National News - Page 141

Alabama Honors Memorial Day with Events Across the State

By Shirley Jackson Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery The Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort will honor the nation’s veterans by hosting a Memorial Day program Monday, May 30. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Cathleen E. De La Graza  will deliver the keynote address. With the highest degree of dignity and respect, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs will honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. The state veterans cemetery will conduct a wreath-laying ceremony and folding of an American flag, then have a moment of silence followed by a rifle

Protesters Rally at NRA Convention After Uvalde Shooting

By Claretta Bellamy and Mike Hixenbaugh Houston’s 90-degree weather could not stop crowds of people from protesting outside the National Rifle Association’s 151st annual convention on Friday, just days after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, killed at least 19 children and two teachers. The hourslong protest — which was organized by Black Lives Matter Houston, Fiel Houston, Indivisible Houston and the Harris County Democratic Party — was held across the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center, with calls for stricter gun control laws as the nation grapples with the shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday. Mass shootings at a Buffalo supermarket in a predominantly

Memorial Day’s True Origin: Honoring Black Union Soldiers

By Brittany Ireland Did you know that the earliest traces of the ever popular “Memorial Day” holiday began with former slaves more than 150 years ago? It’s no secret that hundreds of thousands of Black soldiers and laborers served in Union armies. Following the American Civil War, in 1865, a group of slaves worked together to dig up 257 dead Union soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave nearly a month after the battle. Condemned to a life of oppression and inhumanity, the former slaves wanted to honor and properly bury the soldiers who fought and died for

Kamala Harris Launches $500M Clean School Bus Program

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday visited a school in Fairfax, Virginia to announce the $500 million 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates program intended to help school districts purchase buses with low or zero carbon emissions. “Yellow school buses are our nation’s largest form of mass transit. Every day in our country more than 25 million children ride to and from school on our nation’s fleet of school buses,” Harris said. Harris said that 95 percent of these buses run on diesel fuel, “a poison” that can cause headaches, nausea and worsen respiratory conditions. “If your child rides the bus

George Floyd Statue Unveiled in Houston’s Tom Bass Park

By India Monee On the second anniversary of his murder, Houston will be unveiling a statue of George Floyd in a park in his hometown.  Entrepreneur and philanthropist Dannette Davis, of Kay Davis Associates, donated $110,000 for the statue titled, “A Conversation with George.” The statue was created by sculptor Adrienne Rison-Isom who she says took months of research to learn about Floyd to bring the statue to life. The Floyd Family Foundation was also involved in the creation of this sculpture. “I met with many of Floyd’s family and friends while creating this piece and everyone described him as having a playful, approachable temperament

Harris, Murthy Warn of Health Worker Burnout, Shortages

By Chris Megerian Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a warning Monday about burnout among the nation’s health care staff after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the potential for severe worker shortages in the years ahead if the situation is not addressed. “You do so much to take care of your patients in their time of need,” Harris told health care workers as she visited Children’s National Hospital in Washington with Murthy on Monday. “Which is why I’m here to say, we need to do a better job of taking

Prairie View A&M, Accenture & Microsoft Boost Tech Careers

By Amber Burton As a business major at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, Sean Johnson had been on track to work in finance after graduating. But then his adviser mentioned a program that the historically Black university had with Accenture and Microsoft that was meant to function as a direct pipeline from Prairie View into roles in tech. It changed his entire career course. Johnson had always had an interest in tech, and the prospect of being able to get a glimpse into the industry, as well as gain real, hands-on experience, appealed to him. By the

Sharon Lewis Sues LSU for $50M in Title IX Case

By Curtis Bunn In her two decades working in the Louisiana State University athletic department — a college athletics powerhouse — Sharon Lewis considered protecting the female workers and students a crucial part of her job. She said she was diligent about reporting racial and sexual offenses to her superiors — “several,” she said, filed over a span of 15 years. That is, until her superiors denied getting a single one of them, she said. “I couldn’t believe it. It was just all so overwhelming,” Lewis said. “I fainted.” Lewis’ allegation is part of her $50 million Title IX lawsuit against the

Black Students Sue Georgia School Over BLM Shirt Ban

By Zack Linly Predominately white schools are not always safe places for Black students. Sometimes, those Black students who express their pro-Blackness will be met with a special kind of white fragility that also extends to the policies of their schools. Also, there’s just bound to be a lot of racism in general. And said racism is bound to be dismissed, ignored and weaponized in favor of a culture of whiteness, depending on where you are. This all brings us to a lawsuit filed by a group of Black students who were suspended from a northwest Georgia school for wearing Black

Missouri Teacher Fired Over CRT-Themed Privilege Worksheet

By Keenan Higgins The ongoing “to be or not to be” debate involving Critical Race Theory is one you’ve seen us cover many times in the past. Unfortunately, there still hasn’t been a common ground reached when it comes to how America’s past & current struggles with racism are taught in schools. An English teacher at Greenfield High School in Missouri found that out the hard way after she was fired when a parent reported her for teaching CRT by way of a worksheet titled “How Racially Privileged Are You?” A southwest Missouri school board voted not to renew the contract of

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