CeCe Winans Joins Tiny Desk for Black Music Month
This month marks 30 years since CeCe Winans launched her groundbreaking solo career with the Grammy-winning Alone in His Presence.
After more than a decade of success as one-half of the beloved duo BeBe & CeCe Winans, the 17-time Grammy winner stepped out in faith and into a solo journey that continues to inspire generations.
To commemorate this milestone during Black Music Month, Winans returned to NPR for a special Tiny Desk Concert debuted at 10am/ET on Friday, June 13.
The intimate performance features a soul-stirring medley of her most beloved songs, including “I Am,” “More Than What I Wanted,” “Alabaster Box,” and “Pray,” among others. Blending timeless classics with newer fan favorites, Winans invited the studio audience to sing along and reflect on the music that has defined her unparalleled career.
You can watch the concert on Youtube now right here!
In addition to the concert, CeCe joins Juana Summers for a heartfelt conversation on NPR’s All Things Considered, Tuesday, June 17 where she reflects on the personal stories behind her music, the milestones of her 30-year solo journey, and her unwavering commitment to ministry and purpose.
“Celebrating 30 years as a solo artist at NPR’s Tiny Desk and on All Things Considered was truly special,” said Winans. “To perform in such an intimate setting, where the music and message could really connect, was a beautiful experience. And the chance to share my journey on All Things Considered allowed me to reflect on just how faithful God has been every step of the way.”
Her current album, More Than This, continues to garner acclaim, building on the success of her first live recording, Believe For It. The project includes the chart-topping anthems “That’s My King,” “Holy Forever,” and her powerful new single “Come Jesus Come.” The single’s impact has been amplified by two special collaborations: a gospel version with Shirley Caesar and a country rendition with Cody Johnson.
With three decades of influence and inspiration behind her, and an ever-expanding legacy ahead, CeCe Winans remains one of the most celebrated and enduring voices in music.
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Questions Surround Death Of Black Man Found Hanging From Tree
Questions are surrounding the death of a Black man who was found hanging from a tree in New York.
According to the Times Union, officers found the body hanging from a tree on Westerlo Street in Albany, New York last week.
Police pushed back against the possibility of the lynching, ruling the Black man’s death a suicide.
“At this time, based upon preliminary investigation, the circumstances appear to be consistent with suicide and no evidence to suggest that the incident is criminal in nature,” Albany police said in a statement.
Police haven’t publicly confirmed the man’s identity, but social media users have identified him as Earl Smith.
Locals have taken to social media to express skepticism over Smith’s manner of death and its lack of media coverage. Police have also reportedly declined to review or release camera footage of the incident.
Dangerous heat this week with isolated storms in Middle TN
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Heat Advisory is in effect across Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky until 7 p.m. Friday. Heat Index (“feels like”) values in the region could be as high as 106.
It should be noted that counties outside of the Heat Advisory will also experience heat index values of 100 and above.
Through the day, feels like temperatures will be in the upper 80s and lower 90s by 9 a.m., and by 1 p.m. some spots will feel like the triple digits. Tomorrow afternoon it will feel even hotter by 4 p.m. with most of the Mid-State feeling like 100+
The reason the area is getting so hot is due to an upper-level high-pressure system building over the area and staying around for the next week. A high-pressure system aloft is generally associated with clear skies and sinking air, and since it is so close to the Gulf, it’s also going to pull in humid air from the south.
This results in a “heat dome” that traps the hot air in our area. However, when you factor in humidity, the heat indices will climb to 100+ through next week. This means the serious heat will persist into next week, getting a little hotter each day.
This could be a dangerous situation, so be sure to take your heat precautions. Drink plenty of water, take breaks in the air conditioning, and wear light, loose-fitting clothes. Be sure to check in on the elderly, kids and pets too!
A few isolated storms are possible each afternoon and evening. Not everyone will see rain, but if you do, heavy downpours and gusty winds are possible.
Office of Family Safety brings awareness to domestic violence via Nashville’s airways
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Little more than two weeks into 2025 and already there have been more than 300 victims of domestic violence in Nashville. There could be even more who haven’t reported the crime.
