BET Current

“Nolan was somebody’s child.” Protesters took over Freedom Plaza and marched to the White House demanding answers in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells. @RasheedaKabba reports.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month is over. The work isn’t. We sat down with Stephanie McGraw (@warmnyc), Dr. Donna Hylton (@donnahopehylton), Dr. Jamila T. Davis (@jamilatdavis) and Dawn Jackson (@theofficialdawnjackson), four survivors who turned what happened to them into a lifeline for other women. If you or someone you know needs help: 1-800-799-7233.

After 37 years on Inside the NBA, Ernie Johnson says this season is his last. Heart issues, family time, and a chapter well earned. He didn't just set the standard, he is the standard.

Voters showed up and showed out! Severa states across the country have Black governors for the first time in history!

JuJu Watkins waited 588 days to return to the court and dropped 21 in her first game. Plus: Angel Reese’s offseason reset, Serena Williams on dense breast tissue, and the Panthers’ new corners coach.

Voting is one part of the process. What happens after the polls close matters too. @BETNews correspondent @carringtonwhigham talks with Rev. Edwin Robinson of @bridgentx about counting, certification, and what to do if results are challenged. His advice: stay outside, say "count every vote," and connect with a grassroots organization working on the issues you care about. “Democracy is a team sport. It is not golf. It is not tennis.” Full conversation on @BET’s YouTube.

Tomorrow is Election Day, and some voters say they’re worried about federal interference at the polls. Civil rights groups and labor unions have sued to keep agents away from polling places, but a new NYT/Siena poll finds nearly three in four voters still trust Tuesday’s results. Also: Jackson State cancels classes after a nightclub shooting killed two young people Saturday night, and Kirk Franklin tells Kandi Burruss he’s never had a lemon pepper wing and hasn’t touched soul food, fried food or soda in 25 years.

Winning a championship is special. Being the one who wills your team there just means more. William Contreras was the Brewers’ two-way engine behind the plate as Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 4-1 for the franchise’s first World Series. Gabby Williams had two points at halftime of the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history, then dropped 28 in the second half to finish with 30 and hand the Valkyries their first title in a rocking Chase Center. Two first-ever championships, two MVPs who’ll live in the history books.

Georgia, your early voting window closes Friday. Black voters have already cast a third of the state’s 1.7 million ballots, Virginia is on track for its largest Black share of the vote in modern history, and the Bottoms-Jackson race is a coin flip. Jasmine Browley has that, the FAMU homecoming shooting, Marshall Faulk’s Parkinson’s diagnosis, and a sickle cell breakthrough in Louisiana on The Impact Report.

Kirk Franklin said what he said. 33 years in, a new double album, a Jelly Roll collab and a Phil Collins sample, and zero explanations. Plus: Halle Berry’s court win after nine days of closed-door testimony, and Baby Phat is back with True Religion, private jet runway and all.

Win or go home. The Dream picked win. Allisha Gray 23, Rhyne Howard 21, and the Valkyries’ championship party is on hold until Halloween. First ever Game 7 in WNBA Finals history, Saturday night in San Francisco. Golden State’s crowd vs. Angel Reese and Atlanta’s refusal to lose. Who gets it done? Justin Stuckey on The Scoreboard.

MAKE YOUR VOICE COUNT. 🗳️✊🏿 Bevy Smith gets real with our community about the importance of voting and how every voice plays a role in shaping our future. The midterm elections are coming up! Election Day is November 3, so start planning now and make sure you’re ready to head to the polls. Visit BET.com/Vote for the information and resources you need to prepare.

Black women in Illinois are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related conditions as white women. BET News journalist Danilo Wrightsell went to Chicago to find out who’s building a fix: Star August Ali and the Black Midwifery Collective training the next generation of Black midwives at Kennedy-King College, and Jeanine Logan building the Chicago South Side Birth Center, the first of its kind in Illinois. Full Community Reporting piece on @BET’s YouTube

Old Eagles teammates, new rivalry. Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson go head-to-head again this Halloween at Lincoln Financial Field as Norfolk State takes on Delaware State. Jackson’s Hornets took the first one 27-20, but Vick’s Spartans have gone from 1-11 to four wins this season, and he says he wants those 365 days of bragging rights. Plus, remember Nevada Pierre, the 3-year-old whose soccer game ended with police on the scene? Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports is sending him to Spain in December, and Eddie Johnson offered to train him. And a new BU study says nearly 3 in 4 former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had CTE.

YOUR VOICE DESERVES TO BE HEARD. 🗳️✊🏿 Bevy Smith is talking with our community about the power of the vote and why it’s important to show up at the polls this midterm election season. Mark your calendar! Election Day is November 3. Get informed, make a plan, and make your vote count. Visit BET.com/Vote for more information and resources ahead of Election Day.

Not the start he planned. But what a moment. Calvin Russell III tore his Achilles in April. Six months later, he’s catching the game-winning TD and the two-point conversion in overtime to get Syracuse its first conference win of the season. All the goals he set for himself are still within sight. @JustinStuckey_ on The Scoreboard.

“Monumental.” That’s how Nipsey Hussle’s brother Blacc Sam described Jay-Z’s tribute to Nip at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Plus: Drake’s “Janice STFU” lawsuit is gone for now, dismissed without prejudice by the producer who filed it. Mary J. Blige’s catalog is headed to Primary Wave. And Beyoncé says the Cécred line she built with Tina Knowles has to stand on its own

A youth soccer league director called the police on a 3-year-old’s parents. The toddler was playing up in a league for 5-year-olds in Winter Park, Florida and kept getting pulled from games for being too good. His parents got upset, things got heated, and the director dialed 911, telling dispatch one of them was being “really, really disruptive.” Police called it a civil matter and nobody was arrested, but the family says their son can’t play in the league anymore. A 3-year-old. Plus, WNBA Finals Game 6 between the Dream and Valkyries is set for Thursday at 12:30 ET in Atlanta.

Angel Reese is taking over the WNBA Finals. 32 and 16 in Game 2, then 21 and 12 back home in Atlanta, making her the first player in WNBA history with three straight double-doubles. The Dream ran the Valkyries off the floor 97-71 in front of a sold-out State Farm Arena with Cam Newton, Quavo, T.I., Ryan Clark and Kerry Washington in the building. Atlanta leads 2-1 and is two wins from its first ever championship. Game 4 is Saturday. @JustinStuckey_ has the full breakdown.

Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas has been indicted. A federal grand jury charged the 82-year-old Senate Finance chair and six others, some of them her own family, with racketeering, marijuana distribution and money laundering conspiracies. The FBI says she used her power to protect a family weed business and push laws that put money in her pockets.