National News - Page 36

Chicago Community Trust CEO stepping down to lead historically Black women’s college in Atlanta

By Mitch Dudek Dr. Helene D. Gayle is stepping down as CEO of The Chicago Community Trust, one of the city’s oldest and largest philanthropic institutions, to become president of Spelman College in Atlanta. Gayle, who led Chicago Community Trust for five years, plans to step down in June to take her new post. Her appointment still needs to clear the school’s board. Spelman is a private, historically Black, women’s liberal arts college. Under her leadership, Chicago Community Trust focused on advancing racial and ethnic equity to overcome a growing wealth gap. “I have traveled and worked across the globe

Minnesota names first Black chief justice of state Supreme Court, Natalie Hudson

By Claretta Bellamy Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday promoted Natalie Hudson to be chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, making her the first Black person to lead it. Then-Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Hudson as an associate justice in 2015. She will lead the high court when current Chief Justice Lorie Gildea retires in October. “Justice Hudson is one of our state’s most experienced jurists. She has a strong reputation as a leader and consensus builder,” Walz said in a statement. “I am confident that she will advance a vision that promotes fairness and upholds the dignity of all Minnesotans.”

Little Rock schools will allow African American class to count for graduation, in break from Arkansas state officials

By Jamie Lynch  In a sharp break from Arkansas education officials, the Little Rock School District said in a news release it will offer AP African American Studies for credit. Earlier this month, state education officials said students enrolled in the controversial Advanced Placement course would not receive credits toward graduation. “As part of our commitment to providing a rich and comprehensive learning experience, we will continue with our plans to offer the AP course,” the district’s release said Wednesday. “We will also continue to work closely with the College Board regarding content and curriculum.” CNN has reached out to the state

Supreme Court asked to hear Virginia high school admissions case about race

A parents group backed by a conservative legal organization asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to consider whether an admissions policy aimed at diversifying an elite Virginia high school is racially discriminatory. The case over how students are selected to attend Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology came to the court two months after its conservative majority barred colleges and universities from considering race as a factor in admissions. But unlike the higher education cases, the admissions policy adopted in 2020 by Virginia’s Fairfax County School Board for the state-chartered magnet high school was on its face race neutral. The Alexandria-based

Starbucks told to pay $2.7 million in lost wages to manager fired after arrest of 2 Black men

A judge has ordered Starbucks to pay an additional $2.7 million in lost wages and tax damages to a former regional manager who was earlier awarded more than $25 million after alleging she and other white employees were unfairly punished following the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a store in 2018. In June, Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination laws. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that U.S. district judge Wednesday ordered Starbucks to pay Phillips another $2.73 million

Was This HBCU T-shirt Owner The Best Shark Tank Contestant—Ever?

By Angela Johnson As a student at Norfolk State University in the early 2010s, Ashley Jones set out to create apparel and accessories that reflected her style and showed her school pride. But what started as a side hustle has turned into a lucrative business. And now, Jones is teaming up with one of the most recognizable investors in the game to take her dream even further. When the Virginia native noticed a glaring underrepresentation of HBCUs in the sportswear apparel market, she decided to take matters into her own hands and launched Tones of Melanin. “I decided to make my

‘The Blind Side’ Family Comes Clean on Michael Oher’s Conservatorship

By Noah A. McGee Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy continue to deny Michael Oher’s claims that he has not received any royalties from “The Blind Side. But they have confirmed that he was in fact under a conservatorship, and not adopted. On Wednesday the Tuohys attorney, Randall Fishman, told reporters in a press conference that his clients plan on entering into a consent order to end their conservatorship over Oher permanently. Oher was right, the whole “adoption process” that was portrayed in the movie was total BS. Fishman said his clients had Oher sign the conservatorship documents because it was the quickest way to temper

What does it take to be a heroine of health? Education, dedication … a stealth plan

By Ruchi Kumar Prossy Muyingo is being honored as a “heroine of health” for helping women make more informed choices about family planning and reproductive health. She says she couldn’t have done it without hair braiding. Muyingo is one of twelve women honored with that title at the Women Deliver 2023 Conference, an annual international event that focuses on gender equality and the health, rights and well-being of girls and women. A 37-year-old mother of three who lives in Kampala, Uganda, she’s a community health worker who goes door-to-door to educate women about their sexual health and reproductive rights. But women in

Florida teachers are worried new policies could get them fired — or even criminally charged

By Janelle Griffith As the start of the school year approaches in Florida, some teachers say chaos and confusion have marked the days leading up to reopening as they navigate how to teach under new state policies. Teachers say they are going into classrooms less confident about their lesson plans, confused about changes to state laws and on high alert that once-benign instructions could now get them fired or charged with felonies. “I don’t know how to approach the year,” said Richard Judd, a social studies teacher at Nova High School in Broward County. “There’s a lot of different ways you can get in

Fani Willis Is the Most Important Black Woman In America Right Now

By Keith Reed It might seem odd–difficult or even a tinge disrespectful–to put into words a consideration of how significant any one Black woman might be to the rest of the country right now. We are, after all, in a space where Black women at large are having a moment: income and wealth gaps persist, reproductive rights are under attack and misogyny is ever present and yet Black women are creating businesses at a faster rate than any other group, ascending in politics and remaining the arbiters of not just the culture but of culture writ large. But no disrespect is meant at

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