That’s why Metro Nashville’s Office of Family Safety has formed a new partnership to raise awareness about domestic violence. On any given day, 790 A.M./104.9 FM brings the latest in gospel music to Nashville’s airwaves.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t go away,” director of outreach and engagement for the Office of Family Safety, Courtney Miller, said. “It’s not going away, and I think that’s why it’s important to talk about it.”
One Friday, the segment featured a city leader who spoke up about the importance of the facility, and what he has seen throughout Nashville.
“Even in a city like Nashville that is relatively safe and has these amazing resources, we still know that domestic violence and interpersonal violence is incredibly prevalent,” said Mayor Freddie O’Connell during one segment.
So far in 2025, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has reported 334 victims of domestic violence. Thirty victims had to be placed in a safe place.
“Almost 50% of our calls that get to our police department are related to domestic violence, and even in knowing that, it remains an underreported crime,” O’Connell added.
The Office of Family Safety has intentionally created the partnership in an effort to not only alert residents to a growing problem, but also to let thousands of survivors know they’re not alone.
“We also know that they are often repeat callers and that’s for a variety of different reasons,” Muller said. “I hate to say it’s not surprising and that number will honestly continue to go up as the weeks go on.”
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Juneteenth started with handbills proclaiming freedom. Here’s what they said
The origin of the Juneteenth celebrations marking the end of slavery in the U.S. goes back to an order issued as Union troops arrived in Texas at the end of the Civil War. It declared that all enslaved people in the state were free and had “absolute equality.”
Word quickly spread of General Order No. 3 — issued on June 19, 1865, when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger landed in the South Texas port city of Galveston — as troops posted handbills and newspapers published them.
The Dallas Historical Society will put one of those original handbills on display at the Hall of State in Fair Park starting June 19.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in the U.S. in 2021 but has been celebrated in Texas since 1866. As time passed, communities in other states also started to mark the day.
“There’d be barbecue and celebrations,” said Portia D. Hopkins, the historian for Rice University in Houston. “It was really an effort for people to say: Look at how far we’ve come. Look at what we’ve been able to endure as a community.”
Progression of freedom
On Jan. 1, 1863, nearly two years into the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the freedom of “all persons held as slaves” in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. But it didn’t mean immediate freedom.
“It would take the Union armies moving through the South and effectively freeing those people for that to come to pass,” said Edward T. Cotham Jr., a historian and author of the book “Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration.”
The proclamation didn’t apply to the border states that allowed enslavement but didn’t leave the Union, nor the states occupied by the Union at the time, said Erin Stewart Mauldin, chair of southern history at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.
“You have to think of emancipation as a patchwork,” she said. “It doesn’t happen all at once. It is hyper local.”
Still, she said, the proclamation “was recognized immediately as this watershed moment in history.”
“The Emancipation Proclamation is the promise that the end of slavery is now a war aim,” Mauldin said.
Texas at the end of the war
As the war progressed, many enslavers from the South fled to Texas, causing the state’s enslaved population to balloon from about 182,000 in 1860 to 250,000 by the end of the war in 1865, Mauldin said.
Cotham said that while enslaved people were emancipated “on a lot of different dates in a lot of different places across the country,” June 19 is the most appropriate date to celebrate the end of slavery because it represents the “last large intact body of enslaved people to be freed.”
He said many enslaved people across the South knew of the Emancipation Proclamation, but that it didn’t mean anything until troops arrived to enforce it.
About six months after General Order No. 3 was issued, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified.
General Order No. 3
The order begins by saying “all slaves are free” and have “absolute equality” of rights. Going forward, the relationship between “former masters and slaves” will be that of employer and hired laborer.
It advises freedmen to “remain at their present homes and work for wages,” adding that they must not collect at military posts and “will not be supported in idleness.”
The handbills were also handed out to church and local officials. Cotham said Union chaplains would travel from farm to farm to explain the order to workers, and many former enslavers read the order to the people they had enslaved, emphasizing the part about continuing to work.
The Dallas Historical Society’s handbill came from the collection of newspaperman George Bannerman Dealey, who founded the society, said Karl Chiao, the society’s executive director. Dealey began working at a Galveston newspaper in 1874 before being sent to Dallas by the publisher to start The Dallas Morning News.
Chiao said their handbill is the only one they know of that still exists. The National Archives holds the official handwritten record of General Order No. 3.