National News - Page 47

Mississippi Senate OKs bill that expands police in majority-Black state capitol

The majority-white and Republican-led Mississippi Senate voted Tuesday to pass its version of a bill that would allow an expanded role for state police and appointed judges inside the majority-Black capital city of Jackson, which is led by Democrats. “It is vastly improved from where it started, but it is still a snake,” Democratic Sen. John Horhn of Jackson said of the bill during Tuesday’s debate. Critics say that in a state where older African Americans still remember the struggle to gain access to the ballot decades ago, the bill is a paternalistic attempt to intrude on local decision-making and

Lyft and Uber Drivers of Color Say They Were Fired by Apps for No Legitimate Reason

By Candace Mcduffie Data that was recently released by Rideshare Drivers United and the Asian Law Caucus revealed that two-thirds of Lyft and Uber drivers in California had experienced deactivation by the respective apps. Additionally, the deactivation affected people of color disproportionately. Of the drivers surveyed, thirty percent said that they were never given a legitimate reason as to why they were let go. Around forty-two percent of the drivers said the app cited customer complaints. Asian Law Caucus lawyer Winnie Kao, who worked diligently on the report, told NBC News: “This reality is that now app-based drivers can be fired, not even by a human

More than a dozen Memphis fire and police personnel charged in beating of Tyre Nichols

By Minyvonne Burke More than a dozen Memphis fire and police department employees have been charged in connection with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a city official said Tuesday at the end of its investigation into Nichols’ death in January. Memphis Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink said both agencies have been conducting administrative investigations to determine whether any employees violated department policies. Four Memphis Fire Department personnel were charged, Sink said at a presentation before the City Council’s Public Safety Committee. Three of the employees were fired, Sink said, and one was suspended. It’s not clear what their exact charges are.

In Selma, Biden says right to vote remains under assault

 President Joe Biden used the searing memories of Selma’s “Bloody Sunday” to recommit to a cornerstone of democracy, lionizing a seminal moment from the civil rights movement at a time when he has been unable to push enhanced voting protections through Congress and a conservative Supreme Court has undermined a landmark voting law. “Selma is a reckoning. The right to vote … to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty. With it anything’s possible,” Biden told a crowd of several thousand people seated on one side of the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, named for a reputed Ku Klux Klan leader. “This fundamental right remains under

NYC agrees to pay millions to hundreds of George Floyd protesters who were corralled by police

By Daniella Silva New York City has agreed to pay more than $21,000 each to hundreds of protesters who were surrounded, arrested and subjected to excessive force by police during a George Floyd protest in 2020, according to court documents. A proposed settlement filed in federal court late Tuesday said the city would compensate about 320 people who participated in the protest June 4, 2020, in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx borough. In the filing, the city agreed to pay eligible class-action members $21,500 each, as well as another $2,500 to each person who received a desk appearance ticket. The

Biden and Harris highlight Black history, warn not to try ‘to erase America’s past’

By Isabella Murray As Black History Month draws to a close, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris marked the celebration by delivering remarks at a reception in the White House’s East Room. The pair touted what they called the accomplishments their administration has made for the Black community in areas like government, housing and climate while implicitly rebuking some Republican efforts to revise African American history courses. “History matters and Black history matters,” Biden said to an audience of Black Congressional leaders, students at historically Black colleges and universities and other guests. Look, I can’t just choose to learn what we

Massachusetts, Of All Places, Is Finally Putting Black Voices Front and Center

By Jessica Washington Let’s be real here when people think about Massachusetts and specifically the Boston area; Black empowerment isn’t exactly top of mind. But on Friday, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced she was creating an Advisory Council on Black Empowerment. The council, comprised of 30 Black leaders from across the state, will advise Healey on various issues impacting Black Americans, including education, health care, and workforce development. The advisory council will be co-chaired by NAACP Boston President Tanisha Sullivan and Vice-President of Equitable Business Development for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, Anthony Richards. “Massachusetts’ Black residents make tremendous contributions to our state, but far too often

HBCU Journalism Majors Receive White House Press Briefing

By D. Thompson Student funding, loan forgiveness, mental health, racial inequalities and resources for universities were some of the topics discussed last week at a White House press briefing with Vice President Kamala Harris, Senior Advisor for Public Engagement Keisha Lance Bottoms and journalism students from Bowie State University and  41  other HBCUs. Harris and Bottoms answered questions posed by the students on issues that are of major concern on HBCU campuses. Angelica Tyler, a Bowie State graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Organizational Communications, believes the White House briefing was an eye-opening experience for all of the students

Vanessa Bryant reaches nearly $29 million settlement with Los Angeles County in lawsuit over Kobe Bryant crash photos

By Paradise Afshar and Nouran Salahieh Vanessa Bryant has reached a nearly $29 million agreement with Los Angeles County to settle a lawsuit over photos that were taken at the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, her daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others. The settlement caps several years of litigation related to the January 2020 helicopter crash on a Calabasas, California, hillside and photos that circulated in its aftermath. “Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” Luis Li, an attorney representing Bryant, said in

The first Latina queen at a historically Black university drew online backlash. But she didn’t back down.

By Edwin Flores When Keylin Perez became the first Latina to be crowned Miss Coppin State University in Baltimore, she was thrilled. She had been named the university’s Miss Sophomore and Miss Junior previously and was eager to continue representing the school with pride as the 91st Miss Coppin State University queen. But after a TikTok video she posted went viral, she received backlash, including harassment, from online critics who said the role should be given to a Black woman, since Coppin State University is a historically Black university, known as an HBCU. “I never considered stepping down,” Perez told NBC News.

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