National News - Page 146

Ketanji Brown Jackson Nears Historic Supreme Court Confirmation

By Anoa Changa Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination will move forward for a full Senate vote, bringing her historic confirmation one step closer to completion. After Jackson’s nomination “deadlocked” in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats moved for a vote to discharge her nomination from the committee and to a full confirmation vote. It passed 53-47, setting the stage for Jackson’s confirmation later in the week. Senate Democrats were joined by Republican Sens. Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. The alleged opposition to Jackson on “ideological grounds” has no more validity than the claims that Republicans would have preferred someone “moderate.”   Supreme Court justices are not

Activists Criticize Biden’s $30B Police Budget Proposal

By Char Adams Community organizers focused on eliminating police violence say they are disappointed by President Joe Biden’s proposed budget announced this week, which would allocate at least $30 billion in new police spending. Biden opposed calls to “defund the police” since the movement began to build broader support in 2020. He reiterated his stance in his recent State of the Union address, declaring, “We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police.” So although the increased police funding in the fiscal year 2023 budget proposal comes as no shock to anti-police violence

Memphis Honors Dr. King on 54th Assassination Anniversary

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By Bria Bolden 54 years after his assassination, Memphis clergy and community members plan to honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today, the anniversary of his death, the community is coming together to honor his life and legacy. 54 years ago today Dr. King traveled to Memphis in support of sanitation workers, and he gave his last speech He was assassinated at the Loraine Motel just a day later. There are multiple events happening tomorrow to honor him, including here at the National Civil Rights Museum. Action News 5 spoke with visitors, including civil right’s leader Jesse Jackson,

Experts: Public Outcry May Hurt Brittney Griner’s Case

By Curtis Bunn Public calls and protests to have WNBA star Brittney Griner released from a Russian prison, where she has been held for a month on drug charges, could work against the Olympian’s case, according to experts and scholars. Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie said on the podcast I Am Athlete last week that players and people associated with the league have been advised not to “make a big fuss” about Griner’s status. “What we were told, and again this is all sort of passed along through hearsay, but what we were told was to not make a big fuss about

Kamala Harris: New Grants Boost HBCU Security, Mental Health

By Amy Rock The Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) program will provide short-term grants for added security and mental health professionals. Vice President Kamala Harris announced new grant funding for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as dozens of bomb threats have been made against them. The Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) program will provide short-term grants through the Department of Education to support impacted schools with immediate needs, reports The Seattle Medium. The grants will range from $50,000 to $150,000 per school and will be determined based on specific needs. At least 36 HBCUs and other colleges have been targeted by threats

HBCU Students Testify on Bomb Threats, Demand Safety Measures

By Donna M. Owens  One by one, student leaders representing several historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the country described to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Thursday their anguish over the recent racially charged threats their educational institutions had faced, while emphasizing their resolve to move forward. For Kylie Burke, president of the Howard University Student Association, the resulting anxiety has felt like a “weight” as she and her peers navigate classes and campus life in the nation’s capital. “Students were repeatedly woken up to safety alerts as late as 2 a.m.,” said Burke, a senior political

Google Faces Lawsuit Over Racism & Sexual Harassment Claims

By Curtis Bunn Google fosters a work environment that marginalizes Black employees, denies people of color advancement opportunities and ignores sexual harassment claims, among other indiscretions, according to plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed against the company in California this week. At a press conference in San Francisco on Monday, attorney Ben Crump and two former employees of the search engine behemoth detailed what they called a “racist culture” at the enterprise headquartered in Mountain View, California. “These women tried to ring the alarm, tried to raise awareness about the discriminatory and bigoted culture,” Crump said. “And Google did not retaliate

College Board Warns Schools Over AP Censorship Risks

By Murjani Rawls The Anti-Critical Race theory movement and book banning attached in certain states threaten to change the way we see history in the United States. There are some people out there who do not want to be reminded of the harrowing plights Black people have had to go through. In other words, some folk just don’t want to learn from the past, but rather ignore it. It is easier for them to render everything colorblind, but we all know that’s not the case. As more of these bills go through state legislators, there is no end in sight. However, according to Today, the College

‘Good Times’ Actor Johnny Brown Dies at 84

By Nicole Acevedo The actor, also known for his work as a regular performer in the comedy sketch TV show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” passed away on Wednesday, according to his daughter. Actor Johnny Brown, best know for his role as housing project superintendent Nathan Bookman in the 1970s sitcom “Good Times,” has died. He was 84. His daughter, Broadway actress Sharon Catherine Brown, confirmed the news in an Instagram post Friday. “Our family is devastated,” she wrote. “We respectfully ask for privacy at this time because we need a minute to process the unthinkable.” According to the Instagram post, Brown passed

Biden Nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court

By Kristen Welker, Pete Williams and Lauren Egan  President Joe Biden announced Friday that he will nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. “For too long our government, our courts, haven’t looked like America,” Biden said in an event at the White House. “I believe it’s time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation.” If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman to serve on the court. At 51, she would also be the second-youngest justice on the current

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