The NBA Visits Wilberforce University
By Wilberforce University Members of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office cruised the campus recently. Representing the Cavs’ hospitality development, human resources and diversity and inclusion departments, three Cavs employees spent time getting to know students and staff and learning the university’s history. The Cavs’ Kevin Clayton, Alberta Lee and David Kone’ initially traveled from Cleveland as guests of Central State University, but they took a quick turn around SR 42 to N. Bickett Road to visit neighboring Wilberforce, the nation’s first, private, historically Black college/university. While meeting members of the Student Government Association, Athletics Director Derek Williams, Dr. Parris Carter,
FAMU COVID-19 Testing Site Marks Two-Year Anniversary
By Andrew Skerritt Monday, April 25, 2022, marks the second anniversary of the Florida A&M University (FAMU) COVID-19 Testing Site. As the scale of the pandemic became evident two years ago, FAMU in collaboration with the Bond Community Health Center, the Leon County Health Department, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and other partners opened a testing site at Bragg Memorial Stadium to meet the needs of residents of Tallahassee’s south side and other under-served areas. Daily, lines of people, some from as far as Georgia and Alabama, walked up to get tested. What began as a short-term initiative to
Jackson State University Communications Named a Finalist for 2022 PRSA Anvil Awards
Courtesy of Jackson State University The Jackson State University (JSU) Office of University Communications has been selected as a finalist for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Anvil Awards for Best Use of Social Media. Of the hundreds of entries submitted, only those the Anvil Judges deemed to have exceeded an extremely high threshold for quality have made it through to the shortlist. The winners will be announced on Thursday, May 19, 2022. “Thank you to the Public Relations Society of America for recognizing Jackson State University among our national peers as having one of the top social media campaigns of the year,” said Alonda
Historic hearing takes turn into familiar territory on race and crime, experts say
By Janelle Griffith Some senators’ questioning of Ketanji Brown Jackson is an attempt to portray her as “soft on crime,” legal experts said. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings may have been historic, in that she is the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court. But they have not been without precedent, at least with regard to questions on crime and race that she faced from some Republican senators, such as Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who have tried to portray her as “soft on crime.” Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill, who is president and director-counsel emeritus of the NAACP Legal Defense and
TSU to Expand Its Online Digital, STEM Literacy Program Across Africa; Four New Countries Show Interest
By Emmanuel Freeman Tennessee State University is continuing to bridge the digital divide through a dual enrollment partnership for underserved students in Africa. The university is expanding the program to include four new countries on the continent that have expressed interest. TSU officials say Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia want to join Liberia and South Africa, where students are taking online courses in coding and creating concepts taught by TSU professors. The program is part of a STEM literacy partnership with the African Methodist Episcopal Church that gives students digital resources to develop their technology skills. All participating students receive an
Ketanji Brown Jackson: Highlights from Day 2 of a tense Supreme Court hearing
By Sahil Kapur Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared Tuesday for what may end up being the most important day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, taking questions from senators during a marathon session before the Judiciary Committee. The questioning began with Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, with 30 minutes allotted to each of the panel’s 22 members. The last two senators will pose their questions Wednesday morning. Cruz asked Jackson about the book “Antiracist Baby” by Ibram Kendi — and whether she believes “babies are racist.” “I do not believe any child should be made
Alabama’s only Black member of Congress welcomes a fight over her voting rights bill
By Donna M. Owens In August, Rep. Terri Sewell stood at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in her hometown, Selma, Alabama, to tout H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Sewell, Alabama’s only Black member of Congress and the delegation’s only Democrat, had high hopes after she introduced the legislation named in honor of her late mentor and friend. The House voted soon afterward to pass the bill, but it stalled in the Senate last year. In January, a modified measure called the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act failed to clear the chamber. “We’re
3 Black women oversee voting access for more than 37 million Americans
By Randi Richardson California Secretary of State Shirley Weber knows all too well how the race for voting rights is an intergenerational marathon. She’s the proud daughter of sharecroppers and is the first Black person to hold the position in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated her at the end of 2020. She told NBC BLK that descending from a family who couldn’t vote and becoming the state’s chief elections officer is a full circle experience for her family. She said her grandparents were essentially barred from voting. Her parents never registered to vote in Arkansas out of fear for their
Adams, Hill, Scott, and HBCU Caucus Celebrate Passage of Resolution Condemning Bomb Threats
By Sam Spencer Today, Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12), Congressman French Hill (R-AR-02), Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), and the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus celebrated the passage of H. Con. Res. 70, a resolution condemning threats of violence against historically Black colleges and universities (“HBCUs”) and reaffirming support for HBCUs and their students. “I’m proud of the House for passing H. Con. Res. 70, a resolution that condemns the despicable, cowardly bomb threats to Historically Black Colleges and Universities on multiple days this year,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams, founder and cochair of the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus. “These threats were
Kamala Harris marks ‘Bloody Sunday’ anniversary in Selma
By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press Vice President Kamala Harris visited Selma, Alabama, on Sunday to commemorate a defining moment in the fight for equal voting rights, even as congressional efforts to restore the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act have faltered. Under a blazing blue sky, Harris linked arms with rank-and-file activists from the civil rights movement and led thousands across the bridge where, on March 7, 1965, white state troopers attacked Black voting rights marchers attempting to cross. The images of violence at the Edmund Pettus Bridge — originally named for a Confederate general — shocked the nation and helped galvanize