National News - Page 141

Dr. Fauci Urges Black Americans to Get COVID Booster Shot

By Clarretta Bellamy Dr. Anthony Fauci has an important message for Black Americans: get a booster shot. In a recent interview with TheGrio, Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged the Black community to get a Covid booster shot in preparation of the fall surge, when the Covid infection rates are expected to rise. He said that the Food and Drug Administration will soon authorize an updated booster shot, known as the bivalent BA.5 vaccine, which is a closer match to the circulating Omicron variants of Covid. “If the African-American population… want to diminish their risk

Black History Teaching Faces Growing Scrutiny in U.S. Schools

By Joe Heim and Lori Rozsa Jamarah Amani insists that her four children, ages 8 to 21, learn Black history. “There’s not very much incorporated into public school education, which is why I have done a combination of home schooling and public schools over the years,” said Amani, 41, a Miami-area midwife. Now, she believes, a bill before Florida legislators — one that bars material causing students “discomfort,” “guilt” or “anguish” — would limit the accurate teaching of Black American history in schools. “If this law passes, kids won’t be able to see themselves reflected at all within their own

Inflation Hits Black and Latino Families Hardest in U.S.

By Carmen Sesin  Higher prices for housing, food and gas are hitting Americans throughout the United States, but Latinos and Blacks are affected more by the current rise in inflation than the overall population, according to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The growing cost of living has made it difficult for Cynthia Fabian, 48, of Miami, to get back on her feet after she lost her job at a major retailer at the beginning of the pandemic. She lost her home and then exhausted her savings paying for a motel room. Fabian eventually turned to a

Black HBCU Students Soar Toward Aviation Careers

By Curtis Bunn At Florida Memorial University, a small historically Black university in Miami Gardens, Tremaine Johnson is training to become one of the country’s few Black pilots. Less than 2% of commercial airline pilots are Black, according to one report, making Johnson’s decision to become a pilot — rather than an air traffic controller, as he’d originally intended — notable. His choice also comes at a particularly crucial time, as airlines around the country experience a pilot shortage due to cutbacks during the pandemic. At 20-years-old Johnson still remembers the exact moment that inspired his career change: It was when he flew

U.S. Offers Deal to Free Griner, Whelan From Russia

By Amanda Macias The United States has made an offer to the Russian government for the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. “We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago,” Blinken told reporters at the State Department. The nation’s top diplomat also said that he would discuss the offer with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “in the coming days.” “Our government has communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal, and I’ll use the conversation to follow up personally and, I hope, move us toward a

Oxford to Publish First Dictionary of African American English

By Jeevika Verma Black Americans have long contributed to the ways in which the English language is used, and now a new research project aims to compile the first Oxford Dictionary of African American English. “Finally we will have a space that recognizes our language in a way that encompasses all the people within African American language communities,” said Sonja Lanehart, a linguistics professor at the University of Arizona who grew up in the South. “If we look at some present words, we can think of something like woke and hip, cool, bad meaning good.” The research project is a

NBA Legend Bill Russell Dies at 88, Leaves Historic Legacy

Bill Russell redefined how basketball is played, and then he changed the way sports are viewed in a racially divided country. The most prolific winner in NBA history, Russell marched with Martin Luther King Jr., stood with Muhammad Ali and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. The centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years, Russell earned his last two NBA titles as a player-coach — the first Black coach in any major U.S. sport. Russell died Sunday at the age of 88, with his wife, Jeannine, at his side, his

HBCU Students Face New Abortion Limits, Lead Awareness

By Lauren Lumpkin Many of the country’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are scattered across the South, in states where Black Americans, in the wake of the Civil War, pooled their resources and finally gained access to higher education. Now, however, their descendants are disproportionately losing their right to reproductive health, students at those schools say. The Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that legalized abortion nationwide, will have a outsize effect on students at HBCUs due to their concentration in states that are restricting access to the procedure. Nearly three-quarters of HBCUs recognized by the Department of

Lt. Gen. Michael Langley Poised as First Black 4-Star Marine

By Jaclyn Diaz More than 35 years since his career in the U.S. Marine Corps began, Lt. Gen. Michael Langley could reach one of the highest ranks of the military. Langley faces a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. If confirmed by the Senate, Langley will become the first Black four-star general in the Marines’ 246-year history. He will lead all U.S. military forces in Africa as chief of U.S. Africa Command. A native of Shreveport, La., and the son of a former, noncommissioned officer in the Air Force, Langley has commanded at every level. His posts included Afghanistan during the

NPS Awards $9.7M to Preserve Historic HBCU Campuses

The National Park Service (NPS) today announced $9.7 million in grants to assist 21 preservation projects in 9 states for historic structures on campuses of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). “For more than 180 years, Historically Black Colleges and Universities have provided high-level academics, opportunities, and community for generations of students. These grants enable HBCUs to preserve the noteworthy structures that honor the past and tell the ongoing story of these historic institutions,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. Since the 1990s, the NPS has awarded more than $87 million in grants to over 85 of the remaining active HBCUs. Congress appropriates funding for

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