New El Paso museum highlights Illinois' first Black voter
PEORIA, Ill (WMBD) — Normally, when you go to a barber shop, you ask them to take some hair off the top.
Now, a new El Paso museum, looking to honor and remember the first Black voter in Illinois, hopes to add a little to the top of people's minds.
Michael Melick, the board president for Project XV Museum, and a teacher at El Paso Gridley High School, stopped by WMBD This Morning to explain the meaning and importance of the Project XV Museum, and this week's special event.
Project XV refers to the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which is the one that gave all people the right to vote, regardless of their race or creed. The museum sits on the spot where the barber shop of David Strother once was.
That's important, says Melick, because Strother 'was the first black voter after the 15th Amendment' went into effect. His first vote was for the El Paso municipal election in 1870.
The museum's name is a play on the Amendment's number, 15. But the Project XV Museum goes even further. It even delves into ways that area indigenous people picked leaders.
On Jan. 30, the museum will host award winning author Derrick Barnes for a special presentation on one of his books, 'Crown an Ode to The Fresh Cut,' which takes a look at the Black-owned barber shops and how they affect young boys getting their first cuts.
So, for a little off the top, stop by a barber shop, but for a little ON the top (of your mind), stop by the Project XV Museum in El Paso.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
![Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too [Op-Ed]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsone.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F22%2F2025%2F06%2F17495049643842.jpg%3Fquality%3D80%26strip%3Dall&w=3840&q=100)
![Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too [Op-Ed]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fall-logos-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblackamericaweb.com.png&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Black America Web
an hour ago
- Black America Web
Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too [Op-Ed]
Source: Nick Ut / Getty As Donald Trump sparks chaos by illegally deploying troops to Los Angeles, as immigration raids intensify, and as protesters are flooding the streets to demand dignity for migrants, far too many Black folks are sitting back on social media platforms singing a tired, familiar song. It's being sung off-key with a false sense of safety and a dangerous misunderstanding of how white supremacist violence works. The chorus of retreat sounds something like this: 'Black folks need to stay home.' 'Let them handle it. This is their fight.' 'Most Latinos voted for this mess.' 'ICE don't target us. We've got citizenship.' 'I ain't marching for nobody who won't march for me .' 'Latinos don't like us anyway.' But what's really being said underneath all that deflection is this: 'If they come for Latinos, I'll be quiet, as long as they leave me and mine alone.' But if you study history, I mean really study history, then you should already know that they never leave us alone. Not for long. I get it. Black folks are tired. We've carried the weight of every major freedom movement in this country. We've bled. We've died. And we've been betrayed. We've shown up, over and over, only to be met with anti-blackness in return. But this ain't about who likes us. It's about who's next! What ICE is doing to migrants isn't just an immigration issue. It's white supremacist violence at its core. It's separating families. It's state violence. It's stalking and snatching people from homes and workplaces and making them disappear. It's caging children. And for Black folks in America, this should all feel deeply familiar. The white supremacist machine of state violence doesn't make distinctions based on citizenship status. What ICE is doing to Latinx, West Indian, and African migrants is part of the same machinery that has policed and abused Black American bodies for centuries. We know what it means to have our families torn about by the state. We know what it means to be told that we don't belong in the land we built. We know exactly what it's like to be criminalized simply for existing, to be dehumanized by everyday language, media propaganda, policies, and bureaucrats in uniform. Black folks know what it means to live under surveillance, to be chased, cuffed, caged, and disappeared. We are the descendants of people who had to run. From plantations. From the Fugitive Slave Act and slave catchers. From the KKK and lynch mobs. Even if you were born right here in America, with ancestors going all the way back to slave ships, that border violence still echoes through Black lives. The ol' 'I got my papers, I'm safe' is a delusion. That little blue passport won't stop you from getting profiled, harassed, arrested, or shot by a cop who sees your Black skin before your citizenship status or hears your command of English. Just ask the countless Black immigrants already deported, or the U.S.