National News

The Sugar Bowl is postponed to Thursday after the deadly attack in New Orleans

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By Chandelis Duster The Sugar Bowl that was slated to take place in New Orleans Wednesday night has been postponed after a deadly attack during New Year’s celebrations, according to local officials. The new kickoff time is 3:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, according to the Sugar Bowl as of Wednesday evening. “With law enforcement assets that would typically be allocated to an event of this stature currently engaged in active investigations related to the incident, the postponement will allow for additional security resources to be put in place in order to maintain the typical standards of a major event in the

DEI programs weathered a myriad of attacks this year, with more to come in 2025

By Curtis Bunn One by one, diversity, equity and inclusion programs at some of the country’s biggest companies fell apart in 2024, with signs that efforts to reverse DEI initiatives will only ramp up in 2025. This year saw the rise in prominent figures like Elon Musk and Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, among others, who vocally pushed against DEI initiatives. Major companies, including Walmart, Lowe’s, Ford and Toyota, heeded the calls and dialed back their DEI programs, particularly after social media-driven campaigns by influencers like Robby Starbuck. Meanwhile Utah, Alabama and Iowa joined Florida and Texas by banning DEI offices in their public universities, and three more states

UNCF Economic Impact Report Highlights Unmatched Contributions and Urgent Funding Needs of HBCUs

By Roy Betts, UNCF Communications HBCUs have long been pillars of educational excellence and economic engines, driving prosperity in their communities and across the nation. Despite these contributions, chronic underfunding threatens their ability to sustain this impact. Transforming Futures: The Economic Engines of HBCUs, underscores the urgent need for equitable and sustainable funding to ensure HBCUs can continue their vital role in promoting social mobility and economic growth and calls on the public to advocate for these essential institutions. “As UNCF observes its 80th anniversary, one of the highlights of our yearlong celebration is the release of the sequel to our

Equitable Breakthroughs in Medicine Development Broadens Reach Across the United States

EQBMED is a collaborative, community-based partnership to address diversity in clinical trials funded by a grant from PhRMA.  Equitable Breakthroughs in Medicine Development (EQBMED), a collaborative partnership dedicated to expanding clinical trial participation among communities of color and rural populations, today announced the selection of the final four clinical trial sites of the learning phase: Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Health 360x bringing in 35 additional sites across 14 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia) Southside Medical Center, in collaboration with Ocean Management Services,

Biden administration provides $4.28 billion in student debt relief

By Rebecca Carbarllo The Biden administration announced Friday the approval of $4.28 billion in additional student loan relief for 54,900 borrowers across the country who work in public service. This relief brings the total loan forgiveness by the administration to approximately $180 billion for nearly 5 million Americans, according to the Education Department. “Four years ago, the Biden-Harris Administration made a pledge to America’s teachers, service members, nurses, first responders, and other public servants that we would fix the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and I’m proud to say that we delivered,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. Some Democrats

Nikki Giovanni’s legacy lives through the writers who knew and were inspired by her

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By Curtis Bunn The three-hour drive Kwame Alexander had taken countless times from Nikki Giovanni’s home in Christiansburg, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., felt different on Thursday morning. Three days prior, he had stood by Giovanni’s bedside with her family and a handful of close friends as the legendary poet and activist took her last breath. Giovanni died Monday at age 81 of complications from lung cancer. Alexander spent the week with her wife, Virginia C. Fowler, and others helping with funeral arrangements. But in the solitude of his car as he returned home, Alexander revisited the unique bond he and Giovanni

Walmart illegally opened delivery drivers’ deposit accounts, U.S. says

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By Alina Selyukh A federal lawsuit alleges that Walmart deceived more than a million delivery drivers by creating deposit accounts without their knowledge or consent, using their Social Security numbers and other personal information. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday accused Walmart and payments platform Branch Messenger of costing delivery drivers over $10 million in fees through these accounts since 2021. Walmart, in turn, accused the agency of filing a rushed lawsuit full of errors. The government’s lawsuit says Walmart told drivers, who deliver its shipments to customers’ homes, that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t use Branch accounts

A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS

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Approximately 1 million taxpayers will automatically receive special payments of up to $1,400 from the IRS in the coming weeks. The money will be directly deposited into eligible people’s bank accounts or sent in the mail by a paper check. The IRS said it’s distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns. People who missed one of the COVID stimulus payments or had received less than the full amount were able to claim the credit. But the IRS on Friday said it discovered many eligible taxpayers hadn’t done so.

Biden commutes sentences of 37 federal death row prisoners

By Deepa Shivaram President Biden used his clemency authority Monday to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row to life without parole, in one of the most significant moves taken against capital punishment in recent presidential history. Biden did not commute the sentences of three men who were involved in cases of terrorism or hate-fueled mass murder, including Robert Bowers, convicted for the 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue; Dylann Roof, convicted for the 2015 mass shooting at a Black church in Charleston, S.C.; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted of the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon. In a

Jerry T. Hodges Jr., Last Surviving Tuskegee Airman From Arkansas, Passes Away at 99

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On Dec. 19, 2024, Jerry T. Hodges Jr., a revered Tuskegee Airman and civil rights pioneer, passed away at the age of 99. As the last surviving Tuskegee Airman from Arkansas, Hodges leaves a profound legacy that extends far beyond his years in aviation. Born on June 29, 1925, in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in the Arkansas Delta, the challenges of segregation marked Hodges’ early years. In 1943, he graduated as valedictorian from Robert R. Moton High School in Marianna. His passion for aviation soon led him to leave Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) to enlist in the Army Air Corps

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