SECTOR NEWS
Biden stimulus creates new resources for HBCU agricultural support to Black farmers
John Boyd Jr., the National Black Farmers Association’s president and a fourth-generation Virginia farmer, described the targeted stimulus aid as “a drop in the bucket” of what’s financially owed to farmers of color previously excluded from agency programs. But he called it “the most significant legislation” for Black farmers since the Voting Rights Act.
The USDA has previously settled class action claims covering decades of discrimination filed, separately, on behalf of Black, Hispanic and Native American farmers.
The coronavirus relief measure provides $4 billion for debt relief for minority farmers. Another $1 billion is dedicated to assistance, including help addressing heirs’ property issues, grants to historically Black colleges and universities and funding for a racial equity commission to “root out” discrimination at the USDA set up by Biden’s agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack. (Bloomberg)
How NBA has impacted Thurgood Marshall College Fund and HBCUs
One by one, the students read their letters aloud.
They wrote them for NBA All-Star Game players and coaches, but the message offered more substance than Sunday’s game or favorite All-Star memories.
About 20 students with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) met for a Zoom call Thursday evening with TMCF and NBA officials as well as Hall-of-Fame center Dikembe Mutombo. Many of them expressed gratitude for the NBA offering more than $300 million to the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, which has supported students and institutions at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for the past 34 years. (USA Today)
N.C. A&T names its upcoming engineering building for its chancellor
N.C. A&T plans to open a new engineering building this fall. It will be named for the university’s chancellor.
A&T announced Wednesday that it will call the building the Harold L. Martin, Sr. Engineering Research and Innovation Complex. University trustees approved the name at their meeting last month.
Chairwoman Venessa Harrison said it is “fitting and appropriate” to name the building for Martin, who earned two engineering degrees from A&T, once served as the engineering dean and has been A&T’s chancellor since 2009. (Greensboro News & Record)
Kentucky legislators look to HBCUs for next generation of Black K-12 teacher training and certification
Kentucky’s oldest historically Black colleges may soon take major strides towards getting more Black teachers into schools.
State Bill 270 creates a portal between Simmons College and Kentucky State University, clearing the way for certifying teachers.
It will also create a project with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to address health, wellness and food insecurities in African American neighborhoods around Simmons. (WHAS)
