearheading the initiative to protect Royal.

"All routes were proposed to come right through Royal, and it would have not just interrupted the community. It would have really destroyed the community. This center would have been out there. Two churches closed here. They would have been out, and most of the home in the community would have been out," she explained.

Royal's residents are pursuing historic preservation to protect against these threats, including nominating Royal as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, administered by the National Park Service. The Florida State Historic Preservation Officer has submitted Royal's nomination twice, but the National Park Service returned it both times due to insufficient justification of Royal's historic boundaries and other issues noted by Young Performing Artists.

Preserving Royal's history and land is just as important to the younger generation, who has learned about the importance of land ownership.

"We always had a place that we called our own. I knew nothing about renting 'cause the land was always ours, the homes were ours," she continued. "So, it gave me a sense of pride, because I can say I am a landowner."

Suncara Jackson, a descendant of Royal's founders, is working to engage younger community members through social media and grassroots efforts.

As the community rallies to preserve its history and fend off encroaching development with the help of such groups as the Southern Poverty Law Center, Steele remains committed to Royal's future and says it's not just a Florida issue; it's a national issue since Black people were freed in this country.

"Since 1865, since the end of the Civil War until today, we are true living examples of what that life was like and is like and would have been like for most. That's what we are," she said.


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New research finds Black working women still face rampant discrimination in the Golden State.

The California Black Women's Collective Empowerment Institute commissioned a survey of 452 Black women. Almost 60% reported experiencing workplace racism or gender discrimination in the past year.

Shakari Byerly, managing partner of EVITARUS Research, conducted the survey.

"Nearly half feel marginalized, excluded from or passed over for work opportunities," Byerly reported. "Only 16% strongly agree that opportunities for leadership and or advancement in their workplace are available to them."

Among respondents, 59% reported being somewhat satisfied in their job but 38% said they are unsatisfied, with company leadership and work culture to blame. They also cited microaggressions, wage disparities and lack of mentoring or access to leadership roles.

Byerly noted one-third of those surveyed said they do not feel supported by their supervisor at work.

"They were subjected to stereotypes, were talked down to, or subjected to disrespectful communication at work," Byerly explained. "And 38% say they were accused or thought of as an angry Black woman."

The report called on the state to enforce pay equity, expand antidiscrimination protections and ensure workplace accountability. They called on companies to invest in Black women's leadership development and eliminate bias in workplace culture.


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The American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association are suing the Trump administration over threats to defund schools it believes are promoting the concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion.

In a letter, the Department of Education laid out its plans to cut funding for schools that don't comply. Critics say the administration is distorting anti-discrimination laws to block efforts that support disadvantaged students of color.

Arthur Steinberg, president of the Pennsylvania AFT chapter, warned that the cuts could affect nearly 800,000 lower-income students and more than 360,000 special-education students.

"The Trump administration is now attempting to use the threat of federal funds to infringe on people's rights of free speech," he said. "There is already a mandate that college presidents can't tell schools and colleges what to teach."

Steinberg said Gov. Josh Shapiro is all for teaching what he's called "honest history," as is the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He noted that some Republicans in the state Senate would go along with the Trump administration. The lawsuit was filed last week in federal court in Maryland.

Steinberg criticized the letter as vague for failing to define "DEI" and threatening to withhold federal money from school districts with programs of which the new administration disapproves. He said he sees it as an attack on students and educators, and emphasized the importance of Black history as well as all facets of American history.

"It bans meaningful instruction on everything from slavery to the Emancipation Proclamation, the forced relocation of Native American Tribes and the laws of Jim Crow," he said, "not to mention the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and attempts to upend the Civil Rights Act."

The letter suggested that current DEI policies discriminate against white and Asian students. It states that schools should comply with civil rights laws, stop using "indirect methods to avoid race-related prohibitions" and avoid "third-party services that circumvent race rules."

An urban farm in North Carolina is celebrating Black History Month this weekend with a farmers market and historic group hike.

Urban Community AgriNomics in Durham is holding its farmers market at Catawba Trail Farm and is inviting people on a hike through an old plantation where the organization has reclaimed an old farmstead.

Delphine Sellars, executive director of the nonprofit, said the legacy of agriculture is important for people of color.

"We as the descendants are now farming and dealing with agriculture not because we have to but because we want to and we realize the benefits of it," Sellars explained.

The plantation where the group is reclaiming farming was one of the biggest in the North Carolina plantation system, and at times held more than 1,000 enslaved people. Sellars emphasized there is still space to join the Black History Month hike, which starts at 10 a.m.

The Catawba Trail Farm allows community members to get involved in agriculture. Some of the vegetables available this weekend include arugula, radishes and kale. Sellars argued access to produce is important.

"Our goal is to make sure that we can make fresh vegetables accessible as we strive to increase food security," Sellars added.

Sellars stressed people of color should build on what was left to them to become better, healthier individuals who know how to take care of themselves.

"I was always taught to be ashamed of my ancestry because we were enslaved, but now I know better," Sellars observed. "I need to be ashamed of the enslaver but not of my ancestors, who were enslaved."


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