Community Archives

An anonymous donor is paying the college tuition of Black athletes who get straight As at a Georgia high school

May 31, 2021

By Alaa Elassar Black athletes at a high school in Georgia received the gift of a lifetime when an anonymous donor offered to pay their college tuition if they made straight As. The donor, a community member who didn’t want his identity revealed, was inspired to make change after realizing the lack of diversity in Centennial High School’s athlete scholarship. He reached out to the school’s athletic department with a concern about their program, which required student athletes to have a cumulative grade point average above 90. “When we tweeted out a photo of these scholar athletes after one of

High school senior donates college savings after landing prestigious scholarship

May 13, 2021

Community

By Amanda Jackson Joshua Nelson landed a full-ride scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University. Now the Missouri native wants to pay it forward by donating his college savings to another high school senior. Nelson, a senior at St. Charles West High School, was one of only five students selected for the prestigious President’s Scholarship at the university. A total of 288 people applied, according to the City of St Charles School District. This scholarship, valued at $43,000, will cover tuition and boarding for four years as long as Nelson meets the annual renewal criteria, according to the university. And now

Finding magic in mentorship: How one CNN Hero inspired thousands of young women to write their own success stories

May 7, 2021

Community

By Allie Torgan For young people who are experiencing social isolation and loss during the pandemic, the mental health effects have been taxing. Research shows that depression and anxiety are prevalent among children and adolescents due to Covid-19. Keren Taylor, who started WriteGirl, a creative writing and mentoring program for teenagers in Los Angeles, has seen it firsthand. “What we see is that young people have been slipping away. Many of them are not showing up at school, online,” said Taylor, a 2014 CNN Hero. When the pandemic hit, Taylor’s team moved all of their programs online in order to

What it’s like to be a black police officer, navigating two turbulent worlds

May 5, 2021

Community

By Alicia Lee Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn knows he plays a key role in changing the culture of policing and how communities perceive officers. It’s a tough position to be in for a Black man in 2021. He’s endured being called an “Uncle Tom” and “a sellout.” In 2017, Hahn became the first African American police chief in the Sacramento Police Department. While he understands the frustrations of the Black community, the name-calling is hard to hear. “I think that’s probably the hardest thing to have your own community, something that you’ve been part of since the day you

Twins earn $1 million in scholarships, accepted into 15 universities

May 3, 2021

Community/Scholarships/STEM

By Lora Lavigne Raleigh, North Carolina (WRAL) — A pair of 17-year-old twins from Enloe Magnet High School are making quite a name for themselves. Not only did the siblings earn more than one million dollars in scholarships, they were accepted into 15 college institutions. Despite the challenges of an unprecedented school year, twins Reagan and Ricardo Razon are preparing to close their high school chapter on June 12 – and have multiple big opportunities on their horizon. Ever since they could learn to read and write, the sky was the limit, according to the twins. Now, the teenage twins

Idaho moves to ban critical race theory instruction in all public schools, including universities

April 30, 2021

Community/Schools

By Leah Asmelash, CNN As some public school districts move toward embracing critical race theory in their curriculums, others — like in Idaho — are doing the opposite. Idaho lawmakers have advanced a bill that would prohibit public schools, including public universities, from teaching that “any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior,” which, according to the bill, is often found in “critical race theory.” It also prohibits teachings arguing that “individuals, by virtue of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, or national origin, are inherently responsible for actions committed in the past by other

An Atlanta school named after a Confederate general will be renamed to honor Hank Aaron

April 20, 2021

Community/Schools/Sports

By Rachel Trent An Atlanta school that had been named after a Confederate general will soon be renamed after Braves legend and Hall of Famer Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron. The Atlanta Board of Education unanimously voted last week to approve the renaming of Forrest Hill Academy to Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy. The change will take effect next school year. Forrest Hills Academy was named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader, according to CNN affiliate WSB. Aaron, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 following an illustrious MLB career highlighted

The fierce urgency of action on racialized police violence

April 19, 2021

Community/National News

By Julian Zelizer Over the past few weeks, the nation has seen another series of horrific videos documenting both violent treatment and deaths of Black and brown people at the hands of police. Even as the world was reliving the killing of George Floyd — as videos of his death under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin were shown repeatedly at Chauvin’s televised trial — images were surfacing of Daunte Wright being shot by an officer during a traffic stop in nearby Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. And days later, Chicago police released body camera footage of a 13-year-old

Why should a cop’s blue fear matter more than my Black life?

April 15, 2021

Community/Opinion

Opinion by Issac Bailey I’m a Black man who has never personally had a nasty run-in with the police. I should have no trouble with them. But I fear them, and I know they fear me. Caron Nazario, an Army officer, was pepper-sprayed in the face during a traffic stop in Virginia; Daunte Wright was shot by a cop in Minnesota who allegedly mistakenly reached for the wrong weapon; George Floyd died in handcuffs while a police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. I’ve met young Black men so terrified of police in their neighborhood they

A group of Black female writers created a Hallmark card collection to inspire racial resilience

April 12, 2021April 12, 2021

Community/Entertainment

By Carly Ryan As a master writer for Hallmark, Melvina Young is well-practiced in keeping a finger on the pulse of her community; making note of the emotions they may need to express, and later translating them into a card. “Our job really hinges on the power of empathy, that ability to get into someone else’s experience that has never been your own, and to treat that experience with respect,” said Young. “Consumers trust us to serve their emotional lives, and that’s an incredibly important thing.” So, in the summer of 2020, as she saw injustices arise against the Black