National News - Page 117

California Advances Historic Reparations Bills for Black Families

The California Senate advanced a set of ambitious reparations proposals Tuesday, including legislation that would create an agency to help Black families research their family lineage and confirm their eligibility for any future restitution passed by the state. Lawmakers also passed bills to create a fund for reparations programs and compensate Black families for property that the government unjustly seized from them using eminent domain. The proposals now head to the state Assembly. State Sen. Steven Bradford, a Los Angeles-area Democrat, said California “bears great responsibility” to atone for injustices against Black Californians. “If you can inherit generational wealth, you can inherit

Biden Cancels $7.7B in Student Loans for 160,500 Borrowers

By Aimee Picchi The White House on Wednesday said it has approved $7.7 billion of student debt cancellation for 160,500 borrowers, part of its ongoing effort to provide relief after the Supreme Court last year blocked President Joe Biden’s plan for broad-based college loan forgiveness. With the latest round of forgiveness, the administration has erased a total of $167 billion in student loans for 4.75 million people, or about 1 in 10 student loan borrowers, the Department of Education said. The people who qualify for forgiveness in the latest round of debt cancellation include public servants such as teachers and law enforcement officers, as

Jackie Robinson Statue to Be Replaced After Vandalism

By Greg Rosenstein and Morgan Chesky Jaimarius Barnes, an 11-year-old in the Wichita, Kansas-based League 42 baseball organization, planned on suiting up for games this season just feet away from a Jackie Robinson statue. “He really inspires me because he played baseball and I now play baseball,” Jaimarius said in an interview. “It means a lot. He’s a person you can look up to.” Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 265 pounds, the bronze monument outside the McAdams Park backstop represented hope for Jaimarius and other Black children looking to learn the game. But back in January, those dreams were dashed. The statue of the

Biden-Harris Delivers $16B in Historic HBCU Investments

By Quintessa Williams The Biden-Harris Administration announced a new record in Federal funding and investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) totaling more than $16 billion from Fiscal Years (FY) 2021 through current available data for FY 2024. This new reported total is up from the previously announced over $7 billion and captures significant additional actions already undertaken. The total of more than $16 billion includes over $11.4 billion between FY2021 and FY2023 through Federal grants, contracting awards, and debt relief for HBCUs; over $4 billion between FY2021 and FY2023 for HBCU-enrolled students through federal financial aid and educational benefits for veterans; and, so

Kamala Harris to Speak at SEIU Convention in Philadelphia

By Monica Alba  Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver the keynote address at the Service Employees International Union convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday, one day after the group is expected to elect its first Black president. April Verrett, who is secretary-treasurer of the 103-year-old union, is running unopposed but has received the support of leaders who represent 89% of SEIU’s membership, according to a letter they wrote earlier this year. The massive union, which represents nearly 2 million workers in health care, property service and the government, has pledged to spend $200 million to help President Joe Biden and Democrats in key

Dorothy Tillman, 17, Earns Doctorate from ASU

Courtesy of Arizona State University Dorothy Jean Tillman II’s participation in Arizona State University’s May 6 commencement was the latest step on a higher-education journey the Chicago teen started when she took her first college course at age 10. In between came associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. When Tillman successfully defended her dissertation in December, she became the youngest person — at age 17 — to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health at Arizona State, associate professor Leslie Manson told ABC’s “Good Morning America” for a story Monday. “It’s a wonderful celebration, and we hope … that Dorothy Jean inspires

UNC Accused of Withholding $3.8M From Journalism Program

By Stacy Jackson The founder of a program for Black students pursuing journalism says the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill owes her foundation millions of dollars. Nikole Hannah-Jones told NC Newsline that UNC-Chapel Hill owes $3.8 million to the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. She said it could no longer do the work it set out to do. Hannah-Jones said, per The Messenger, “It’s all of our operating funding, all of our grant money, our quasi-endowment.” She continued, “Without it, we can’t work toward our mission, we can’t do any of our work.” According to Hannah-Jones, the program was

Massachusetts Proposes Free Community College for All

By Evan Castillo Massachusetts wants to make community college tuition-free for every state resident, regardless of the student’s family income. On May 6, Massachusetts senators announced MassEducate, a program that would give every state resident a tuition- and fee-free education at any state community college. The proposal, included in the fiscal year 2025 budget, has yet to be approved. MassEducate builds on MassGrant Plus, a tuition-free program for Pell Grant-eligible and middle-income college students. If the $75.5 million program is approved, MassEducate will begin in fall 2024. Thanks to the state’s Tuition Equity Law, non-U.S. citizens and undocumented students who earned a high school diploma or

Rev. Bill Lawson, Houston Civil Rights Icon, Dies at 95

The Rev. William “Bill” Lawson, a longtime pastor and civil rights leader who helped desegregate Houston and worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement, has died. He was 95. Lawson’s longtime church, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in that Texas city, announced on its website that he had died on Tuesday. “He has completed his time of service here on earth and is now enjoying eternal rest,” the church said in its announcement. Lawson founded Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in 1962 and served as its pastor for 42 years before retiring in 2004. He was

ED Invests $50M to Boost 2024-25 FAFSA Completion Rates

By Matthew Arojas The Department of Education (ED) launched a multimillion-dollar effort to increase the number of FAFSAs completed before the next academic year. ED announced Monday that it would invest $50 million over the coming months as part of its FAFSA Student Support Strategy. The program will provide grants so organizations can offer extended resources to students and families still struggling to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. This comes after repeated delays and issues have plagued the rollout of the 2024-2025 FAFSA. The FAFSA typically drops on Oct. 1 each year, but ED didn’t soft-launch this year’s FAFSA until

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