-born Black folks ICE illegally detained anyway. Do you think that racist ICE agents caught up in immigration hysteria and round-up quotas will stop to check birth certificates? Just ask Peter Sean Brown, who was detained in the Florida Keys when an ICE agent mistakenly detained him as an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica. He spent weeks in custody and eventually sued. Or, ask Davino Watson, a native New Yorker who was imprisoned as a 'deportable alien' for more than three years despite claiming citizenship and then denied compensation by the court system. Source: Nick Ut / Getty ICE detentions are triggered by racial profiling, flawed algorithms, and sloppy data. Skin complexion, language, and citizenship won't shield us. Think about all the Black folks walking around without real IDs to prove they're citizens. Over a quarter of Black adult citizens do not have a driver's license with their current name and/or address and 18% don't have a license at all, according to the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. If ICE can mistakenly detain Black and Brown Americans born in the U.S., even if they have documentation, then no one is immune. Some Black folks are also citing the 2024 election exit polls to justify staying home and staying silent, like the ICE protests don't concern us. 'Latinos voted for Trump.' But exit polls don't tell the whole story. They only sample registered voters who actually voted, and they never account for the millions of undocumented immigrants who can't vote. They also oversample precincts that don't match the demographic reality, skewing results toward the dominant group in those districts. Most Latinos, like Black Americans, did not vote for Trump. According to national polls, 56% of Latinos who voted cast their ballot for Kamala Harris, while 42% went for Trump. Yes, Trump made gains among Latino men, but gains don't equate to dominance. The Latino vote split along familiar gender and generational lines, just like our communities. We can't turn a sampling of voter turnout into 'most Latinos voted for Trump,' and we can't let bad math be an excuse to justify apathy. And there's this one: 'I ain't marching for nobody that won't march for me.' Or its equally tired fraternal twin: 'Latinos don't like us anyway.' This is scarcity-minded, historically illiterate nonsense that treats solidarity as some sort of tit-for-tat transaction. If that's how our ancestors thought, then there wouldn't have been an Underground Railroad, no Civil Rights Act, A Voting Rights Act, or a Montgomery Bus Boycott. Solidarity is a strategy, not some popularity contest. If you're out here claiming Latinos don't march for us, then clearly you haven't picked up a history book. Y'all must not know about Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta who led the United Farm Workers who stood with Martin Luther King Jr. Y'all must not know about the Puerto Rican Young Lords working hand-in-hand with the Black Panther Party to run free clinics, breakfast programs, and tenant organizing drives in Chicago and New York City. Or, about the Mexican students who took their cue from SNCC and Malcolm X during the 1968 East LA walkouts and launched the Chicano civil rights crusade. In recent years, Afro-Latinos have been at the forefront of Black Lives Matter chapters, organizing vigils, raising bail funding, and pushing for police accountability across the country. In Chicago's Little Village, Latino organizers launched the 'Brown Squad for Black Lives' and established a Black and Brown Unity food pantry. Martin Luther King III has been working alongside Mi Familia Vota , a national Black-Brown coalition whose mission is to combat hate crimes, anti-immigrant policies, and attacks on voting rights— together —not as separate communities. Just because these sustained interracial commitments and coalitions aren't trendy headlines or going viral on social media doesn't mean solidarity isn't unfolding in schools, community centers, neighborhoods, and politics. It's one thing to let white folks battle each other, whether it's MAGA vs. neoliberal, liberals vs. conservatives, or Karens vs. Capitol Hill. White folks battling each other is the empire fighting over who gets to steer the ship while it is already sinking. You want to sit back and watch that unfold while sipping tea or eating popcorn? Fine. Letting white folks eat each other doesn't carry the same moral weight as turning your back on another marginalized community facing the same white supremacist violence as us. Let's also remember that anti-Blackness is global. It lives in every community, including our own. Black Americans can be just as anti-immigrant, just as colorist, just as xenophobic, just as colonized in our thinking. So, if you're sitting out because of what some Latinos, West Indians, or Africans said about us, then you're not protecting yourself. You're just waiting for your turn. So, what do we do? Source: Jason Armond / Getty We organize. We show up at ICE protests so the system doesn't get to isolate people in silence. We donate to immigrant bail funds and deportation defense teams like the Haitian Bridge Alliance, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and UndocuBlack. Use your platforms to amplify the stories, organizing, resistance, and victories of undocumented folks. Build local coalitions to organize teach-ins, mutual aid drives and community safety networks that bridge Black and Brown neighborhoods. We also need to unlearn the anti-immigrant, anti-Black, and anti-Indigenous narratives this country feeds us because solidarity starts in the mind. Black folks cannot afford to pretend that citizenship or birthright assures our protection. A system built on racial profiling, quotas, and militarized tactics never stops at 'not us.' It doesn't send ICE to the border and leave us in peace. These immigration raids strengthen a culture of normalized, dehumanizing state violence against anyone who looks 'other.' Immigration will become the excuse to expand the surveillance state and militarized policing in Black communities. This is absolutely our fight! Dr. Stacey Patton is an award-winning journalist and author of 'Spare The Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America' and the forthcoming 'Strung Up: The Lynching of Black Children In Jim Crow America.' Read her Substack here . SEE ALSO: Trump's Job Corps 'Pause' Is MAGA's Plan To Eliminate Poor Youth Harvard And White America's Creepy Obsession With Hoarding Black Remains SEE ALSO Dear Black Folks: The Protests Against ICE Are Absolutely Our Fight Too [Op-Ed] was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Blue Ivy Carter reclaims her title, wins BET YoungStars Award once again amid Beyoncé tour
