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ACSUS Hosts Africa-U.S. City Relations Dialogue in Joburg

By Hluma Luvo Ralane the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS), University of the Witwatersrand, held the Inaugural Multidisciplinary Dialogue on Africa-U.S. City Relations at the ANEW Hotel Parktonian, Johannesburg.  The dialogue sought to serve as a catalyst for addressing social, economic, political and cultural challenges confronting cities. The stakeholders tackling these issues were diverse, ranging from academics and scholars, to city and corporate officials.  Dr Bob Wekesa, the Deputy Director of ACSUS, presided over the three day conference. In the opening ceremony, Cllr Thapelo Amad, the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, commended the

Supreme Court Ruling Renews Focus on HBCU Equity

By E.R. Shipp Chief Justice John Roberts has convinced himself the United States has reached the Promised Land, while those of us focused on social justice are still climbing the rough side of the mountain. Viewing the world from his differently focused glasses, he has declared over a 10-year period that there is no longer a need for federal voting rights protections (Shelby County v. Holder, 2013) and there is no longer a place for affirmative action in higher education (Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. University of North Carolina et

Morgan State Responds to Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ban

By President David K. Wilson The ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court declares that race can no longer be a factor in higher education admissions, which for many institutions will erode decades of progress in cultivating diversity on their campuses. Affirmative action has long been a scale-balancing tool in addressing historical and systemic inequalities, allowing educational institutions to consider an applicant’s race or ethnicity as one of several factors in the admissions process. Its purpose has been to promote equal access to higher education for underrepresented BIPOC groups, including African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, who have historically faced significant

Students React to Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling

By Char Adams, Kimmy Yam, Sandra Lilley, Emi Tuyetnhi Tran and Cora Cervantes As a rising high school senior trying to figure out the next several years of her life, Gabrielle Wilson sees Thursday’s Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions as a possible hurdle. “I think if affirmative action was taken away, it would make me not as hopeful about getting into the higher institutions I would like to apply for, such as Harvard,” said Gabrielle, 17, who will be a senior at the private De La Salle Institute in Chicago this fall. Gabrielle spoke to NBC News before the Supreme Court decision Thursday that vastly restricts race-conscious

Voting Rights Erode 10 Years After Shelby v. Holder Ruling

By Char Adams The Black-white voter turnout gap in Alabama and other states has widened in the 10 years since the Supreme Court gutted part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that for decades restricted states from enacting voting policies that stanched Black voter participation, data shows. In 2013, the court ruled 5-4 in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder that Section 4 of the act was unconstitutional. This meant that the nine states and other smaller divisions once subject to what’s known as “preclearance” due to their histories of voter discrimination no longer had to clear changes to voting access rules with

SCOTUS Ruling Reshapes College Admissions and Diversity

By Anemone Hartocollis In the Supreme Court decision striking down racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. had harsh words for Harvard and the University of North Carolina, calling their admissions process “elusive,” “opaque” and “imponderable.” But the court’s ruling against the two universities on Thursday could lead to an admissions system that is even more subjective and mysterious, as colleges try to follow the law but also admit a diverse class of students. Officials at some universities predicted that there would be less emphasis on standardized metrics like test scores and class rank, and more emphasis on

Gregory Robinson Led NASA’s James Webb Telescope Launch

By Rachel Treisman NASA released the first batch of images from the James Webb telescope this week, wowing the world with never-before-seen views of ancient and distant galaxies. The approximately $10 billion telescope was decades in the making, a partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency that involved some 20,000 collaborators across 29 countries and 14 U.S. states. It finally launched in December 2021 after a long string of setbacks and delays that led some astronomers to fear it might never get off the ground. Gregory Robinson wasn’t one of them. The career NASA employee was brought in as director of the

USPS Honors John Lewis with Forever Stamp and Dedication

By Megan Lebowitz  House leaders and the head of the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a stamp Wednesday honoring the late Rep. John Lewis. The stamp design features a 2013 photograph of Lewis, D-Ga., taken by Marco Grob for Time magazine, the Postal Service said in a news release. The selvage, or a stamp pane’s margin, will feature a 1963 photograph of Lewis taken by Steve Schapiro outside a nonviolent protest workshop. The official dedication ceremony for the John Lewis Forever stamp will take place July 21 at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said at Wednesday’s event on Capitol Hill. He also said the Postal

Tori Bowie’s Death Highlights Black Maternal Health Crisis

By Char Adams The death of Olympic track and field star Tori Bowie, who died of pregnancy complications last month, has prompted questions about how a seemingly healthy, financially stable person could face such a tragic outcome. Experts say that the racial health disparities that lead to maternal health complications for Black people persist despite a person’s economic status or clean bill of health. In short, it could happen to any Black person. “Maternal mortality for Black women has nothing to do with health or economic status,” said D’Andra Willis, of The Afiya Center, a Black-centered reproductive justice group. “You could be

Americans Celebrate Juneteenth with Unity and Reflection

By Daniel Arkin Americans from coast to coast celebrated Juneteenth this weekend, taking to the streets to commemorate the end of slavery after the Civil War. Black people in the U.S. have observed Juneteenth since the late 1800s. In the summer of 2021, after nationwide protests over systemic racism renewed interest in Juneteenth, President Joe Biden signed legislation that made June 19 a federal holiday. The holiday honors the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The celebrations included cookouts, parades, line dancing,

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