$1.6B HBCU Debt Forgiven to Boost Student Success
As part of pandemic relief the U.S. Department of Education discharged roughly $1.6 billion of HBCU debt. Only institutions participating in the HBCU Capital Financing Program qualify. 45 HBCUs in total will be relieved: 32 private institutions, 13 public. The HBCU Capital Finance Program has provided participants low-cost infrastructure loans since 1994. Shedding that debt is momentous, allowing HBCUs to redirect attention to student education and well-being. The latter is particularly crucial given the emotional toll Covid-19 has taken on isolated, often bereaved young people. Efforts spanned administrations. The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) authorized the discharge of
Voter Suppression Today Echoes MLK’s Fight for Equality
Opinion by Dean Obeidallah On April 4, 1968, a White gunman shot and killed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. More than 50 years later, the fight he waged to ensure Black Americans had equal access to vote is still very much alive. We are now seeing a wave of voter suppression measures championed by Republican elected officials, with the Brennan Center for Justice reporting that 361 restrictive bills have been introduced in 47 states. The most notable (for now, at least) are in Georgia and Texas. Let’s not pretend that
Census Delay Raises Redistricting Concerns for Black, AAPI Voters
By Juan Alejandro Olarte-Cortes Sheryl Threadgill-Matthews is paying close attention to how a delay in the release of redistricting data by the US Census Bureau could affect Alabama’s Black community. Last month, the Census Bureau announced that it won’t be delivering data that state lawmakers and redistricting commissions use to redraw legislative districts until the end of September 2021. Threadgill-Matthews is a board member for her local branch of the Alabama New South Coalition, an organization that works to mobilize Black voters in Alabama. Her concerns come as her home state’s neighbor, Georgia, is the center of the national conversation
Georgia Rep. Park Cannon Describes Arrest During SB 202 Protest
By Veronica Stracqualursi Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon on Thursday night recounted her arrest last week protesting Georgia’s controversial election overhaul bill as “terrifying” and said she was “afraid” in the moment, but that she felt it was important to try and witness the bill’s signing for transparency reasons. “I was afraid, just like many Americans are when they come into contact with law enforcement, that there would be a need for me to protect myself. But instead I was able to just continue to think about the world was watching, people could see, and it was still very terrifying,”
Kamala Harris to Move Into Vice President’s Official Residence
By Kate Sullivan Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will move into the vice president’s official residence next week after their move was delayed for more than two months because of “repairs to the home,” Harris’ chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders said on Thursday. Harris and Emhoff have been temporarily living at Blair House, the President’s guest quarters on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the White House, since Harris took office. The vice president’s official residence is located on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory a couple of miles from the White House. “The repairs included maintenance on
Michigan Lt. Gov. Urges Senate to Pass For the People Act
By Eric Bradner A top Michigan Democrat on Thursday called on the US Senate to pass the sweeping federal elections bill advanced last month by House Democrats to counter efforts by Republicans in his state and elsewhere to restrict access to voting. Michigan is among the battleground states that were decisive in sealing President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory where the Republican-led legislature is moving ahead with changes designed to make it harder to vote, citing former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud. “They need less people to vote. We want more people to vote. That is what this
Kentucky Limits No-Knock Warrants After Breonna Taylor
By Taylor Romine The Kentucky state legislature passed a bill on Tuesday setting restrictions on warrants authorizing entry without notice, more commonly known as no-knock warrants. The legislation comes a little more than a year after the death of Breonna Taylor, a Louisville EMT who was killed by police in March of 2020 after they executed a no-knock warrant. While there are conflicting reports between police and bystanders as to whether police announced themselves during the incident, her death spurred a national conversation about the use of this type of warrant. The legislation doesn’t outlaw no-knock warrants outright, as the
Kamala Harris Faces GOP Attacks Over Border Role Assignment
By Jasmine Wright and Arlette Saenz Vice President Kamala Harris and her team are staring down attempts to make her the face of the Biden administration’s response to the crisis at the border, a little more than a week after being assigned a role that positions her in the center of one of the administration’s most divisive issues. Aides define her official task as leading the diplomatic outreach to Central American countries to address the root causes of migration. But Harris has already been tied to the border situation at large, as Republicans seek to conflate her more narrowly defined
Black Business Leaders Condemn Georgia’s Voting Laws
By Chauncey Alcorn Some of the nation’s most prominent Black business leaders are calling out their Fortune 500 peers for their muted response to new laws that restrict voting across the country. Merck chief executive Ken Frazier and Berkshire Hathaway director Kenneth Chenault were among the 72 Black executives who signed a letter released Wednesday challenging other corporate leaders to be more forceful in condemning what both said were deliberate attempts by Republicans to limit the number of Black Americans casting ballots in key states. Republicans who passed Georgia’s controversial law say the measure is needed to stop illegal voting.
Biden Holds First Cabinet Meeting After Jobs Plan Launch
By Betsy Klein President Joe Biden is set to convene his Cabinet in-person for the first time Thursday at the White House. The meeting comes one day after he rolls out the first piece of his sweeping infrastructure proposal focused on investments in transportation, public water, health and broadband systems, community care for seniors and innovation research and development. Biden will be keeping the focus on the plan, his top legislative priority, during the meeting, according to a White House official. The group will also discuss the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package and other top priorities. Unlike traditional Cabinet meetings,
