Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. Black teenager Ja’Liyah Celestine said that last year at her Texas high school, an officer pepper-sprayed her, grabbed her by hair, and kneed her in her face. A federal civil rights complaint was […]
Education
Posted inEducation, History
The Forgotten Girls Who Desegregated New Orleans Before Ruby Bridges
This is the first story in our series chronicling the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. In November 1960, three 6-year-old Black girls climbed 18 steps into history, forever changing the face of American education and democracy. While Ruby Bridges became a household name for integrating William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Gail Etienne, Leona […]
Posted inHigher Education, Politics & Policy
Harvard Fights Trump in Court. Black Students and Academics Say The Real Battle Is on Campus
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students. The move comes after the nation’s oldest institution of higher learning requested a temporary restraining order against the federal government’s action. Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier Friday. In the suit, the school […]
Posted inEducation, HBCUs
Despite Pushback From Students and Alumni, DeSantis Ally Picked to Lead FAMU
The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees on Friday picked Marva Johnson as the school’s 13th president in an 8-4 vote. Her selection is subject to confirmation by the 17-member Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s public university system. This decision comes as a blow to many students and alumni. Over the past […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
Inside One Student Movement to Save DEI on College Campuses
Bradley Price traveled to the Kentucky governor’s office to show her support for the veto of an anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion bill. Alexandria Underwood took part in a letter-writing campaign calling for the preservation of inclusion programs on college campuses. And Savannah Dowell organized a demonstration in support of anti-discrimination efforts at Kentucky colleges and […]
Posted inEducation, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Natural Disasters Are Driving a School Crisis. Black Children Are Hit the Hardest
Adrinda Kelly watched from New York as Hurricane Katrina swallowed her hometown of New Orleans in 2005. Floodwaters rose, neighborhoods disappeared underwater, and she felt a familiar ache deepen. Her family was safe, but devastation quickly compounded a painful realization: Black children were portrayed as disposable, and New Orleans’ education system was almost completely privatized. […]
Posted inEducation
Trump’s Education Department Shutdown Plan Creates Uncertainty for Black Students With Disabilities
It had been over a year since Carla and Byron Scott’s 10-year-old son, Tyler, was diagnosed with ADHD, autism, and adjustment disorder. The couple questioned whether Tyler’s teachers in Portsmouth, Virginia, knew how to care for his disabilities, or if they would simply pass him through grades even if he performed poorly in school. Then, […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, HBCUs, Rural Issues
Black Farmers Mobilize to Protect Vital HBCU Scholarship
In the two weeks since the White House reversed course on the 1890 National Scholars Program and lifted its suspension, Kendall Strickland still feels a sense of unease about the program’s future. Created in 1992, the program covers full tuition and room and board for underserved or rural students interested in studying food, agriculture, natural […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education, Technology
HillmanTok Is Bringing Black Academia to the Masses on TikTok
Call it a Freedom School for the social media age. Hundreds of Black professors are making their classes available to the public for free on TikTok. Just as their analog predecessors sought to teach African American children through an informal network of Black-led classrooms beginning in the 1960s, this digital version attempts to broaden the […]
Posted inEducation, K-12, Rural Issues
Congress Failed to Renew a Critical Funding Program for Rural Schools
Majority-Black, rural school districts in Mississippi like the one where Jacqueline Brown has taught for 17 years cannot afford budget cuts. It’s already difficult to recruit a certified math teacher or offer additional incentives to retain experienced educators who are nearing retirement in a rural area, she said. One federal program that helps rural counties […]