Blue Ivy Carter reclaims her title, wins BET YoungStars Award once again amid Beyoncé tour Blue Ivy Carter is a young star indeed, reclaiming her title once again at the BET Awards. The 13-year-old daughter of Beyoncé and Jay Z took home the Young Stars Award for a second year in a row at the 25th BET Awards. The awards show, dubbed culture's biggest night, took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 9. The YoungStars Award honors young entertainers who have had an impact in television, film, music or sports. Akira Akbar, Graceyn 'Gracie' Hollingsworth, Heiress Harris, Melody Hurd, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Tyrik Johnson and VanVan were among those nominated. Last year, Blue Ivy also took home the prize. Beyoncé also received two nominations at this year awards. She was up for album of the year for her eighth studio album, "Cowboy Carter." Her song "Blackbiird," featuring Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts, also received a nomination for the BETHer Award. The song is a cover of the Beatles' 1968 tune, which was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement. The category honors motivational and empowering songs that center women. The 35-time Grammy-winning singer didn't take home any awards this year. As fans know, Beyoncé first released the eighth studio album in March 2024. It has since made history and broken multiple records. As Beyoncé's first country album, she deliberately featured country legends and emerging Black country artists alike. She became the first Black woman to win best country album and album of the year at the 2025 Grammys. She kicked off her "Cowboy Carter" tour — a spectacle filled with fashion, multiple music genres and cultural commentary — April 28 in Los Angeles. Blue Ivy has been blowing fans away with her stellar dance moves and has taken a lead role on her mom's Cowboy Carter and Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit Tour. Many have been raving online about her performances, and her she's certainly shown that she has what it takes to step up to the plate — even approving the title manager Blue. Beyoncé is currently on the international leg of her tour. The nine-city tour will span the U.S. and Europe with the grand finale taking place in Las Vegas on July 26. Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network's Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Cynthia Erivo crowned best actress at BET Awards
British singer and actress Cynthia Erivo was crowned best actress at the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards in Los Angeles. Hosted by Kevin Hart, Monday's BET Awards celebrated the work of black people in music, entertainment, film, sports and philanthropy. The London-born star, who rose to worldwide prominence last year for her role in Wicked, was also nominated for the BET Her Award — which recognises empowering songs that focus on women — for her rendition of Defying Gravity. Grammy Award-winning rapper Doechii used her acceptance speech to sharply criticise US President Donald Trump's handling of protests in Los Angeles. The Swamp Princess takes her crown again! Standing ovation please for the #BETAwards Best Female Hip Hop Artist, @officialdoechii 👑 In case you couldn't tell, we're your biggest fan! — #BETAwards (@BETAwards) June 10, 2025 Collecting the award for best female hip-hop artist, she accused the president of 'creating fear and chaos' in his response to demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, which sparked days of protest across the city. 'I do want to address what's happening right now, outside the building,' she said. 'These are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities. In the name of law and order, Trump is using military forces to stop a protest, and I want you all to consider what kind of government it appears to be, when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.' Mr Trump announced plans to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to California to quell the protests, which began on Friday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was 'essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States'. The decision drew sharp criticism from Democratic politicians, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move 'purposefully inflammatory'. London-based girl-group FLO missed out after picking up nominations for best group and the Bet Her award for their track In My Bag, featuring GloRilla. Fellow UK artists Bashy and Ezra Collective earned nominations for best international artist, while multi-genre artist Odeal and R&B singer kwn were shortlisted for best new international act. Kendrick Lamar, who led the pack with 10 nominations, took home awards for album of the year and best male hip-hop artist. He also won video of the year and video director of the year for his hit Not Like Us, as well as best collaboration for Luther, his track with SZA SZA won best female R&B/pop artist, while Chris Brown took home best male R&B/pop artist. The evening featured a star-studded cast, including actor Jamie Foxx, with performances by Ashanti, Mariah Carey and GloRilla. Foxx, Carey, gospel star Kirk Franklin and Snoop Dogg were honoured with the ultimate icon award for their contributions to community, entertainment, and advocacy. Miles Canton, Luke James and Lucky Daye delivered an R&B tribute to Quincy Jones, who died in November.
