Jury selection began Monday in Manhattan in the federal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who faces multiple charges, including sex trafficking, transportation to engage...

Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson didn’t inherit a pulpit—she created one. The ordained minister and professor of preaching and practical theology at Wake Forest...

“We the People” is the theme of former Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech, which she will deliver Wednesday night in San Francisco. Harris will...

People in the News

Friday, May 9, 2025

People in the News

Friday, May 9, 2025

Black history spotlight for Dec. 14, 2012: John Mercer Langston

John Mercer Langston

John Mercer Langston was born Dec. 14, 1829 in Louisa County, Virginia. After college, he quickly became a leader among free blacks and was elected to local offices. In 1864 he helped organize the National Equal Rights League, of which he was the first president. In 1888 he was a Republican candidate from Virginia for the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in Congress from 1890 to 1891.Langston was not only a congressman, but founder of Howard University Law Department.