Newly sworn-in U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has had a busy — and expensive — week. In addition to granting $1 billion in student loan debt relief, Cardona recently released $912 million in federal funds to public and private schools in Puerto Rico. The previously approved funding was blocked for…
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Xiao Zhen Xie, Victim of Anti-Asian Hate Crime Attack in San Francisco, Donates Nearly $1 Million to Fight Against Racism
On March 17, 75-year-old Xiao Zhen Xie was going about her business on the streets of San Francisco when a man approached her out of nowhere and hit her in the face. The assault was just one in a number of growing anti-Asian attacks across the country in recent months,…
Sesame Street Introduces 2 New Black Characters to Help Teach Children About Race
Following a special called “The Power of We” that aired last fall as the push for social justice was sweeping the country, the Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit organization responsible for producing Sesame Street — has announced a series of new videos and resources designed to help teach young children…
White House Cancels $1 Billion in Student Debt
In a move that will particularly benefit minorities and people of color, recently approved Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has announced reform that would grant nearly $1 billion in total student loan forgiveness for approximately 72,000 Americans in the coming weeks. According to Adam S. Minsky of Forbes, the newly announced…
Kim Janey Becomes Boston’s First Black and First Female Mayor
Following Marty Walsh’s recent resignation to become the nation’s Secretary of Labor, Boston has sworn in his successor — Kim Janey is officially the first Black and first female to hold the position in the city’s history. Ahead of her swearing-in, the former City Council president said “History will be…
Evanston, Illinois Passes Country’s First-Ever Reparations Program for Black Residents
As we reported previously, Evanston, Illinois recently became the first city in the nation to propose a reparations program for its Black residents. And now that proposal has passed and will go into effect later this year. According to Mark Guarino of The Washington Post, “The nation’s first government reparations…
Upcoming ‘Wonder Years’ Reboot to Focus on 1960s-era Black Family
ABC has announced plans to reboot the beloved late 1980s coming-of-age dramedy The Wonder Years with a Black cast, setting the new series in 1968 in Montgomery, Alabama. When the original Wonder Years debuted in 1988, critics celebrated the way it broke all kinds of television barriers and established a…
United Negro College Fund Appoints First-Ever Black Board Chair
In a move that will have many thinking “what took you so long,” The United Negro College Fund has announced the election of its first-ever Black board chair — Milton H. Jones Jr., an Atlanta business executive and founding member of the private investment and consulting firm Peachtree Providence Partners….
California, Massachusetts, Louisiana and North Carolina Have Vaccinated the Largest Portions of Their Black Populations Against COVID-19
Of the 41 states that are currently tracking the race of citizens receiving COVID-19 vaccinations, California appears to be doing the best job inoculating people of all races, with 16.8% of its Black residents already vaccinated against the coronavirus. That number is slightly higher than the total number of people…
Tanzania Gets First-Ever Black Female President
Following the sudden death of President John Magufuli, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan will become the first Black female president in the history of Tanzania, leading the east African country with a population of more than 58 million. President Magufuli, a staunch COVID-19 skeptic who rallied vehemently against the virus’s…